Killzone Mercenary - Review

 

I have been on a real PS Vita kick recently, I just can't get enough of it. I really wanted a good first-person shooter to play, unfortunately, Call Of Duty Declassified had failed in that area. I haven't played any of the Killzone games but thought I could probably fill in the blanks story wise.

I  love a good bag of crisps or chips, whether it be with a beer, wine or some other substance. A recent favorite of mine is Doritos Flame Grilled Steak. It does taste like a good steak, rich, smoky and with a hint of mustard. Playing Killzone Mercenary I found myself asking was this my new favorite chip or was it going to be a disappointment?

Story

The game has you take control of Arran Danner a mercenary during the fight between the Vekta (good guys) and the Helghast (bad guys, and with a name like that how could they not be?). The story campaign is really engrossing and you find yourself asking is all just about the money?  There are a few twists and turns and while the ending was not exactly shocking it doesn't mean it wasn't good.

Overall the story is not the most original but is a tried and tested formula and provides a lot of entertainment.

Visuals

The planets you explore go from dark and industrial, to more bright and futuristic. There is a lot of diversity in the levels, some may have you firing out of a gunship, another might have you exploring a reactor, another might have you infiltrating an enemy base. Visually it feels like a war game with damaged structures around you and in the background there is always some conflict occurring.

Overall the visuals are really good, especially for a handheld console. Considering that both Killzone Mercenary and Call Of Duty Declassified were released almost at the same time it is strange that visually they are worlds apart with Killzone being the clear winner.

Music 

The soundtrack is a mixture of intense strings, mixed with guitar riffs and horns. The soundtrack is created by Austrian composer Walter Mair. He has a huge body of work primarily TV and Film including; Till Death, Metamorphosis, District 11 (due to be released next year) to name but a few.

The soundtrack is over thirty minutes in length and contains twelve tracks, my favorites being; 'Lightning Strike' and 'The Package'. Overall a good soundtrack that helps create a tense atmosphere.

Gameplay

I imagine it must be hard to produce a first person shooter on a handheld console especially due to its technical restrictions.  Guerilla Cambridge have created a great first person shooter for the PS Vita that other companies could learn from (if any of them were still making games for it). 

The controls work really well and are comfortable to use, with one exception, melee attacks. The screen can be used to melee attack enemies by swiping in which ever direction you are instructed. If you just have one enemy and there is no fire fight going on it is fine. But if there is a lot happening it can be a little more awkward and feel the touch pad at the back would have been a better control for it. Despite that complaint though I love playing it so much that its far from a deal breaker. Grenades can be selected using the touch screen and then can be thrown with the right shoulder button.

As a mercenary you get paid for everything from kills, optional objectives, scavenging, shooting camera and more. There are shops in the form of chests that are controlled by the weapons dealer Black Jack. In here you can purchase new weapons, armor and vanguard weapons.  The vanguard weapons are awesome; you have orbital strikes, stealth drones and shoulder mounted missiles. Initially I felt no need to use them but once I was a few missions in I found them invaluable. 

Once each mission is complete there are challenges unlocked to help bring you even more money that can be a lot of fun. Outside of this there is also multiplayer, and in a very smart move if you don't have enough players you can fill the party with bots meaning that as long as the servers are online you can keep playing.

Overall great gameplay with no real issues and will definitely play it again in the future.

Final Thoughts

So, after six hours how did I feel? Pretty happy! The story was engaging if a little predictable, the visuals are some of the best I have seen on the PS Vita, the music is pretty good and the gameplay is very good. Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Call Of Duty Black Ops: Declassified - Review

 

I have been on a PS Vita kick, pretty much since Sony announced it was pulling support, and then changed their mind. I haven't played many shooters on the PS Vita and thought Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified, might be fun to try, plus I had a CEX voucher burning a hole in my pocket.

