HIGH The buildup to the second boss fight.

LOW The actual second boss fight.

WTF “Little guys for big jobs” is a profoundly weird way to describe bullets.

There’s nothing slick about Blood West.  It’s a slow, lumbering thing – an exercise in patience, demanding to be taken on its own terms. 

My first forays into this stealth focused, first-person shooter were mired in frustration, while my seemingly interminable failures put the main character’s immortality to the test.  However, once I was willing to abandon my preconceived heuristics and fully lean into Blood West’s loop, I loved every second of it.

Recently resurrected by a talking cow skull of dubious origins, the player takes control of an unnamed, undead gunslinger tasked with defeating a great evil corrupting the land.  Structured as small open-worlds, players will explore haunted canyons, swamps, and mountain ranges across the American old west.  Light RPG elements allow for some character customization, but make no mistake, spirits, mutants, and gaggles of gun-toting birdmen offer stiff resistance to incautious players, and maintaining a low profile is crucial.

Impulse and quick reflexes find no purchase in Blood West – every action must be carefully considered, with a solid contingency plan in place should things go awry.  Stand-up fights netted poor results for this spooky cowpoke, and each encounter turned into a tactical calculus.

Take the simple act of equipping weapons – players are only able to swap between two at a time, one large and one small.  Is it more prudent to take the bow, able to stealthily dispatch weaker enemies from afar?  Or is it better to knife them in the back, relying on the close quarters fury of a double-barreled shotgun should that colossal wendigo stomping in the background take notice?  These questions become existential as health is fleeting, and death is severely punished on the plains of Blood West.

Each defeat (and subsequent resurrection) results in a “soul flaw” — a semi-permanent status effect that negatively impacts a core stat such as health, stamina, or sneaking ability.  These compound with each death, worsening up to three times. While they can eventually be remedied, these flaws do nothing to make the hostile world of Blood West any easier.

While Blood West is punishing when approached as a typical first-person shooter, it is immensely rewarding as a tactical stealth experience.  Its open-ended structure offers players abundant freedom in tackling objectives, and most areas can be approached from any direction.  I came to organize my play into discreet sorties, probing further into the wilderness and systematically clearing areas of enemies before returning to base camp to trade treasure with the merchant and heal up.  Defeated enemies stay dead until the player rests or resurrects, and I began to feel a measure of control over my environment when I realized I could stay alive much longer with the most important tactic of all – knowing when to cut bait. 

Eventually, I came to realize the majority of my deaths in Blood West were a result of my own hubris – deciding to take a snap headshot without properly scouting the area, accidentally alerting a horde of monsters in the process, or pressing into uncharted territory despite a depleted health bar.  Individual enemies are generally not difficult on their own, and most can be outrun should they become overwhelming.  That’s not to say that every death is the player’s fault, but I rarely felt Blood West was unfair and often found my own stubbornness and inattention to be the source of any frustration.

Careful attention is not only important for combat but also exploration.  Whether it’s a moored steamboat off the beaten track or a lonely cabin on a hilltop, there is sure to be loot worth finding.  As I began to explore the more far-flung corners of the map, I found powerful, unique items that literally changed the way I approached Blood West – a rifle that heals forty health with every headshot, or a trinket that offered a twenty percent boost to health, stamina, and experience points.  Some of these items shaped my play for hours to come, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that I might not have rolled credits in Blood West without them.

There is one area where Blood West falls short, however – the boss fights.  Each act is structured around tracking and exterminating an evil entity, and the narrative revolves around the buildup to these encounters.  Unfortunately, these battles are uniformly disappointing and rely on mechanics that stray from Blood West’s strengths.  Whether it’s dexterity-based dodging or battles of attrition, gone is the emphasis on thoughtful, strategic play that forms Blood West’s foundation.  While certainly a letdown, these criticisms amount to little more than quibbles in the wake of all that Blood West does right.

Blood West won’t be for everyone, but those willing to go along with its demanding play and deliberate pacing will find an engaging experience that celebrates the player’s wits as much as reflexes.  I won’t soon forget the feeling of being low on ammo, even lower on health and deep behind enemy lines, knowing I should turn back, but forging ahead anyway, intoxicated by what treasure could be around the next corner – because more than likely, it’s worth it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Buy Blood West: PS5 – Xbox – PC

Disclosures: This game is developed by Hyperstrange and published by New Blood Interactive LLC. It is currently available on PC, PS5, and XBX/S.  This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 30 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the primary campaign was completed, but the DLC campaign was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence. This game is definitely not aimed at children.  While the visuals are generally low fidelity and rendered in a cartoony, non-realistic fashion, there is plenty of blood and gore.  Enemies can be killed with various firearms, knives, and swords.  When killed, enemies will spray blood out and can be partially dismembered with certain weapons.  Alcohol and tobacco can be consumed as power-ups.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game only offers subtitles in certain instances.  Primary dialogue between characters is fully subtitled, but the player’s character makes many comments throughout gameplay that are not subtitled at all. While this game offers two options for text size, this only applies to certain menus and did not impact the text in subtitled dialogue. This game relies heavily on stealth, and when playing without sound I found it more difficult to remain unseen and, consequently, died more frequently due to enemy noises that are not represented visually. The missing in-game subtitles combined with the lack of visual indicators for key contextual noises means this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Blood West Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Exceptional multiplayer. 

LOW Lackluster campaign. Some slow progression.

WTF Staying up late during work nights to try and end on a win.

Within the storied history of multiplayer shooters, few contenders can carry the weight of something like DICE’s Battlefield. This long-running military series has been a major staple in the online space, offering large-scale battles across different settings ranging from World War I to the far-flung future. 

Over the last decade or so, players have experienced some highs (Battlefield 1) and lows (Battlefield 2042), but nothing has truly brought the series back to its peak. The best installments, Battlefield 3 and 4, seem like distant memories now, but over the last couple of weeks with Battlefield 6, I’ve walked away telling myself something I never thought I’d say — Holy shit, Battlefield is back. 

Developed by the newly-formed Battlefield Studios (comprised of developers DICE, Criterion Games, Motive Studios, and Ripple Effect Studios), Battlefield 6 is a first-person shooter comprised of two main game modes — a story-driven, single-player campaign and an online multiplayer suite. The latter is the obvious star of the show, with multiplayer being the bread and butter of any great Battlefield experience, but the campaign deserves mention. 

