Party Hard was suggested to me when I downloaded Dead Cells (still not completed, pretty tough). I liked the look of the game and the premise sounded intriguing so I thought why not give it ago. Nolls and I decided to play this game together, strictly speaking, it's not a two player game but is certainly a lot of fun that way.
Nolls and I recently came back from a trip to London, it was fantastic! Visiting Benihana was one of the best things about it, hadn't been to one and always wanted to go. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from it. The food, the interaction with the chef and others at the table was amazing and look forward to doing it again in the future. Playing Party Hard, I found myself wondering was this a perfect combination of fun and tasty?
Story
Ever had a night where you can't sleep because of a loud party going on next door, and all you want to do is sleep? You think about calling the cops but know that nothing will happen. Perhaps you shout a profanity or two, maybe you even have darker thoughts and wish them dead. Well in Party Hard one guy can't take it anymore and decides to end the party once and for all, but he doesn't stop there. The story is recounted by Inspector John West who always seems to just one step behind the killer. While the game could have not bothered following a story and just gone for a wacky set of scenarios, the story is actually genuinely really good, with each chapter adding something new and leaving you wondering where it's all going.
The overall story is interesting and well fleshed out, and we both really enjoyed the ending.
Visuals
I love games that use low-resolution graphics but somehow manages to look amazing. There are a number of levels that do this really well. Some examples of this would be when you are out in the woods, there is a small lake, a number of tents, it would almost be nice if not for all the blood. There is a Halloween party, the house it's at looks like a haunted house if you don't include the S & M room. The rooftop party is a neon-infused level full of bright lights and a cool dance floor. While a couple of the levels seemed derivative of earlier levels, for the most part, there's a surprising amount of diversity and creativity in the types and locations of parties.
The visuals in the game are impressive and are a lot of fun, and honestly, it's hard to flaw them.
Music
The soundtrack is an infusion of disco and bass, which is great for a game called Party Hard. While that style of music can get annoying fast I never felt that way when playing Party Hard - one of the tracks reminded us of the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune which was really fun. The composer Ressa Schwarzwald from Belarus. With the exception of an album called 'Higher', she doesn't seem to have done much else.
The soundtrack lasts little over thirty minutes and contains some greats tracks including; 'Main Theme', 'Don't Stop Party', 'Neon Cobra', and 'Come on Baby'. Considering this is Schwarzwald's first debut in video games it's a pretty solid start and I hope to see more music from her in the future.
Gameplay
The game has you take control of the pixelated killer, your mission, to kill everyone on the level and don't get caught by the cops or killed. This is not always easy but you have many tools at your disposal, including your trusty knife, horses, cars, exploding amplifiers, and a wood chipper, to name but a few.
While the game is designed to be tough, sometimes it's a little unfair or perhaps just a little glitchy. The cops will sometimes be alerted to you even when you have done nothing at all. The bouncers will sometimes hone in on you from across the level and kick the hell out of you. It wasn't enough to stop my experience but certainly frustrated us. Generally, though, only a few levels gave us these issues.
There are multiple characters you can play including; chainsaw manic, cop, ninja and the killer. Each killer has their own interesting abilities but the killer was always my favorite character. Nolls wasn't as impressed by the extra characters as she felt they didn't add much to the game, but we did have some fun with chainsaws.
Once the game is over there are still bonus levels to complete which can be really fun if not a bit a tough. Overall the game offers some great gameplay with some replayability.
Final Thought
So after twelve hours of gameplay how did we both feel? Pretty damn good. The story was interesting, the visuals were really well done as was the music. While the gameplay was generally good there were a few things that were annoying, but overall a great experience. Overall this one gets 4 out of 5
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