Showgunners has got a surprise for you! Great game overall! It's got great gameplay, it's got strong characters, it even has the kind of unexpected drama that you'd expect from scripted television. You start out with two characters and by the time you get your third, and it's a winding road getting to the third, the game at last comes into itself. For much of the game you will be working with three out of a cast of six - until the last chapter, in which all six come into play a la XCOM. Oh and there's a free DLC that is perfectly integrated into the last chapter and extends the game by 4 scenarios. This reminds me of a little bit of another TbT game called Mutant Year Zero which also has an eclectic cast of characters, only Showgunners is a much better TbT game with much stronger characters. Even the dystopic game show setting has plenty of flavor, with the commentator constantly yelling out the play-by-play as you dispatch, without prejudice, unrehabilitated criminals. On top of that, there's even the occasional moral critique of the state of said world that is appropriately fleeting and sorely justified for the setting.
Whereas the first one was all about the introduction to action, this one really rounded out the story for those who demanded that the story makes literal sense. And an intriguing story it was. "The creators have the right to change the experience," they said. And they did, bravely. I respect them for having done just that. They could be on Hotline Miami 6, 7, 8 by now, but they told the story they wanted to tell and closed the book on the series. That's balls. That's nerves. That's knowing that every artistic endeavor ends, and if it's not allowed to take its natural course, it turns into a soulless, meaningless lump. Not dead but also not alive, continuously sold for money to a class of zombies, like The Simpsons or Luke Skywalker.
This is not a healthy game for healthy people. Dark and moody, it has the feel of a grindhouse flick during or even before the VHS days. The main character behaves like a super-natural, otherworldly being while trying to pass himself off as an every man. The masks are like the different psychosis, each a slightly different take on the gameplay. And best of all, they married a bunch of unknown synthwave tracks with the action so sublimely, I felt like I was transported.
Can't blame Klei for playing it safe, for they have found their niche and sold off a part of their company, for security. But I'd often wish they still made games like Mark of the Ninja, and especially Invisible Inc., which ended on a cliffhanger. And it appears on a cliffhanger it will remain forever. Pity, cus I love it a whole lot and would love to continue.
While Prey was the one of the first games to have had its PR boasting about having the mythological as well as the universal "Hero's Journey," this one actually has it in its classic form. Both games have their Native American main character, but only this one is remade and reborn by the experience sustained during the game. It was on my mind when I played it many years ago and I still remember it.
It's the game that reminds me the most of Half Life 2. And exceeds it in many ways. An improvement on the original as a whole, and made perfect by the Redux.
There seems to always be a hidden solution even in the most dire of circumstances. Hence it's never unfair. The makers are definitely smart, determined cookies that honed this blade over a period of years, until it was peerless in its small corner of gaming.
This is one of those "so good I wish I could buy more" type of games. I've said it on steam and I'm saying it here: Great game, I love Weird Western, it's an underutilized setting, and I don't mind the lo-fi pixelated art style. This is not a boomer shooter by any means. This is a very unique blend of stealth and action combo in a survival roguelite package. The levels are fantastic, the atmosphere is gripping, the world is putrid and waiting for you to...wandering through it at best. There's no saving this mess!
This game does just enough to not be a walking simulator. There's no traditional gameplay, everything you do here for for the sake of being immersed in the setting. And the setting is dripping with atmosphere. The story is not considered original if you're an avid reader of scifi, but it's an outstanding example of that type of story in the medium of gaming. Dark Descent remains their biggest game, but this is easily Frictional's best overall game.
This is the best real-time tactical shooter in the zombie setting that I've played. Everything is really smooth, switching between the primary, secondary, melee, and optionals feel really fluid. The movement is dynamic, stamina-based with running, vaulting, climbing in-n-out of windows, etc. etc. You travel from place to place, scavenging supplies and then you move on, so there's a real sense of progression, of distance traveled - it's my ideal for a zombie experience.