I love burgers, even tried to make a few myself but the lazy part of me just buys them from a butcher. I have, since becoming an adult bought some frozen ones, while the pack makes them look good, opening the packaging they become less appealing and by the time they are cooked up into sickly, grey shadows of true burgers, I have lost all interest. Essentially, don't buy frozen burgers. Playing Call Of Duty Black Ops I found myself asking was this a tasty burger or a poor imitation? 

Story

Something I enjoyed about the Black Ops games and many of the other Call of Duty games is the story. Sadly there is no cohesive story in Black Ops: Declassified, just random missions all set in the seventies where you play as either Frank Woods or Alex Mason.  

Overall a bit disappointing, the campaign is extremely short and could been made more enjoyable by just having some sort of story.

Visuals 

The PS Vita, PSP along with the slew of Nintendo Handheld consoles are unable to match the visual spectacle offered by consoles. Naturally, it is important to manage your expectations from a visuals perspective. Those in Black Ops: Declassified are okay but that is it. Some levels don't seem to render correctly, objects sometimes look they are part of a green screen with no depth. While I would expect this quality of game from a smaller studio or if it is was on the PSP. The game was developed by  InStigate Games and published by Activision, I am unsure if it was lack of budget or someone fell asleep at the wheel but the game is poorly visually especially for a Call of Duty game.

Overall pretty disappointed with the visuals, it is clear this was less about creating good visuals and  more about a cash grab using the Call Of Duty name.

Music

Call Of Duty is generally known for its epic soundtracks, this time around though there is an empty void. There is some music in the game but nothing standout and there seems to be no soundtrack available anywhere online.

Overall a disappointing soundtrack and like many of the other elements of the game fails to live up to its name.

Gameplay 

The gameplay is a very mixed bag. There are a number of play modes in Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified, including; Campaign, Time Trial, Hostiles and Multiplayer. 

The campaign is very short and can be completed in around an hour, most missions are just a few minutes in length which was disappointing. Time trial is pretty much like the tutorials you would be used to from other Call Of Duty games, but this time there are only a few of them, pretty underwhelming. Hostile is wave-based and has you taking on lots of enemies with weapons scattered around the map, this ended up being a lot of fun and enjoyed the fast paced action. Call Of Duty is well known for its multiplayer, and the quality of it, in earnest I had a lot of fun with it and works pretty well. While it lacks the same polish as the full console versions it is still pretty good.

The mechanics themselves are a little weak. Movement can feel a little sluggish, weapons don't feel very accurate and there is definitely a feeling of pray and spray. What I really liked is the use of the touch screen to stab enemies and throw grenades. When using a sniper rifle you can use the back touch panel to have better accuracy when aiming.

Overall the gameplay is up and down, the saving grace for it really was Hostiles mode and the multiplayer.

Final Thoughts 

So, after six hours of player how did I feel? Underwhelmed and confused. The game could have and should have been better. There was no story, the visuals were below par, and there was a lack of quality soundtrack. The gameplay had some strong points, and I enjoyed those but had a lot of weak ones. This was really difficult to score but in the end settled on 2 out of 5

Saturday Morning RPG - Review

 

Many moons ago when I had an iPhone 5, I downloaded a game by developers Mighty Rabbit called Saturday Morning RPG. While I enjoyed the small amount I played the screen was too small, so eventually I got an iPhone 6 only to find out it was pulled from the app store. Limited Run games had released it on the PS Vita but sadly missed my window. Move forward to 2021 and I finally managed to obtain a copy that did not cost me a kidney. After years of waiting I would finally get to play it on the PS Vita.

Growing up Saturday morning TV was awesome, hours of cartoons along with the A-Team. What could make it better? Cereal. More specifically Kellogg's Variety Pack. I know there was usually cornflakes and Ricicles but the rest were usually gold and never really stopped my enjoyment. Playing Saturday Morning RPG I found myself did the TV shows and Variety Pack still hold up?