Being the first Battlefield campaign since 2018’s V (and the first non-episodic entry since 2013’s 4) I was surprised at its inclusion at all, given the series’ history as a multiplayer-first experience. Taking place between the years 2027-2028, players control a series of US Marines who are fighting a private army known as Pax Armata. Set across locales like Brooklyn, Cairo, and Tajikistan, gameplay in the single-player is largely linear. 

Most levels have players shooting enemies, running from one point to another, and ending each chapter on a major setpiece. Certain levels feature elements that shake things up, like giving light commands to AI squadmates — telling them to scout enemies ahead or to fire on a large group of hostiles. 

Overall, Battlefield 6’s campaign felt like a ‘best of’ collection comprised of various military shooter bits. There are dedicated sniper missions where players sneak around the perimeter of an area and take enemies out from afar, there are plenty of vehicle sections where players either drive large trucks or man turrets, and there are even some sections that play out in a neat night-vision mode focused entirely on stealth. Those who have fond memories of playing things like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) might get some enjoyment out of the campaign’s short length and ease of play. 

While the narrative itself is not the most interesting, the main reason to play is that it essentially serves as an extended tutorial to the mechanics. Things like squad commands, different weapon types, vehicles, and even the destructibility of certain levels all come into play when players take to the online modes. The offline adventure is a good way to ease into it, even if it’s not a dramatic extravaganza. 

The campaign is gorgeous in terms of presentation though, with Michael Bay-esque set pieces and Hollywood-level sound design coming together to create something cool. Playing with some decent headphones elevated this experience and added to the immersion. However, with all that said, the real meat of BF6 is the multiplayer. If the campaign was less than impressive, the chaos that comes from any given multiplayer match more than makes up for it.

Spread across several different modes, the main offerings in rotation are Conquest, Breakthrough, and Rush. All three revolve around a mix of defending and attacking certain objectives or sectors on the map. Up to 64 players across both teams can play in these modes, with each team being separated into groups of four called squads. 

From the jump, the gameplay loop is exceptional thanks to these large-scale battles, ensuring that no two matches are ever the same. The tension that comes from dealing with enemy snipers, constantly trying to revive fallen teammates, or using a sledgehammer to tear down walls and create new perches was all exciting. Most matches last between 30-40 minutes, and the hours flew by as that “one more game” feeling kept hitting.

While the gameplay structure of each mode is largely unchanged from prior BF titles, there are some smart tweaks to the formula and refinements that I can appreciate. The overly large, sprawling maps from 2042 are gone, replaced with smaller (yet still huge for an online shooter) arenas that feel more dense. Navigating these zones no longer feels like a drag, and the annoying weather events from the last installment are also gone. The experience has been refined down to its purest elements.

Also returning from prior BF games is the class system, with each offering different advantages and weapon specialties. I mostly ran with the assault class, which primarily uses assault rifles and has faster health regeneration thanks to an adrenaline shot. BF6 clearly labels which guns work best for each class, and leveling up is a straightforward affair. Killing with specific guns levels them up and unlocks slots for attachments, while raising the overall level of the player unlocks more weapons. There are also class-specific assignments that unlock gadgets and secondary items ranging from simple feats like getting kills with a shotgun, or something more specific like getting kills while on adrenaline. 

I like the progression here, as everything is telegraphed clearly, and I’m always working towards something — even bad matches that end in a loss feel like they get me closer to my overall goals. I do wish that leveling up were a bit faster, though — it does feel like a slight grind when it comes to reaching the next level, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment of multiplayer. 

At launch, there’s a lot to love, and I was especially surprised by how smooth the experience has been. I had no major connection issues to impede progress, and I was unaffected by long server queue wait times. Connectivity has been stable, and being able to squad up with friends via crossplay is nice.

Playing Battlefield 6, I was transported back to a time when I enjoyed online multiplayer. I hopped off the competitive shooter train a while ago, trading my regular Call of Duty sessions in for sports and racing titles. However, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent all my free time here, and as dangerous as this might be to a full-time student with a demanding full-time job, the quality of that time spent rests heavily on the fact that I’m going to stick with it after my review is complete. While the campaign might be little more than a glorified tutorial, this remains a war worth fighting.

Rating: 8.5  out of 10

Buy Battlefield 6 – PC – PS – XB 

Disclosures: This game is published by EA and developed by Battlefield Studios. It is available on PC, XBX/S, and PS5. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 30 hours were spent across the single-player and multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. According to the site: Battlefield 6 is rated M for Mature 17+ by the ESRB with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. Also includes Users Interact and In-Game Purchases. This is a first-person shooter in which players command a NATO squad against a private military faction during a war. Players engage in military missions, firefights, and battle mode with enemy soldiers/other players. Players use pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and explosives to kill enemies in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by blood-splatter effects, realistic gunfire, cries of pain, and large explosions. Players can perform stealth attacks on enemies, using knives to stab them from behind. One cutscene depicts a character getting his thumb cut off close-up. The word “f**k” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are plenty of visual cues during gameplay, in the form of markers and map icons. All of these can be adjusted in the menu. Subtitles are present and can be resized. As no audio cues are needed for gameplay, I’d say this is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Battlefield 6 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Great use of Remedy’s Control aesthetic for a team shooter.

LOW Little interaction between the different weapon classes.

WTF Don’t ask about Sticky Ricky…

I don’t play many first-person shooters. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited at the prospect of a multiplayer shooter taking place in the Remedy connected universe (notable residents: Alan Wake and Control). It’s a universe that I love playing single-player titles in, so my interest was high. 

Unfortunately, the reality is that FBC: Firebreak fell far short of my expectations. It’s a weird experience like almost every Remedy title is, but its mechanics and gameplay quirks fall flat instead of standing out. 

Firebreak’s ask of players is to team up in a squad of three people and clock in for their shift at the Federal Bureau of Control, a fictional government agency that deals with all things ghostly and “paranatural.” In a new initiative called the Firebreak Protocol, FBC management sends teams out into the depths of FBC HQ to tackle the zombified masses of people known as the Hiss, as well as ghosts and strange happenings that have spiraled out of control. 

