I was so excited about this game, I was literally checking my library every hour to see if it had unlocked. Soon as it was there, it was on my laptop, ready to enjoy the manic fun. Sadly, for all the good things and incredible moments, the game is a bit of a let down. Good things: The soundtrack remains incredible. Parts of the story are surprisingly tender. The presentation is absolutely stunning. The combat itself is still wonderfully tight. Bad things: Too many of the levels are a weird mix of being open plan but utterly linear. Some of the stages are huge, full of invisible enemies carrying guns, able to slaughter you within seconds of entering a space because every wall is inexplicably covered in windows so you can never find respite, even though the full frontal approach almost always ends up with you dead. It makes the game frustrating and tedious instead of hilarious and challenging. For example, in one section you need to enter a door. It's a single entrance with four enemies on the other side. One is immune to melee attacks, one has a rifle, the other two have bats/knives. Even with the LT pressed, it's hard to see their patterns. As soon as you enter, the heavy and the melee guys run at you. You need to get to the guy with the gun to have a chance, but he's always on the opposite side. So getting to him is a matter of chance more than skill or planning. After 15 attempts, knowing that the rest of the level would probably take me 30-40 minutes to get through (because there isn't the same focused frenzy of HM), I just gave up. We've lost the freedom and expression of the original, replaced by a more restrictive and less coherent game. I can't imaging replaying any of the levels in this game, because they're a grind to get through. Hopefully the level editor will see talented designers put together games that enhance some of the nice new features. Hopefully the developers do what they did with the original and implement some improvements.
I LOVE this game. We'll just get that out of the way, yes? Four different characters, different establishing levels to learn their skills (but still unforgiving to any player who isn't careful), and different tactics for each one. Vast move sets, upgradeable skills, crazy weapons and the ability to beat someone to death with a compatriot's severed arm. That's why they called is Severance in the UK. Puntastic. But really, it's a remarkable adventure game that has surprising depth in both design and structure. So happy to see it on GOG!
