HIGH The soundtrack is genuinely excellent.

LOW Poorly designed levels. 

WTF Commiting to the bit makes it a difficult game to review!

One of the strongest (and most surprising) games I’ve reviewed for GameCritics has been Hypnospace Outlaw, which was set in a parody version of 1999’s early internet. It resonated with me in a big way due to its setting, but the developers were also commenting on the toxicity of contemporary social media — which, if anything, has gotten worse since its release. When I saw there was a recent spinoff, I had to see what they’d do with it next.

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer is a ’90s style first-person shooter developed by Tendershoot and published by No More Robots.            

 In Slayers X, Zane, the incredibly obnoxious 15-year-old troll from Hypnospace Outlaw, is now a grown man in his mid-thirties. He’s decided to continue working on a half-done videogame he stopped making in his teen years, and “Slayers X” is that game. This game-within-a-game stars Zane, who is part of a superhero group called the Slayers. His fictional persona is seeking revenge for the murder of his mentor and mother by a rival group headed by Zane’s stepfather. 

This story hints at what one might expect from the mind of an obnoxious teenager, and in this respect, Slayer X commits to the bit. This thin plot is just a setup for a power fantasy that invokes Doom and Duke Nukem. The story is ridiculous and replete with awful one-liners where Zane mocks enemies by saying things like “I slept with your mom!” Complete with poor CG between levels, the overall quality of the experience is surely a series of deliberate choices by the developers to remain consistent with the premise.

Additionally, gameplay has a familiar smoothness and speed typical of shooters from that era, complete with exaggerated head bob. The shooting is exactly what one would expect, offering simple shooting in levels filled with enemies. The guns feel common, though the Glass Blaster shotgun packs a punch and is the exception, due to its ability to use broken windows as ammo refills.

However, Slayers X is also seemingly filtered through the prism of someone lacking in the talent department when it comes to game design. The areas lack flow — I often found myself lost among many seemingly pointless areas and diversions lacking tangible rewards for exploration, aside from some predictably poor and immature visual gags. This resulted in a stop-start feeling not helped by the prevalence of monster closets and waves of spawning enemies.

Speaking of enemies, they lack interesting designs and are repeated ad nauseam. When the difficulty needs to ramp up in the final levels, the classic design mistake is made — the enemy count skyrockets and stronger enemies become too plentiful.

To make matters worse, ammo was inconsistently and haphazardly placed. I sometimes found myself with an overabundance, but at other times — especially when it was needed the most — it was hard to come across.

Again, while this was not a pleasant experience per se, I want to reiterate the admiration I had for the developers’ commitment to their concept. It is through this authenticity that Slayer X shines — it’s not really a ‘bad’ FPS, but instead a character piece reflecting the mind of a juvenile edgelord and his views of the world. This meta-concept is where Slayer X finds its humor, in exposing his illusions of grandeur and not in Zane’s terrible zingers.

While the concept behind Slayers X might spark debate, there’s no argument around the soundtrack, where the parody band “Seepage” returns from Hypnospace Outlaws. Clearly inspired by late ’90s bands like Linkin Park, tastes may vary here (and I’m exposing my own nostalgia) but I genuinely found the songs not just pitch-perfect throwbacks, but enjoyable in their own right.

Considering its premise, it would be betraying the concept to make a ‘good’ game. It’s certainly interesting, but does that lead to an enjoyable experience? Well, it’s worth playing for those who enjoyed Hypnospace Outlaw and are interested in another snapshot from that period, and it’s brief enough so that it doesn’t outstay its welcome. However, people who aren’t Hypnospace fans or those who aren’t interested in the meta-concept would probably do well to look elsewhere if they’re craving a standard FPS fix.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Tendershoot and published by No More Robots. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. Approximately 3.5 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 Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Drug Reference, and Language. Whilst the graphics are deliberately primitive, the game is very violent with exploding limbs and lots of blood, although the prevalence of blood depends on whether the violence level is set to normal or extreme in the settings. There are references to suicide, drugs and crude humour such as sexual innuendo, for example, the player character saying he has slept with someone’s mom.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers:  This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized.  I found it to be quite playable without sound, however there were a couple of issues. Subtitles did not appear when Zach made comments about why doors were inaccessible (there are color coded locks.) A bigger issue is the lack of visual cues when enemies approach from the back and the sides, and I did not see visual cues detailing where damage was coming from. As a result it is not fully accessible.

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

The post Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath – Vengeance Of The Slayer Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

Today GameCritics is happy to present this video covering Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099 from guest contributor Arlyeon. For more from Arlyeon, you can check out their YouTube channel or their Discord. You can also support them on Patreon!