These missions vary in scope, but nearly all of them replicate the Control aesthetic to a T. The soulless, corporate interiors of various office floors were our playground, but more often they felt like killing floors. Each level is oppressive, contrasting most other titles in the genre that take a fantastical or slightly horrifying approach.

In this way, Firebreak takes a different path towards putting players on edge in a zombie shooter, and it’s the game’s biggest success. Rather than being the super-powered heroine of Control, Firebreak puts the player in the shoes of a regular guy with a gun and a home repair kit. The anxiety of going up against a threat that’s normally taken care of by an extraordinary individual is what kept me going. At its best, Firebreak offers the fast-paced excitement of a great Call of Duty: Zombies level, but it can’t maintain that tone. When it wanes, the material feels like the corporate exercises the title is trying to mock.

Each of the five selectable missions are different threats that teams need to clear in the Oldest House, an enigmatic building first shown in Control. Between destroying endlessly multiplying sticky notes to collecting larva from an alien in an office basement, the mission variety is theoretically there. However, these tasks start to get stale after replays of each mission, which are required to progress in the rewards system. These replays are also a great time to practice teamwork with other players, but so many of the roles and tasks that each player on a given team “should complete” often feel disconnected and superfluous.

Starting on the mission design, the way a mission begins is with all three players needing to complete a few tasks toward the overall goal. Sometimes that’s destroying haunted sticky notes, fixing panels on a giant furnace, or exorcising ghosts from the FBC. All the while, a crowd of Hiss zombies is attempting to kill every player while they’re trying to do their jobs.

The problem here is that these tasks often felt like filler to me. Sure, I had to go fix a few panels or load some alien specimens into a cart, but the best parts of the missions are killing the Hiss en masse. It makes the goals feel like hoops to jump through to unlock better gear, instead of being the “meat” of Firebreak. There are standout portions of each mission, sure, like the giant sticky note Sticky Ricky acting as a final boss, or the frantic sprint to load barrels and stop a giant furnace from going supernova. Sadly, there are few of these tremendous moments, and more tasks that boil down to clicking a sequence of buttons in a row to get to the next room.

The “roles” of Firebreak also don’t have implications for gameplay outside of doing the random tasks in each level. Each player is assigned one of three “Crisis Kits” before they play — a Fix Kit, complete with a wrench that can fix electrical panels, a Jump Kit, fitted with an electrical shocker that can charge up powered devices and electrify water, and the Splash Kit, a super soaker on a player’s back that can cleanse players of ailments like poison or burn. Theoretically, all three also have in-game combat uses, but they aren’t as strong as a player’s secondary gun. 

If you didn’t guess, the Splash Kit is about the only one that consistently pays off. I would consistently play using the Fix Kit and stick to it, but I wish I had used the Splash Kit more since it could heal damaged players. The problem is none of these kits seemed to matter when it came to deciding the ends of matches, and all of them should be reworked to have greater effects in combat.

Ultimately, Firebreak’s gameplay problem is that the gunplay in this supernatural team-based jaunt is the best portion of the experience — it isn’t a terrible problem to have, but it’s a sign that the missions and classes need design boosts to make them more relevant and compelling. 

Firebreak is a new direction in expanding Remedy’s connected universe, but the art direction and aesthetics can only do so much of the heavy lifting when the other aspects aren’t bringing as much to the table. The end result doesn’t stack up to the source material that inspired it, and to this Remedy fan, it could and should be so much better. 

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Buy FBC: Firebreak – PC – XB- PS

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Remedy Entertainment. It is currently available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PC. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the multiplayer mode, and each mission was completed at least once. There are no single-player modes.

Parents: This game is rated on the ESRB as T for violence, blood, and language. It contains gun violence killing non-human creatures.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Dear & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles in the game that can be resized. The game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The game’s controls are fully remappable.

The post FBC: Firebreak Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH I never knew a chainsaw leg power slide would be everything I needed in life!

LOW The grappling hook can be aggravating to use.

WTF You can fight a vending machine, because reasons!

Ryan initially covered Turbo Overkill in his main review, and I tended to agree with many of his points. However, there were some additional aspects of this title I wanted to cover. While I also think the game is great, it’s not without some minor flaws.

As the cyborg Johnny Turbo, players explore the cyberpunk and neon city of Paradise, mowing down enemy after enemy in pursuit of the renegade AI Syn. Along the way, he has to traverse the city’s many dangerous sectors and roadways, dispatching the hordes of goons and monstrosities Syn has in its thrall. Over the course of three episodes, Johnny shoots, dices, and burns his way to closer to the menacing AI.

The combat, overall, is incredibly solid, and every level is frenetic. Using a variety of guns he finds along the way, Johnny has many options for decimating enemies, but he also has another secret weapon — a chainsaw leg (the Chegg). That’s right, Johnny’s leg is a chainsaw, and he can use it to power slide into numerous enemies. This saves ammo, of course, but it also looks cool as hell when he does it.

The Chegg isn’t the only cool weapon, though — every weapon has an alt-fire mode that expands its capabilities. The chain gun, for example, becomes a flamethrower. One of the shotguns can become a grenade launcher. It’s this kind of versatility is something I liked about Turbo Overkill. Having tons of great options for tackling waves of enemies is always a good thing.

Another cool feature is that in certain combat arenas, Johnny will become corrupted, which limits his weapon choices and initially seems bad. However, he gains infinite ammo for the entirety of the corruption’s duration, a neat trick that forces the player to learn all the weapons, rather than their favorite handful.

Maps are also interesting, colorful, and diverse. Many take place in Paradise’s city streets, but some add unique and interesting designs. My favorite was a section where I had to get out of my car in a busy highway and jump from car to car while pursuing a train.

Movement is super fluid and felt great for the most part. Johnny can double-jump from the get-go, dash, and after a certain point, slow down time. Like the versatility in weaponry, this agile quality gave a ton of options for getting around and avoiding getting trapped by enemies.

Without turning this review into a laundry list, there are a lot of things to like about Turbo Overkill — a great upgrade system also allows players to customize their Johnny, bonus items in each level that can grant upgrades, tapes that unlock secret levels, game mode modifiers, and an awesome soundtrack full of synth-heavy tunes that matched the atmosphere.

However, while all of that is great, there are a number of issues that hold it back, as well.