Story

You play as Marty (almost definitely a reference to Back To The Future), who over five episodes has to disrupt the plans of Commander Hood. Each feel like a Saturday morning cartoon, one episode might  have you trying to save Christmas by taking back all the stolen presents, another has you taking on robots from another planet (that look suspiciously like Transformers) to stop them destroying a small town. Each episode takes around one to two hours to complete, most of it is dependent on if you do all side missions and decide to gather up all the collectibles.

Overall the episodes are a lot of fun, everything is very tongue in cheek and features tons of Easter Egg and nods to eighties and nineties cartoons. The story ends on a cliff hanger of sorts, not sure if this was done intentionally as many of those cartoons never really ended or perhaps they are planning a sequel?

Visuals

Saturday Morning RPG's visuals are bright vibrant and lots of fun, the bad guys look like James Bond or GI Joe villains, even the monsters themselves seem like they could be just people in suits like in Scooby-Doo. Basically everything is fun visuals, they change when going from battles which looks like some older RPG's moving to a top down view when exploring the world. The areas are a lot of fun, even the school feels like one from a TV show and oozes of nostalgia.

Overall the visuals are colorful, fun and full of nostalgia, loved every moment of it.

Music

The music has a sound that is eighties and nineties-tastic!  Listening to it brought back memories of; The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Saved By The Bell, The Wonder Years, The A-Team, MacGyver, Thunder In Paradise and Airwolf to name but a few. The cool guitar riffs mixed with tender melodies. The music is created by American composer Vince DiCola and Kenny Meredith responsible for; The Transformer Movie, Rocky IV, Angry Bird Transformers and Demonic Toys: Personal Demons.

The sound track run at almost ninety minutes and feature more than twenty five tracks, my favorites being:

Tune In For Saturday Morning RPG

What Was That?

Battle Scene

Trust (Bad Bots Theme)

Determination

Overdrive

Escape

Legacy

Overall a fantastic and nostalgic soundtrack which brought me back in time to my childhood.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fun and simple, and while it sticks with the mechanics of many other RPG's it does also add in its own twists.

The exploration part is fun, it involves talking to people in the world which can in some cases lead to optional quests. The optional quests are straight fetch quests but each has something fun about it like; collecting signatures from the local football players, collecting class pets, or helping someone out with their chemical toilet. The main missions are pretty straight forward but that does not mean they are not a lot of fun.

There are collectibles scattered around the world that give you power ups and new weapons, there also vending machines (if you have the money).

The battles start by you rubbing the screen vigorously to select your five stickers (which can be changed out as you progress) that help give you powers up for the battles ahead; burning effect, poison enemies, more health, etc. Each battle has you start with a damage multiplayer which can be charged through certain moves or being attacked by enemies and defending yourself. You have a limited amount of special attacks and health packs per battle so use them wisely otherwise you will be stuck punching enemies. The battles are quite short, ranging from one to three minutes with the exception of  boss fights. The special moves available are huge, from being able to turn into a transformer and run over enemies, stampeding unicorns or throwing CD's with deadly precision. 

If you are looking for more of challenge there is a challenge mode where you take on enemies until you drop which can be fun. 

Overall the gameplay is pretty solid, the only oddity is that most battles are very easy but the end couple of battles really jumped up in difficulty level which threw me off a little as there seems to be no gradual increase in it.

Final Thoughts

So, after ten short hours how did I feel? Pretty happy! If I had to sum the game up in one word it would be fun. The story is great and loved it being split into episodic adventures. The visuals are colourful and look cool. The music is filled with nostalgia and awesomeness! The gameplay is fun and has no real issues as such. Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Genital Jousting - Review

 

Recently Devolver Digital had a sale on Steam earlier this month and I decided to go a little wild, to be fair though all of them cost just a few euros each. One of the games I downloaded was Genital Jousting developed by Free Lives. Considering my sense of humor I was shocked that I had not heard of the game. Excitedly, with little to no knowledge of what the game was about I downloaded it. 