Hey Folks, If you’re looking for In Depth Indie Reviews, You’re in the right place! And today, I’ll be talking about Fictiorama Studios, Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099 – A sequel to their earlier Voyeuristic point & click puzzler, Do Not Feed The Monkeys. But, was it worth watching, or was it simply aping its predecessor?  I’m your host Arlyeon, Let’s find out together.

When your uncle died mysteriously, you received an unusual inheritance. Namely, membership within the secretive Primate Observation Society. On paper, its activities sound harmless enough- being the acquisition of cages, and the study of the primates within.

That is, until you realize the primates are humans (and aliens)- while the cages are intrusively placed hidden cameras, giving you windows into the lives of others. Worse, however, is that membership -requires- you to continue purchasing more cages in order to retain your position within the organization. And perhaps, your ongoing safety.

Which is to say- The overall plot outline feels -very- similar to the first game, at least insofar as the premise. And ultimately, that’s fine- because that’s not really the meat of the narrative experience. Instead, that comes in the form of the many situations playing out in the cages, as the majority of them highlight the lives of other people – providing interesting scenarios to observe. Or to involve yourself in. Because even though the rules of the society dictate that you do not Feed The Monkeys’ – the temptation to do so, either for Altruism, Greed, or even malicious amusement can be a difficult one to ignore. Especially given that the scenarios playing out in the cages have a -number- of different outcomes.

And it will likely take a number of playthroughs to discover them all. One major part of this, is the simple fact that these events will play out at certain times of the day, sometimes simultaneously- which may require you to bounce between monitors in order to get the information you need to advance a scenario. Or to carefully plan out when you sleep, or work. Which is then further compounded by time-limited scenarios, where an outcome will come to pass even without your involvement- such as the ultimate fate of an observation subject stranded on a frigid mountain.

What’s more, while you -will- ultimately get up to 25 cages you’ll be flicking between- another part of its replayability ultimately comes from the randomization of its scenarios. There’s no guarantee for the order in which they’ll appear, or even which ones can occur, which helps to make a runthrough feel a bit more unique.
And, if you’re really diligent, there’s up to 5 different central endings to achieve, as well as a number of epilogues tied to the scenarios you solved.

And since we’re on the subject of solutions- let’s tackle the whole matter of enacting them. Essentially, Do Not Feed The Monkeys is a point and click adventure- where you scour the various cages in search of clues that can ultimately be used to solve their scenarios. These come in the form of objects you can click, as well as bits of dialogue – which are gradually added to your list of keywords. These, in turn, can be used with the in-game browser, either on their own, or in pairs- allowing you to search up articles for further clues. These clues can then be used to find relevant details, like an individual’s address- so you can send them items they need, or even their contact information, if you want to get more directly involved, whether to investigate, or provide details.

You’ll also be occasionally quizzed on specific bits of information by the Observation Society itself, a task which provides you money, but may also solve the cages in…different ways then you may have intended.

That said-  it’s not simply a matter of obsessively watching the monitors, even if there are things happening at all hours of the day. And that’s because of the sim elements. During all of these endeavors, you’ll need to carefully manage your time, since you’ll need to chart out the ideal moments you can work in order to buy the ‘cages’ you need to advance- as well as to earn the money necessary to keep away reptilian tax collectors . . . and to get the food necessary for keeping your hunger and health bars up.

That, and maybe sleeping. It’s an admittedly tricky balance to maintain- and while successfully solving cages -can- mitigate a lot of it- the earlier run throughs will likely see you scrabbling just to survive.

Thankfully, there are some options to customize your experience. For instance, there’s a casual mode, which makes the survival elements a lot more manageable. There’s also a few other options which unlock after you beat the game- such as a fast forward option to make things more convenient (click the clock when toggled), and the ability to peek at people waiting at your door.

And speaking of peeking- it’s about time to talk visuals. And on the whole, I’d say the game looks decent. The overall sprite work is a lot of fun, and even the screens which aren’t necessarily specific to a scenario can still have fun elements in it for you to notice.

What’s more- there are some nice details to help make your overall play experience more convenient. For instance, when you move your cursor over an object you can click, it lights up- which avoids pixel hunting. Likewise, useful text is coloured yellow. That said, the really helpful part- is that your accrued clues are organized rather well, and you’ll generally be given a decent indication of how many there are still to find, based off the boxes- which are always attached to a transistor- helping you to know if you’ve figured out the central elements.

Really, the only visual element I wasn’t too keen on, was the bits of motion sickness I felt when I was obliged to rapidly flick between several different scenes. Which, uh, wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence.

Sound wise, I wasn’t quite as captivated. Mostly, this is aimed at the OST, which was so subdued I often tuned out its existence- overshadowed by the sounds of a door being knocked, or the approach of a robotic bird at the window.