One of the most aggravating elements in Turbo Overkill is the grappling hook. It’s tricky to activate it correctly, and I had to have my reticle placed too precisely to use it. This was fine when I was stationary, but there are numerous climbs that require tight and consecutive uses of the hook. It’s too easy to miss in a tight spot and get sent hurtling into a pit.

There, are also a few UI elements that can are hard to see. The grappling hook activation icon is one of them, but the amount of armor Johnny has is also fairly tricky to see at a glance.

Levels can also be too long, many padded out with combat gauntlets. While it can be enjoyable to blast away at enemies left and right, these sequences made some levels last upwards of an hour at times, which turned them into a bit of a slog. The third episode of the game is particularly egregious with this.

In terms of production, I encountered some bugs. One kept trapping me under objects and in weird positions. Another prevented from progressing because some events wouldn’t trigger. In one instance, I had killed all enemies in an area, but the required door wouldn’t open, and I became unable to progress until I reloaded a save.

Despite these grievances, I still enjoyed my time with Turbo Overkill. It’s a reminder of the shooters we used to get on the reg back in the day, and it’s a great homage to those classics — it’s a must-play for fans of old-school fragging, for sure.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Turbo Overkill – Steam – Epic – GOG – Xbox – PS5 – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trigger Happy Interactive and published by Apogee Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 18 hours was devoted to the game, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. The Rating Summary states: “This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a futuristic bounty hunter (Johnny [Turbo, initially written as Nitro]) trying to prevent a powerful AI from taking over a city. Players infiltrate building/facilities and use a chainsaw-like weapon, pistols, and electric shotguns to kill enemies (e.g., cyborgs, street punks). The frenetic run-and-gun combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks result in dismemberment/decapitation, causing bloody chunks to stain/litter the environment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence and blood/gore: a cyborg thug’s entrails used as a tool; a first-person view of a character’s hands blown off. The word ‘f**k’ is heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. The subtitles do work when playing audio logs, however, there is no closed captioning. This omission can make it difficult to understand some character logs and detect incoming enemies. This title is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Turbo Overkill Second Opinion appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The enhancements improve the creepy factor of an already-eerie game.

LOW The first two titles have numerous bugs and crashing issues.

WTF Burers, man…

I never got a chance to play the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games back in the day, so I was happy to try the Enhanced versions that recently came to new platforms, and I was delighted to find that they held an intriguing and dangerous world of outcasts, monsters, and treasure.

For those unfamiliar with the series, this S.T.A.L.K.E.R. package features three FPS titles with survival and horror elements set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine — Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat.

This fictional version of the Zone is a highly irradiated area filled with strange anomalies, horrifying mutants and numerous mysteries, and Shadow sets up the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. Clear Sky acts as a prequel to it, answering questions players may have had about the Zone’s origins. Finally, Prypiat is a direct sequel to Shadow, with a new area of the Zone to explore and new mysteries to solve.

For owners of the original versions on PC and console, there’s great news — they’ll get the updated versions for free. On top of that, new owners will also the original versions as well. The one exception was Epic Games Store, which I couldn’t confirm. On top of that, saves from the older versions of each title can be transferred from the main menu, allowing players to start where they left off.

In this updated everything-in-one-package, there’s also a new Ukrainian voiceover option, which allows anyone to have a more immersive experience while playing these titles if they wish to experience the language of the country it’s set in.

Of the three titles, Prypiat was the best. Its world was the most fleshed out and lacked many of the problems the other two had (more on that in a bit.) Also, the side quests were the best in the trilogy. Overall, it was the most realized version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s ideas, with a world that delivers on its premise thanks to updated mechanics like the ability to pass time while sleeping and better gear customization. Niceties like his helped make the experience more engaging, and the world easier to interact with.

There’s also a commitment to realism that I found added to the challenge of these titles. Every object has weight, so I had to be strategic with what I carried at all times. I could only carry so many weapons, ammo, and healing items before I would start to be affected by encumbrance. For example, if I exceeded my carrying capacity by a little, I wouldn’t be able to run for long before tiring out, and even walking could become taxing. If I exceeded my carrying strength by a lot, I couldn’t move anymore.

Also, the pause menu doesn’t stop the game like a proper pause. Things still happen in the world while looking through menus, which meant that I had to be on my toes. Critters and other stalkers could sneak up and destroy me quickly if I wasn’t attentive. It gave the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy a great sense of realism and identity that I haven’t seen in many other titles.

On the PS5, the new features are smartly implemented. If I missed an on-screen popup, the adaptive triggers would help me know that a weapon was jammed. The rumble feature also gave great tactile feedback, letting me feel thunder and rain on my characters. The controller’s speaker would crackle when the Geiger counter would start up, alerting me to radiation. In one area of Clear Sky, it even played a song from an encampment that increased in volume as I approached it, like it was on a radio.

The lighting effects were also nice, and enhanced the ambiance. Daytime was accentuated with ‘god rays’ and other wonderful lighting effects. Dark areas, however, were very dark, and made things a bit scarier (even with the flashlight on), which I enjoyed.

Multiple endings in Shadow and Prypiat provide great replay value, and the first title features at least seven endings, depending on various gameplay factors and quests completed. The third title, on the other hand, provided only slight variations on the ending cutscenes/

While Legends Of The Zone is clearly a great way to catch up with these cult classic titles, there were a few anomalies throughout my time with the trilogy, particularly with the first two installments.

Bugged enemies were common in Shadow and Clear Sky — some would get stuck behind something, or some would attack and hit me from behind cover. Sometimes, enemies would also spawn right next to me after loading into a game despite not being there when I saved, leading to some unfortunate deaths.

Crashes were also common, with the first two titles crashing several times each during my playthroughs. Prypiat had a single crash, but otherwise ran well.

These games could also be quite frustratingly hard (especially Shadow) at times. Enemies could be bullet sponges at times, especially in later areas, while I could go down in just a few shots. Some needed tutorials are sparse. While the original release may have had a manual, these don’t and that makes tutorialization more necessary to include. Thankfully, changes to Call of Pripyat helped make things a bit more manageable.

There were numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the Shadow’s text, which definitely made this Enhanced edition not feel so updated.

Auto-saves, only happen when loading into a new area, and after some events and dialogue. Could have used some for safer areas. Again, Prypiat adds in some auto-saves after some events to help prevent players from losing progress.