I think all of us have looked at a sausage on occasion and thought, 'yep that looks like penis'. Has it ever stopped you eating one? Probably not as you know that it is more than just phallic shaped object, and is in fact a tasty pork product. Playing Genital Jousting I found myself asking could I get past the look and gobble down that sausage with gusto?

Story

I know what you might be thinking, 'I have seen the image above how could this game possibly have a story?'. Well it does, a pretty damn good one. You take control of John, who is made up of a penis, testicles and an anus. He is having a bit of a crisis, he needs a date to go to his school reunion so his peers think he isn't a loser. He is in a dead end job where he takes care of quality control testing vibrators. John decides to try everything to become a better Peen, but will it work out and can he get a date for his school reunion?

Of course the game is filled with innuendos, and does not take itself too seriously. That being said there is a real story, and real lessons to be taken away from that. After the early part of the story you almost don't see John as a peen but a real person just trying to improve his life.

Overall a surprising and top quality story, the narration used to tell John's story is fantastic and the only disappointing part is that there was not more of it. 

Visuals

Free Lives really has a great way of creating unsettling visuals with a minimal colour palette and with simple designs. The picture above it one such example of this but is fairly tame by comparison what you will be faced with throughout the game. It is important to note that peens are both male and female, and birds strangely. The two most intense sections for me were the nightmare sequences where I was attacked and assimilated by growing peens and a groom chasing me with a knife lodged in it's anus. While there are plenty of jokes in the game there is also a horror type element.

Overall the visuals are often quite powerful and not sure I will ever look at a penis again in the same way, even my own.

Music

The music varies depending on what is happening to John, panic or frustration is like an angry orchestra playing, and the serene moments often feature peaceful use of strings.  The soundscape is created by South African based composer and designer Jason Sutherland who not only make up part of Free Lives but also created the music for Broforce and The Metronomicon.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find the music to the game anywhere, this is likely due to the length of the game itself being quite short. Overall the music used suited the game pretty well but is not particularly memorable.

Gameplay 

The gameplay is a little different in Genital Jousting by comparison with most games I have played. There is the basic controls; up, down, left, right but you can also control which end of you moves, the tip or the anus. The tip is generally used for standard moving, where as the anus is used to grab objects like food, or soap to get yourself nice and clean. If you take an apple in your anus you then spit the pips out through your tip, naturally. 

There are a number of game modes including Story, Offline Multiplayer and Off Line Multiplayer. 

The game works fine for the most part until you get stuck on an object or another peen, moving around it/them can be an up hill struggle. In the story mode it is not a big deal but online or offline multiplayer it becomes a bit of a pain and takes away from what by and large is a lot of fun.

Overall the gameplay can be a lot of fun but could certainly benefit from a few performance tweaks. 

Final Thoughts 

So, after a few hours of playing how did I feel? Not bad at all. The story was lot of fun and really felt myself rooting for John. The visuals manage to be simply, funny, exciting and sometimes horrific. The music did not really stand out but with a game like this does it really need to? The gameplay is a lot of fun but sadly a few issues getting stuck on objects and occasional clunky controls takes away from making it all it could be. This one gets a 3 out of 5

Ruiner

 

Ruiner by Reikon Games and published by Devolver Digital was on my Wishlist for all of five minutes when Devolver Digital had a sale on Steam, yay! The game caught my attention due to the gritty environment and cyberpunk setting. So I excitedly went to make the purchase, PayPal decided to delay it by by being a pain in the back side, but I eventually got it.

Boojum! A Mexican chain restaurant that is massively popular due to it pricing, selection and student discounts and merchandise. Every now and again I get a burrito or a burrito bowl, if I am feeling too lazy to pick my food up. There are some options and toppings it is not worth going into. That all being said depending on who makes it, the time of day, etc. the food can taste better or worse even if it looks good. Playing Ruiner I found myself asking was did this look and taste the part?