But yeah- that’s the long of things. As for the short? Well, As far as sequels go, this feels -incredibly- similar to the first entry, to the point that it doesn’t really seem to innovate on the formula. If anything, it more or less feels like a piece of science-fiction flavored DLC. Now, if you’re a fan of the investigatory elements of the game, or storytelling as it was- this won’t be a terrible thing, since it does provide some adequately challenging content to pore over. That said, I’ll admit that even during my second playthrough, I was seeing a fair amount of content I’d already tackled during my initial aborted  run, which was then further compounded when I went through my third run. It’s not -bad-, but I definitely felt my enthusiasm slowly wane the further I got in. So, overall, it’s a -competent- experience, but as for my actual enjoyment of the game- it slowly became a FUMBLE, as my attention slowly- waned.

Anywho, Thanks for tuning in. If you agree, disagree or just have something ta’ say to me, feel free to comment. That said, I’ll catch you on the next episode of Crit Hit. Take Care till then, Folks.

The post CRIT HIT VIDEO: Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099 appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Suplexing alligators, hell yeah!

LOW Defensive options in combat often feel inaccurate and clunky.

WTF Did I miss the reasoning behind Doctor Naomi being turned into a tree?

No More Heroes 3 is a game aimed at established fans, with storyline threads continuing from every entry in the series including the Travis Strikes Again spinoff. As such, any potential newcomers using NMH3 as a jumping-on point may be wondering just what the hell’s going on as the curtain rises.

Long story short? Protagonist Travis Touchdown talks about an 8-bit game he never completed, aliens invade the earth and blow up various cities, then Travis embarks on a quest to become the number one intergalactic assassin so that he can challenge their leader to a one-on-one duel with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance. All in a day’s work, right?

Unfortunately, despite having a strong cast of potential characters from past games in the form of Travis Touchdown, Shinobu Jacobs, Bad Girl and Badman, No More Heroes 3 wastes absolutely no time in establishing that Travis is completely on his own as the only playable hero. It’s a shame to immediately sideline these fan favorites, but at least Travis himself remains as deadly as ever.

Once again returning primarily as a third-person combat melee-focused game, the general beats of play will be familiar to returning players. Having signed up for an intergalactic death match where Travis has to work up through the rankings and take out each ‘boss’ along the way, he now has to earn an entry fee prior to each deathmatch by killing various low-level benchwarmer flunkies and doing odd jobs in the open world. Mowing grass, chasing down delinquents on his bike and picking up trash from polluted waters is all par for the course — as is suplexing the occasional giant alligator.

Massive fights against trash mob enemies as seen in past iterations are largely gone now, replaced by smaller-scale skirmishes against harder foes. Combat feels different, with Travis dishing out heavier sweeping hits smashing into enemies, and an improved variety of animations. Travis is still able to perform wrestling moves on stunned opponents and must recharge his beam katana mid-fight as its power dwindles, but he also has a shiny new Death Glove which gives him new options on a cooldown timer. At first it’s just a basic dropkick, but he soon learns to force throw enemies, slow them down or pepper them with digital bullets.

It’s not all good news though. While offensive actions typically feel solid and rewarding, Travis’ defensive options are massively underwhelming. The only aspect which feels satisfying is pulling off a perfect dodge to slow down time and counterattack. Everything else is rough as hell — blocking is inconsistent and drains battery power from the beam katana. The standard dodge seemingly has no invincibility frames and doesn’t pass through attacks that players might expect it to, and it often rolls in weird directions whilst locked on to an enemy. These might might not sound like huge sins but it’s clunky as a whole, and having to mash Travis back onto his feet with repeated button presses after being knocked down is incredibly outdated design.

On the plus side, the boss battles remain freshly interesting, some of which have extremely unexpected twists. From musical chairs and giant operatic robot space battles to quirky takes on various genres of videogame, there’s a lot of imagination on show here. Some of them don’t quite work, though. The showdown against Jesse Baptiste VI  is the most obvious offender due to periods of invulnerability, and one artistically-censored conversation (which amusingly, presumably, takes the piss out of Final Fantasy 7) is followed by an approach that’s downright dull to play through. That said, most are more interesting and going from a horror scene with deadly musical chairs to an impromptu rap battle, many of the massive tonal and gameplay shifts are a delight to see unfold.

No More Heroes 3 winds up being something of a mixed bag in the end.