The “Quality” mode didn’t really change all that much, and the FPS ended up being a bit unstable as a result. In fact, using it can cause blurriness when rotating the camera. Performance mode, thankfully, ran better and delivered a stable 60fps while the graphics still looked fine.

While this trilogy’s first two games suffer from issues that should have been fixed, they’re still worth playing. Call of Prypiat is clearly the standout experience, but all three as a package represent extraordinary adventures filled with lore and monsters that FPS, horror, and survival fans alike should all try — even if the “enhancements” aren’t quite what they needed to be.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy En. Ed. — Steam — GOG — Epic — PlayStation — Xbox

Disclosures: These games were developed and published by GSC Game World LTD. They are currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. The original version of the trilogy is also available on Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 66 hours were devoted to the trilogy, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language and Use of Alcohol. There is no ESRB summary for this collection. All three games feature gratuitous violence from gunfire, explosions, demolition, and the like. Profanity, such as “sh*t,” “c*cksucker”, “fa**ot”, “a*shole,” and “b*tch” can be heard in spoken dialogue in all three titles. In many instances, characters will partake of various drugs. The player character can also consume alcohol. In Call of Prypiat, players can take steroids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. This game is not fully accessible. While the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have subtitles on by default, they can be small and difficult to read at times, especially with no option to add a background to them. This can cause the white text to blend in with some background elements, making reading even more difficult. In addition to this, there isn’t any closed captioning, so the lack of visual cues is a challenge. Lastly, some characters will chatter outside of communication with players. However, there aren’t any subtitles for this ambient dialogue, which can be especially frustrating since they speak in Ukrainian.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. However, there are a couple of alternate control schemes.

The post S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends Of The Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The sound design rocks.

LOW So many bugs.

WTF Those zombies dressed as pigs standing still, doing nothing.

Dead Trash is another post-apocalyptic game. I say another because there are elements here that could promise a more thrilling experience, but Dead Trash ends up being an unremarkable work – and that’s fine. It doesn’t seem to be trying for something exceptional, just a simple FPS, and if that’s its premise then it succeeds… although just barely.

Dead Trash is a retro first-person shooter and reminds us of when the genre emerged, so it’s with nostalgia that we can observe 2D objects in 3D space and experience the entire campaign with little rendering, seeing almost everything pixel by pixel.

It clearly takes inspiration from titles like the very first Doom or Wolfenstein 3D, and like these classic games, Dead Trash also tries to recreate an oppressive atmosphere with thrilling shooting against enemies who deserve to be shot. In this case, anarchist gangs and zombies in a chaotic, post-apocalyptic world where our character needs to survive in ruined suburbs filled with crumbling houses and abandoned streets brimming with trash and nuclear waste.

This effort is named Dead Trash because many of the items we must pick up, like medicine and ammunition, are in trash bags, and trash bags are everywhere. Every street and corner has trash bags, and this is not mere decoration of degraded society, but a constant supply of items needed to progress.

The controls in Dead Trash are good. We can’t lock on to targets, but the aim is stable and the hitboxes are reliable. However, controls are just a basic starting point in crafting an FPS experience and many other aspects don’t feel up to snuff.

For example, the shooting distances are completely off (pistols have the range of a sniper rifle) and the cover system is awful – often when we hide behind wooden boxes or stone columns, enemy bullets pierce through and hit us). These details can be frustrating, and bring down the experience. Also, enemy variety is disappointing and few of the foes are memorable.

The difficulty curve is dizzying, and we’ll regularly end up in areas full of enemies jumping and shooting. It’s a little rough, but what can really add frustration at times is darkness – particularly in the first area – and the way that enemies that hide in it and take potshots from miles away. It’s common to arrive in an area where enemies are shooting and we don’t know where the shots are coming from. Since the cover system doesn’t work most of the time, this brings the entire FPS experience down a notch. I understand that the developers used darkness as an element to increase suspense, but, it’s more accurate to say that it’s an impediment to enjoyment.

On the other hand, I found the level design good. The campaign is linear, but each section leaves room for a bit of exploration that is rewarded with healing items, new weapons, keys to hidden paths, and weird encounters. I’d also say that the overall pace of play is solid, and the soundtrack is easily the best thing in Dead Trash, adding haunting and spooky ambiance for a more thrilling experience.

Dead Trash is in an early phase and needs to be polished with updates. It still has many bugs, like when our character dies it doesn’t trigger a game over screen, and sometimes the reload doesn’t happen and we need to press many buttons hoping for a reaction or, ultimately, we just have to restart. Plus, I’ve been stuck in two areas, enemies get bugged on some objects (like tires and pillars) and they don’t crouch to pass through small tunnels, as their bodies get caught. However, this review is based on the official launch version, so we can only hope that improvements will come.

Although rough around the edges, Dead Trash is exactly what it sounds like – a dumpster fire of suspenseful moments, shooting, and post-apocalyptic death everywhere. For those who are feeling nostalgic and need something short and edgy, Dead Trash might be the ticket as long as expectations are tempered.

Buy Dead Trash – PC

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Crowhill Studios and published by DOSMan Games. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 4 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: As of press time, this game was not reviewed by the ESRB. This game contains violence and presents visceral themes with horror moments. It’s about killing people and monsters by shooting fire guns and using hand weapons. Although the game is very pixelated, we can still see the blood, bodies exploding and hear the screams of suffering. This game is not recommended for kids below 10 years old.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no dialogue in this game, and the only text that appears is in the transitions between levels, where we have a comic book style transition. These texts cannot be altered or resized. Playing the game without sound can be challenging, because there are sound cues that alert us that an enemy is approaching in the darkness. If we don’t hear these sounds, we can’t anticipate enemies, and our gameplay has to be slower and more cautious. In this sense, it is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Dead Trash Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Goodbye “Quests”, hello “Leads”!

LOW Shallow gameplay mechanics.

WTF They “say less is more” but isn’t it too little!?

Atomfall is Rebellion’s timely break from the Sniper Elite franchise.

Officially called a first-person survival actioner, this work of historical science fiction is a reasonably-sized double-A project that does not want all of a player’s time and attention, instead offering a short, mysterious adventure filled with conspiracies and moral dilemmas.