Story

The tutorial and prologue are one and the same which I love as sometimes tutorials can feel a little mundane. The character you take control is a man wearing a mask that looks a TV screen wrapped around it. Someone is talking to you, commanding you to kill the boss and seems has little control of the matter. Before the finale you are hacked by someone else and things go black. The story has you investigating who did this to you, who you are and who is the mysterious girl helping you, who refers to you as 'Puppy'.

Overall the story is amazing and gets progressively darker as you move through it. The negative reviews seems to come from people feeling there are plot holes or more lack of questions being answered. I don't think Reikon Games did this accidentally, they wanted to leave players questioning and wanting more. Part of me hopes they do a sequel and DLC and the other part of me hopes they don't.

Visuals

The visuals highlight the gritty town of the Ruiner, busy dirty streets, crazed people, those with more machine parts than the human. Smoke billowing out of building and over all sense of despair. The world is displayed from a top down view, and as grim as it is there is much darker places. One of those is the garage, little light and enemies everywhere. As the story proceeds it only get worse, the enemies more from being somewhat human to something more ghastly.

Overall the visuals are amazing and create a very grim world that pulls you down into. The game is worth playing for this element alone.

Music

The music has gritty dark electronic feel, why really helps in creating a dark atmosphere. The creators of the soundtrack are;  Natalia Zamilska, Polish composer, DJ, and Sidewalks and Skeletons, a UK Solo Project by Jake Lee.

The soundtracks is ninety minutes and features more than twenty tracks, my favorites being:

Memory

Rise

Duel 35

Flag

Sleep Paralysis

Underwater Sun

XXX

Overall a pretty solid soundtrack that works really well with the game.

Gameplay

Ruiner offers some really interesting gameplay from the point of view that no matter the situation or your playstyle there is something to suit all. There are number of abilities you can acquire in the game and each can be upgraded. The upgrading system is based on you attaining karma by knocking the hell out of enemies, and opening up chests. My go-to abilities were; dash allowing some fast evasion, shield that can take a ton damage and combined with dash can cause a lot hurt, electro shocker great for stunning almost every type of enemy, power exchange which allows you to use to fill up your health, handy if you are in a tight spot.

The enemies are aggressive in the game and speed is everything. Boss fights are more aggressive when attacking but on the plus side they are generally not as fast as standard enemies. Learning the attack pattern of boss is a good way to take them out quickly. The game allows you to have a melee weapons and a firearm. Don't get attached to either, if they break or run out of ammo grab another gun there will be plenty around. 

Something pretty unique to the game is a clean up bot, when you clear an enemy it appears, sucks out the karma and leaves you with a snazzy gun. Later on you have enemy version which suck you dry of power and health, not fun.

There are small number of side missions, nothing to in depth and all located in the areas you are visiting. 

Once the game is over a plus game unlocks for anyone who wants to upgrade everything and finish any missions they may have missed. There is also an arena mode and even a hidden level in the game. Overall the gameplay is fun and was definitely the game I needed.

Final Thoughts 

So, after ten hours how did I feel?  Happy and wanting more! While I hope the dark future never comes to pass it is really great story. The visuals are dark and gritty, the soundtrack works really well with the game. The gameplay is pretty much flawless and was so much fun! This one gets a solid 4 out 5

Ape Out - Review

 

Devolver Digital has always seemed to have a great eye for talent, and finding often very unique games. One of those games comes from Game Developers; Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo, and Matt Boch. I was curious for a while to play it but like so many games they often pop out of my head or something else shiny comes along to distract me, that is why I keep a list now of games to play. I was browsing XBOX Game Pass the other day and saw their game Ape Out and thought it would be criminal not to give it a go.

As we all know smoking looks cool, unless you are using a vape in which case not so much. One of the things I along with many other kids loved growing up were candy cigarettes', we wanted to emulate adults and look cool without the possibility of get cancer or dying (unless you choked on one).  Playing Ape Out I found myself asking was this like smoking those candy cigarettes looking cool, or was it a memory misremembered and it turns out I didn't look cool at all?

