Here it is: the follow up to the well-regarded, break-out indie darling.
The basic game mechanics are exactly the same: top-down ultra violent beat/shoot/maim-em-up in which you clear floors of enemies before proceeding, trying to rack up combos in fastest time. Enemies are still ultra quick, never miss and it's a one-hit-kill back to the level start. Levels are larger and if you play cautiously and sneak around this can be frustrating, as long build-ups can be wasted as you're blasted through a window from way across the map. It's best to try to find that sweet spot where you're pushing on quite boldly, racking up combos, improvising with different weapons, and going for speed bonus. When you do this the game is exhilirating, in my view. Judicious use of a very simple and useful lock-on (don't over-use, I'd say) plus a zoom function combine well with the super-responsive twin stick controls to make this quite manageable, but deaths remain frequent - and hilarious.
The first game saw you playing as one or two characters, who answered a phone and then went to kill Russians. There is more of a focus on story this time, though, with more dialogue/cut-scenes between missions, more playable characters. Some reviewers have whinged about this, saying it dilutes the purity of the original. I don't agree. The gameplay is still there, there looks to be more of it, and the dialogue/cut-scenes are skippable. I think they're great as they give you various viewpoints into the events, people trying to figure out who is responsible for all the mayhem and why, including
. Some nice gameplay wrinkles when you play as different characters too, e.g.
None of the plot makes sense -
- and I doubt that it is intended to, but as an insight into this disgusting world it's effective, disorienting and unsettling, which I suspect is the main intention here.
Aesthetically and in terms of overall design the game is fabulous. Sprite graphics are wonderfully detailed and have the same feverish, over-saturated look of the previous game. Combat and death animations are gruesome as hell. Guts and brains spill everywhere, injured enemies twitch and convulse and try to crawl away before you finish them. Even more gory than the original. Much greater variety in environments than the original too.
. And the music is just out of the world, an unhinged psychedelic combination of rock, americana and electronica, brilliantly adding to the woozy, sickened atmosphere of the game. Even the pause menu is a thing of retro beauty and wonder.
I love it, but then I was a great fan of the original. If you didn't like the original, stay away. There's nothing new to bring you in.
EDIT: messed up the poll, sorry! ADMIN?!?!
The basic game mechanics are exactly the same: top-down ultra violent beat/shoot/maim-em-up in which you clear floors of enemies before proceeding, trying to rack up combos in fastest time. Enemies are still ultra quick, never miss and it's a one-hit-kill back to the level start. Levels are larger and if you play cautiously and sneak around this can be frustrating, as long build-ups can be wasted as you're blasted through a window from way across the map. It's best to try to find that sweet spot where you're pushing on quite boldly, racking up combos, improvising with different weapons, and going for speed bonus. When you do this the game is exhilirating, in my view. Judicious use of a very simple and useful lock-on (don't over-use, I'd say) plus a zoom function combine well with the super-responsive twin stick controls to make this quite manageable, but deaths remain frequent - and hilarious.
The first game saw you playing as one or two characters, who answered a phone and then went to kill Russians. There is more of a focus on story this time, though, with more dialogue/cut-scenes between missions, more playable characters. Some reviewers have whinged about this, saying it dilutes the purity of the original. I don't agree. The gameplay is still there, there looks to be more of it, and the dialogue/cut-scenes are skippable. I think they're great as they give you various viewpoints into the events, people trying to figure out who is responsible for all the mayhem and why, including
. Some nice gameplay wrinkles when you play as different characters too, e.g.
None of the plot makes sense -
- and I doubt that it is intended to, but as an insight into this disgusting world it's effective, disorienting and unsettling, which I suspect is the main intention here.
Aesthetically and in terms of overall design the game is fabulous. Sprite graphics are wonderfully detailed and have the same feverish, over-saturated look of the previous game. Combat and death animations are gruesome as hell. Guts and brains spill everywhere, injured enemies twitch and convulse and try to crawl away before you finish them. Even more gory than the original. Much greater variety in environments than the original too.
. And the music is just out of the world, an unhinged psychedelic combination of rock, americana and electronica, brilliantly adding to the woozy, sickened atmosphere of the game. Even the pause menu is a thing of retro beauty and wonder.
I love it, but then I was a great fan of the original. If you didn't like the original, stay away. There's nothing new to bring you in.
EDIT: messed up the poll, sorry! ADMIN?!?!
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