Atomfall‘s story is set five years after the UK’s (real life) Windscale Fire nuclear incident of 1957. In this alternate take, a military quarantine protocol is enacted and players control of someone who’s had an accident that left him unconscious for five years. Upon waking up, the protagonist discovers that he’s lost his memory and now must find the truth behind the incident and a way out of the quarantine that’s been in effect for all this time.

Atomfall is played from a first-person perspective, and employs stealth and shooting elements. In the early stages, firearms and bullets are rare and combat is mostly focused on melee. Later on, different types of firearms such as revolvers, marksman rifles, and bows can be acquired through looting, exploration, or trading. The world consists of four areas that are connected through a hub-like facility called The Interchange. Different factions reside in each part of the world, and as one might expect, the factions can consider the player either friend or foe based on their choices.

Atomfall can largely be seen as two halves — the gameplay and the narrative.

Though there is a barebones skill tree that improves combat, stealth, and survival capabilities of the player, it doesn’t provide any active special abilities. As such, Atomfall largely plays the same at the end as it does at the beginning, resulting in the combat and stealth feeling shallow, especially since the mechanics (in general) are on par with something from the early 2000s.

For example, players can crouch or hide in bushes to prevent being detected and to take out enemies silently from behind but that’s all there is to it. The awareness of enemies is also incredibly high, which makes it nearly impossible to stealth without it eventually turning into a shootout. The same goes for combat. Melee is tanky and slow because there’s no dodge or deflect, and shootouts are all about hiding behind a rock and returning fire. There are no cover systems or special abilities to add depth or strategy to any of the action. In fact, the only good thing about combat is the weapon variety and the ability to upgrade later in the campaign, increasing a weapon’s stats and their looks.

With such straightforward action, Atomfall‘s narrative and story are certainly its strongest suits, and to be fair, its opening is a good one — imagine leaving an underground bunker, suffering from amnesia and the very first thing in view is an atomic powerplant on the horizon surrounded by strange cyan auroras. Before that sight can be properly digested, a nearby payphone rings and a monstrous voice on the other side requests the death of someone called Oberon! Just five minutes into the experience we’re already faced with so many questions — what happened to that powerplant? Who is Oberon? Who are these people living in this mess? And what is my role in it? Mystery is a classic way to kick off an adventure, and the team at Rebellion have nailed it.

Atomfall also tries to redefine the notion of quests and rebrands them as “leads” — and they don’t start and end in a traditonal linear way. Some of the leads players find at the beginning of the story will continue to get updated until the very end. Sometimes finding an object updates the log for multiple leads and adds entries about them. Every lead might be as important as the next, and players will find themselves in a web of interconnected leads whose value and importance are sometimes revealed only after their conclusion.

Further, Atomfall doesn’t believe in handholding when it comes to exploration and lead design. Players must follow visual clues such as a bloody set of footprints that lead to a waterfall to find a hidden cave behind it. Such do-it-yourself encounters are the basis of exploration which might result in finding rare resources, weapons, quest items, or more leads.

While Atomfall‘s ending isn’t a top-notch example in the genre, it is highly reflective of the choices players make and their interactions with NPCs. Supporting characters met along the way are well written and each have characteristics that make them feel like unique human beings with agendas and aspirations, and very often they’re in contrast with what someone else wants — for example, one might be focused on accepting what’s happening in the zone, another NPC asks you to fight against the odds, while yet another might suggest jumping ship and leaving everyone else to their fate. Credits will roll accordingly.

Atomfall is ultimately what I call a “chimera” game — it incorporates elements from different genres, but keeps their influence on a surface level. It has resource management and crafting mechanics of classic survival titles, multiple endings and choice-related story and gameplay outcomes akin to classic RPGs, and an emphasis on exploration usually seen in action-adventure counterparts. These are all good things at first glance, but the lack of depth in most regards makes it hard to recommend to dedicated genre fans while also making it relevant to any discussion on traditional boundaries of defining genre.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Buy Atomfall: PC – PS – XB

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Rebellion. It is available on PC, PS4/5, and XBO/X/S. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PC. Approximately 14 hours were spent in single-player and the game was completed. There is no multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood, Language and Violence. The site reads: Battles are highlighted by gunfire, cries of pain, and blood-splatter effects. Players have the ability to attack/kill bystanders and civilians, snapping their necks and/or slashing them repeatedly, with large blood-splatter effects. During the course of the game, players can encounter bloodstained corpses and/or blood on the ground. The words “sht” and “prck” appear in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles and visual options available in the game, all of which can be adjusted. There were no audio cues of note. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Atomfall Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Think The Office, but with cults and the occasional demon.

LOW The combat mechanics feel floaty.

WTF A vampire priest purging demons — just another day in Poland.

I’ve always found the absurd to be wildly entertaining. Maybe that’s why Priest Simulator: Vampire Show pulled me in like an unholy sermon I couldn’t walk away from. It didn’t ask if I was ready, it just threw me headfirst into the madness.

This isn’t about quiet reflection or slow world-building. It’s about being a vampire-killing priest in modern-day Poland, armed with a cross, a shotgun, and an attitude problem. The world is bizarre, the humor dark and unhinged, and the gameplay a chaotic mix of first-person combat, exorcisms, and satire-heavy storytelling.

From the moment I loaded in, I knew Priest Simulator: Vampire Show was different. The aesthetic was grimy in the best way, like a cursed VHS tape found in a church basement. The mockumentary-style presentation, complete with character interviews and absurd cutscenes, only added to its unhinged charm. It’s a fever dream wrapped in a game engine.

It plays like a traditional FPS but with a religious twist. Instead of just mowing down enemies, I was purging them using holy relics and an arsenal of weapons that ranged from crucifixes to hammers. Telekinesis let me hurl objects at enemies, sending them flying across the room like an exorcism scene gone horribly wrong. That said, while the combat was indeed entertaining for a while, it did start feeling repetitive — apparently there are only so many ways to punch a demon in the face before it loses its charm.

I must also discuss the exorcism mechanics. Some moments were brilliantly chaotic, like wielding a massive censer to banish a demon before watching it erupt into a glorious burst of light. But at times, these sequences felt frustrating. Certain exorcisms required precise movement or interaction, and when clunky controls got in the way (like fumbling with weapon swaps mid-fight or getting stuck on debris) it turned what should have been intense moments into tests of patience.