Story

Ape out does not box itself down in an overly complicated storyline, and with the style of game it is makes complete sense. You are an Ape stuck in an enclosure, you need to escape to freedom. The games is set over four vinyl records, complete with sides A and B which is awesome and provides a sense of style that resonates throughout the game.

Overall the goal/story is simple but depending on what a game developer is trying to do it doesn't need to be.

Visuals

The visuals are both powerful and simple taking a minimalist approach on detail and colours. The game has you playing from a top down perspective. The ape you control is orange splash of colour in the shape of ape. The enemies have a little more detail, each type has a different uniform and weapon. Throwing them against other enemies or solid objects creates and explosion of red which in some games could across as gratuitous but in Ape Out comes across as more as a canvas having more paint thrown on it. There are intense sequences where the lights may go out and the view becomes dark blue with shades of purple and the only light is from the torches of your hunters. 

Overall the visuals are both artistic and cool, throwing in white pot markers that appear occasionally on the screen making it feel like an old movie is simply inspired.

Music

Jazz is something that came to me at the early part of my adult life working in Zhivago's Music where every Friday Dominic would play Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue on the stereo nestled on my desk. While a lot of music has spoken to me over the years nothing has done it quite like Jazz and Video Game music. Imagine combining them? That is exactly what Matt Boch, composer of the soundtrack, did. In fact, the music is integrated into the gameplay with cymbals crashing when a thrown enemy hits a wall and explodes.

The soundtrack is fantastic and there are certainly no wasted moments, but that is not what makes it great. What makes the music great is that it is dynamic, the intensity of the music depends on your actions in the game, playing quicker more intense, the music changes to that, playing it careful and slow and you get something different. 

Overall the soundtrack duration is close to an hour and there is no point me saying which track is my favorite because to me it is a nice smooth run of a soundtrack that has to be listened to in its entirety. The thing I love about Ape Out is that is doesn't know how not to be cool, it just comes naturally.  

Gameplay

The gameplay is intense in a very good way - standing is still is not an option. The objective is to cross a map in any way you choose as long as you survive, one or two gunshots won't kill you but will leave a blood trail for others to find you. Each level can take anywhere from one minute to five, but don't let that fool you - you will die a good few times throughout the game. It will feel frustrating at times but in a good way. The music is constantly egging you on and helps not lose your cool.

There are only a few controls to worry about, throwing and grabbing. Throwing will often kill an enemy and in most cases will see their arms pulled off. Throwing enemies against others is a good way to clear an enemy. That is until later when you have enemies with flamethrowers, bombs, and rocket launchers (they really have it out for this ape). Enemies can be used as human shields, they can in turn kill other enemies for a limited time. On some levels you will have to debate is better to attack or use the environment to your advantage and play it a little more stealthily.

One particularly great mechanic is that when you are killed you get to see the full map of the level, the route you took and how close or far away you were from the end. 

I have never cared so much about an ape surviving and in some cases it was nail biting, well I have no time to bite mine but Nolls did on my behalf. The game wants you to fail sometimes but ultimately it wants you to be free. At the end of every record (set of levels) you are faced with new challenges which while came be tough always feel achievable. If however you want more a challenge there is a hard mode and arcade mode.

Overall the gameplay was fantastic and like every other element of the game was cool.

Final Thoughts

So, after three short hours how did I feel? Like I should have played the game sooner and when I finally get the Nintendo Switch will download it straight away just for another excuse to play it, and this time on the go. The story is straight to the point, and what better story is there than survival. The visuals are wonderfully simple, the soundtrack couldn't be cooler if it tried and the gameplay is fun and meaningful. Overall this one easily gets a 5 out of 5

Super Hot: Mind Control Delete

 

Earlier in the year, I played Super Hot, a fun minimalist first-person shooter with an intriguing story. Browsing XBOX Game Pass I saw they had the third game in the series (the second being on PlayStation VR). It was an easy decision and downloaded it immediately. 