When everything clicked, though, it was pure, ridiculous fun. One moment I was sprinting through a decrepit town, blasting vampires with holy energy, dodging fireballs, then leaping into a car to run down a demon mid-exorcism. It was the kind of over-the-top, “is this really happening?” gameplay that made me laugh out loud.

Despite the chaos, the story somehow managed to stay engaging. The writing is sharp, dripping with satire that pokes fun at organized religion, pop culture, and everything in between. One mission had me hunting down sacrilegious graffiti artists, while another involved illegally selling holy water on the side. The experience thrives on its irreverence, and it works because it never hesitates to go all-in on the absurdity.

It’s not all exorcisms and face-punching, though. PS:VS also let me renovate my own church, turning it into something more than just a place of worship. Upgrades range from practical restorations to, well, installing an aquarium or a DJ booth. It’s weird, but in a way that fits perfectly within this offbeat world.

Musically, Priest Simulator: Vampire Show leans into its eerie, industrial vibe. The soundtrack pulsed with a strange energy that made every moment feel just a little off-kilter. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but that seemed to be the point. Haunting choirs mixed with distorted synths made it the background score to a church rave gone wrong, and anyone expecting angelic hymns was in the wrong place.

At its best, Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is an unapologetic, genre-mashing ride through the absurd. It didn’t hold my hand, and it definitely didn’t take itself seriously. On the other hand, the longer I played, the more the gameplay loop started to wear thin. The novelty of the premise carried me far, but the repetition and occasional mechanical hiccups chipped away at my enthusiasm. Even so, the sheer commitment to weirdness made it hard to walk away completely. For those who thrive on the bizarre, this one’s worth a trip to the confessional.

— Faiq Ilhan

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Asmodev and published by Ultimate Games S.A. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 6 hours was devoted to the game, and it was not completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game is unrated by the ESRB. In it, players will attack enemies with guns, blades, telepathic powers. The game also strongly parodies the topic of religion. There are swear words littered throughout normal dialogue.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind Modes are not present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles, but subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio is needed to complete the game, but there are visual cues like highlighted items along with text hints on-screen.

Controls: Controls are remappable, with interchangeable hotkeys. It plays similarly to an FPS game where the left mouse click controls the left hand and the right mouse click controls the right hand.

The post Priest Simulator: Vampire Show Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The chainsaw leg is as awesome as it sounds.

LOW Awkward control mapping.

WTF Does the tale of Johnny Turbo really need audio logs?

The streets of Turbo Overkill are a juxtaposition of day-glo and detritus as neon signs and hologram palm trees tower over the rainy underbelly of Paradise City — a typical cyberpunk landscape, elevated by a chunky, pixelated aesthetic.

As a first-person shooter with a retro bent, Turbo Overkill puts players in the bladed boots of Johnny Turbo, a cyborg on a quest for revenge. Battling his way through an army of mercs, punks and an evil A.I.,

Loitering is a capital offense in Paradise City, but Johnny isn’t one to dawdle and earns every bit of his surname as he battles through an army of mercs, punks and an evil A.I. Split-second evasion becomes as important as a quick trigger-finger as enemies materialize out of thin air, and players are well equipped with an out-of-the-box double jump and air dash to quickly re-position.

Equally important is the lack of punishment for miscalculated leaps. Plummeting into the abyss during a high-flying fracas results in a quick respawn with zero progress lost — encouragement for increasingly drastic maneuvers.

Most noteworthy however, is Johnny’s chainsaw leg. At any point, players can transition from a sprint into a toothy slide, deploying the chainsaw to quickly carve through weaker opponents. Often enemies will charge in single file, offering perfect opportunities to hurtle through levels in a shower of carnage.

Augments can be purchased to boost firepower, expand player’s movement options, or even gain back health for every enemy mowed down by the chainsaw. Whether in mid-air or zipping up a half-pipe with his chainsaw, Johnny is fully maneuverable and the level design takes full advantage of this. While there’s hardly a bad one in the bunch, the first and third acts hold the most memorable stages.

Of particular note, the hovercar highway in the first act tasks players with navigating airborne traffic. Leaping from car to car, dodging enemy fire and landing headshots where possible is exhilarating and cinematic, all while leaving control firmly in the player’s hands. Another favorite is the late-stage, low gravity battle. With an uncanny contrast of quick dashes and lazy, floating descents, it offers a new spin on Turbo Overkill’s bedrock of movement and speed.

In a larger sense, arenas are open and organic, allowing players to deploy Johnny’s abilities in whichever way they see fit. Jump pads and magnetic walls offer suggestions, but there is no one ‘right’ path through an encounter, and finding my own perfect line through the armada of enemies never ceased to be engaging.

Unfortunately, the joys of traversal are let down somewhat by an inflexible control scheme. There’s only one configuration offered, and it is not remappable.

While I had several problems with the controls, the worst offender is the weapon wheel. Mapped to the left and right D-Pad buttons, switching weapons requires players to take their thumb off the left stick, leaving Johnny motionless on the battlefield. Consequently, I found myself favoring jack-of-all-trades guns such as the SMG and shotgun, rather than exploring more esoteric offerings.

To be fair, I was intrigued by weapons such as the telefragger (a sniper rifle that teleports the player) or the ion cannon, which calls down a giant space laser to decimate foes, but never felt as though I could spare a moment to manage the switch amidst the hectic firefights. While this may seem like a nitpick, movement is paramount in Turbo Overkill, and my experience was marred by the nagging sense that I couldn’t fully engage with the “shooter” part of this first-person shooter.

Technical foibles aside, Turbo Overkill more than earns its place in the pantheon, and frankly, the gimmick of a chainsaw leg alone was probably enough to win me over. That said, the thoughtfully crafted encounters coupled with the creative level layouts buoy Turbo Overkill beyond its simple appearance. Ultimately, the peculiar grace of navigating the violent streets of Paradise City just feels good, and every element of its design reinforces that rock solid core.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

— Ryan Nalley

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trigger Happy Interactive and published by Apogee Entertainment. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, XBO/X/S and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. The official summary is as follows: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a futuristic bounty hunter (Johnny Nitro [sic]) trying to prevent a powerful AI from taking over a city. Players infiltrate building/facilities and use a chainsaw-like weapon, pistols, and electric
shotguns to kill enemies (e.g., cyborgs, street punks). The frenetic run-and-gun combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks result in dismemberment/decapitation, causing bloody chunks to stain/litter the environment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence and blood/gore: a cyborg thug’s entrails used as a tool; a first-person view of a character’s hands blown off. The word “f**k” is heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles however, while character dialogue is subtitled, audio logs are not subtitled during normal gameplay. Audio logs can later be replayed from a menu offering a transcript. Subtitle size is relatively small and cannot be resized. Typically, dialogue does not overlap with action, but when it did I found it difficult to keep up with the small print during fast gameplay. On-screen indicators highlight which direction the player is being hit from, and a large
on-screen message appears when health is low. I did not experience major issues when playing without sound, but the missing subtitles for audio logs and small print mean this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Turbo Overkill Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Witty, offbeat dialogue steeped in queer culture, Grammy-worthy soundtrack.

LOW Boss fights.

WTF This game is hornier than a Renaissance faire, so how are there no sex scenes?

Sorry We’re Closed, a new survival horror title published by Akupara Games, is a startlingly strong debut for developer Ã  la mode games whose creative team is more of a dynamic duo — one person wrote the code and another created the lore, world, art and music. From the moment I laid eyes on footage and stills of it, I knew it would be something special, and I was glad to be proven correct.

The story beats mostly deal with the unique challenges of navigating queer relationships, made even more complicated when they are between angels and demons.

SWC’s protagonist, Michelle, has a fraught relationship with love due to her history with another woman, and she clearly suffers from depression as a result. As Michelle works the closing shift of her dead-end job at a convenience store, the player has to decide how to respond to NPCs who complain about their relationships or share conspiracy theories about demonic activity in the area. However, SWC isn’t just a depressing store clerk sim. 

The player soon finds that the strange theories she hears are more than rumor once she meets the neon-pink Duchess — an archdemoness hellbent on making Michelle love her. Things get even weirder when Michelle discovers that a third eye has appeared in the middle of her forehead which allows her to switch between reality and the parallel demon dimension with a snap of her fingers. From here, Sorry We’re Closed quickly shifts into something resembling a fever dream, and the player is met with a nightmarish alternate reality where the rules of time and space are blurred.

Gameplay is dynamic and varied, allowing the player to alternate between the fixed isometric camera of survival horror classics and the perspective and combat mechanics of retro first-person shooter titles — and knowing how and when to switch between the modes is important as it allows for some interesting puzzle-solving.

For example, a wall in a crypt that has a gap, but the player can’t see it unless they’re in first-person. In another section, the player must maneuver around floor spikes that can only be seen by activating Michelle’s third eye. By the final act, the player will have navigated a variety of head-scratchers, the most challenging of which use a combination of all the techniques they will have learned by that point.

Another important aspect of the third eye is how it relates to the real-time combat. Using it while in first-person causes the screen to turn hot pink and reveals enemy hearts which act as weak points — the player can dispatch foes at a much faster rate if they can successfully shoot each one as it appears. This also charges up the Heartbreaker — a one-shot-kill gun that doubles as the only weapon capable of bringing down bosses. Bosses have at least three giant hearts, which means that the player must find a way to charge up the Heartbreaker (usually by shooting their extremities like tentacles or hands) before they can finally do away with them.

Unfortunately, the boss fights are one of the weakest points of Sorry We’re Closed. The first boss is woefully easy — just a few moves for the player to memorize and then wait for an opening to hit its vulnerable points. Others called for more skill and precision as well as multi-tasking (endgame bosses force the player to dispatch waves of enemies at the same time in order to be able to use the Heartbreaker) but they were all more or less achievable using the same strategy.

In terms of creature design, however, the bosses are thoughtfully realized as they often reflect certain qualities of the people they began as, such as the aquarium level boss, Matilda. She was a pop singer before turning into the towering, tentacle-slinging monstrosity the player finds at the end of the level, and they’ll know it’s her from her signature lavender bow which can be seen comically resting on the back of the monster’s head as it emerges from an overflooded tank.

Speaking of design and style, the neon-soaked PSX aesthetics are on-point and the attention to detail is undeniable, from the blocky, dreary environments to the flashy, anime-inspired character models (the Duchess resembles a classic shoujo villain, replete with a posh-sounding laugh that accompanies every line of dialogue) and the enemies are pure nightmare fuel. One bloodied, angular creature sent a chill down my spine the first time I encountered it, and many offer a considerable challenge, especially in groups when the player must sometimes hold off multiple waves of enemies while waiting for an objective, like a power generator that needs time to charge, in order to be completed.

It’s worth mentioning Sorry We’re Closed‘s music, courtesy of the Okumura Collective — a group of singers, rappers, beatmakers and producers who also worked on the soundtrack for No More Heroes 3. Their music effectively complemented the atmosphere and echoed thematic elements. For instance, the refrain, “the more I start to change, the less I see myself,” reflected how Matilda became a monster by succumbing to her desire for personal gain at the cost of her own humanity.

Despite its underwhelming bosses and somewhat awkward FPS mechanics (which I actually found endearing as a PSX nostalgist) Sorry We’re Closed presents one of the most singular gaming experiences I’ve had in recent memory. I was charmed by its low-poly graphics, hearkening back to the classics while maintaining its own distinct visual style. It also had me constantly on the edge of my seat, not knowing what to expect in terms of the varied, hybridized gameplay and the unconventional story filled with queer-centered subject matter and a delightfully warped sense of humor.

For players looking for something a little outside the usual fare, Sorry We’re Closed is the offbeat survival horror genre-blend they didn’t know they’d been waiting for — and as one of that number myself, I can say that it was an experience unlike any other.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Disclosures: This game was developed by Ã  la mode games and published by Akupara Games. The game was obtained via publisher and it is currently available on PC. It was obtained via publisher and reviewed for PC. Approximately 13 hours were devoted to the campaign mode. The game was finished. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game is not yet rated but there is a considerable amount of violence, blood and gore, explicit language (f-bombs are dropped several times) and sexual innuendo so I would rate it M if it were up to me.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game features dialogue presented in text format or audio but only as a way to highlight the emotions of a particular text e.g. sighing or screaming. In addition to sound, incoming threats are indicated by different markers and there are no other sounds that affect accessibility for members of the Deaf community which makes it fully accessible.

Remappable controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Sorry We’re Closed Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.