I was never a big fan of the original thin chipsticks (the ones that look like matches), and while I have never eaten a match I imagine they have a similar taste. They just taste like salt, no discerning flavor and while they have a satisfying crunch they were sharp as hell. In a nutshell, not a huge fan, despite my love of most crisps. Playing SuperHot Mind Control Delete I found myself asking was this potato, salt-laden crisp for me? 

Story 

Unlike the original installment of Super Hot which had an intriguing story and had a twisted realness to it, this time around the SuperHot Team has gone for something different. There is no story, instead, there is a bunch of concepts: giving up, being a slave, and freedom to name a few. While using this approach is perhaps more artistic it failed to really hold my attention especially for a game that takes on average 12-15 hours to complete.

Overall the concepts used are interesting in a way but there seems to be a certain lack of cohesion that existed in the original. While in some cases the story is not everything this a game that does feel like there should be more to it and when the ending finally comes it feels disappointing.

Visuals

The art style used in the game is very slick and slightly improved over the original with the introduction of new enemies and weapons. Some enemies explode and you can see them in slow motion approaching you. There are tougher enemies and some that appear not to be beatable. There are a number of levels two of my favorite being Prison and Dojo. As the game moves along some of these levels are altered making them more difficult to navigate.

Overall the visuals are one of, if not the strongest part of the game. There are levels in between levels that often over trippy visuals which feel both intense and cool.

Music

There is a similar tone to the music in Super Hot Mind Control Delete as the original installment, a creeping sense of foreboding. Venezuelan keyboardist, DJ, composer, producer, and mixer Zardonic created the sound for this soundtrack as well as the original game.

Similar to the original the soundtrack is just under an hour in length can be listened to on Spotify. 'SUPERHOT' once again is my favorite track and works really well at the Disco level. Overall the music in the game serves more like a soundscape than a soundtrack, that being said it does not devalue it at all.

Gameplay

At its core the gameplay is simple, the world only moves if you move. This means patience and planning can pay off rather than running through everything which, while fun, will likely have you catching a bullet. The game has evolved in terms of gameplay versus the original installment.

The is more of a variety of enemies, there are the bog-standard red enemies, those with only one weak spot, those that explode when killed, and two that can't seem to be killed but like to terrify you by running at you. They are split into nodes, each one has three to fifteen levels to conquer. If you die you have to start over, in the beginning, it is fairly straight forward but later on, can become extremely challenging. This time rather than killing all enemies you have a set amount you have to kill. Also this time you can also unlock hacks (abilities) that offer you a range of benefits; more ammo, move faster and more health to name a few.

It is at that point things start to fall apart. The levels repeat themselves, a lot, the only difference is where you start and the type of enemies. Enemies will appear out of nowhere, often behind you even when there is no possible way you could anticipate them, giving them an unfair advantage. The game feels stretched out and could have been far more enjoyable if it were shorter. The ending is frustrating, and this is before you find out you have to wait two and a half real-time hours before being able to access the end of the game, which essentially is a plus game. Originally the SuperHot Team was going to have the timer last twenty-four hours, then released it with eight hours of a wait and after negative feedback reduced it further. There seemed to be no real point other than aiming to be artistic.

Overall at its core SuperHot Mind Control Delete still offers some entertaining moments, but unfair advantages, repetition of levels, and a lackluster ending seriously watered down the gameplay and the game as a whole.

Final Thoughts

So, after almost twenty hours how did I feel? Relieved. The story was more conceptional and artistic and as a whole just did not pay off. The visuals and music are as solid as ever and the introduction to new enemies was welcomed. The core gameplay of the original was still there but the new direction did not work and it felt like the developers were flogging a dead horse. Overall the game was too long for what it was, some cheap decisions really diluted the content and stopped it from being all a good follow to the original. This one scrapes a 2 out of 5