The combat’s solid aside from certain encounters where the lack of defensive tools causes frustration. The variety in boss battles and unique encounters runs the gamut between being thoroughly inspired and soul crushingly insipid, and even the overworld where odd jobs happen is cute in a retro way… while ultimately feeling more pointless and lifeless than it did in the original. In short, No More Heroes 3 often falls short of its true potential, but that’s not to say that it never shines.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvellous Inc. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S/PS4/PS5/Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 10 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, Strong Language and Suggestive Themes. The official description reads as follows: This is an action game in which players assume the role of Travis Touchdown, an assassin battling aliens while trying to reach the top of the Galactic Superhero Rankings. From a third-person perspective, players use a beam katana to engage in frenetic melee combat against alien and human enemies. Combat is highlighted by large blood-splatter effects, dismemberments/decapitations, and screams of pain. Finishing moves can trigger a zoomed-in perspective and slow-motion effects. Cutscenes depict further instances of intense violence: an alien ripping the arms off a fallen foe; an character crushing the skull of an enemy; a bound man repeatedly slashed, then decapitated. Camera angles sometimes focus on female characters’ revealing outfits and anatomy (e.g., low-cut tops, short skirts); some areas allow players to zoom in on female figures with upskirt detailing. During the course of the game, players’ character uses a masturbatory gesture to charge their beam katana. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” appear in the dialogue.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. The game is essentially completely playable without sound. Several optional chips make finding hidden items easier with a beeping noise becoming more frequent as you approach them in the open world, but it won’t hinder general gameplay. In my view, this is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. This game does not offer a controller map diagram, but most of the time movement is on the left stick. Camera is the right stick. Jumping is A. Dodging is B. Attacks are X and Y, Locking on and blocking is left trigger, using Death Chip attacks is L1 and a face button.

The post No More Heroes 3 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Such dark humor is rare in the industry.

LOW The combat is underwhelming.

WTF Is speaking forbidden in hell?

Hell Pie is a third-person platforming adventure about the difficulties of being a nine-to-five worker in hell. Initial impressions are that it’s just cute, but there are deeper and creepier elements here.

Hell Pie tells the story of Nate, the “Demon of Bad Taste”. Nate is a pencil pusher in hell’s offices, but things take an unlikely turn when he’s tasked with finding ingredients to make a birthday cake for the prince of hell himself. To that end (and before Satan turns things excruciating for our protagonist) Nate embarks on this shopping-themed journey.

Nate is accompanied by a pet angel on this adventure. The poor thing is chained to Nate’s horn and used as both a melee weapon during combat and as a grappling hook of sorts that allows Nate to swing across platforms. Players can upgrade Nate’s abilities by finding food cans for the angel and he can also switch between demonic horns — each has a specific power, such as lighting up dark places or destroying obstacles.

The combat in Hell Pie is… too simple. Though there are different types of enemies, most can be vanquished with a single hit. Therefore, there is no need for strategy when facing enemies, and that turns the combat into meaningless button-mashing.

On the other hand, the platforming and exploration are where the focus of Hell Pie lies. The swinging mechanic plus other standard acrobatics such as double jumps and an air dash allows the player to reach nearly anywhere. Knowing this, the developers have added tons of verticality. Even one-off rooms in some random sub-level may contain a collectible or item near the ceiling or in other another equally hard-to-reach place.

Speaking of collectibles, no platformer is complete without them and Hell Pie is no exception. There are different types in hell, each serving a different purpose. Besides the angel’s food cans, there are purple crystals that can be exchanged for skins and cosmetics, unilambs (lambs with a horn) that can be brutally sacrificed to unlock new horns, and golden cats that can be sold to gain access to a special room filled with premium stuff. These are all fine adds that make it more enjoyable to explore each finely-designed world.

One distinctive feature of Hell Pie is its darkly comedic sense of humor that comments on a variety of social and political subjects. Each world in hell is populated with inhabitants dealing with important issues in their daily life. For example, 400,000 people are waiting in a hospital emergency room. In another, there’s a sushi bar operating inside a stranded whale on top of a mountain. Customers are eating the whale from the inside while animal rights activists are protesting from outside, demanding the beast’s return to hell’s oceans.

Although Hell Pie provides no choices or player agency to solve such scenarios, the harsh and dark sensibilities of the writers and their indirect comments on issues creates a thought-provoking experience. Unfortunately, there’s no voice acting! All dialogue is text-based and reading comments or conversations that sometimes pop up while swinging above deadly pits is usually impossible.

Overall, Hell Pie is innovative in the platforming space, both in narrative and the verticality and mobility of its mechanical design. It might be flying under most radars, but to me this was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had all year.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sluggerfly and published by Headup. It is currently available on PC, XBO, XBSX/S, PS5, PS4 and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PC. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: The ESRB rating is M. There is Blood and Gore, Cartoonish Violence and Mild Sexual Themes. Definitely not for kids here, it’s filled with violent combat and gore, including scenes of torture.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game has subtitles and they cannot be resized or altered. There are no audio cues in the gameplay, and the game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game’s controls are remappable.

The post Hell Pie Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The visual style is totally on point.

LOW The rigid weapon restrictions become irritating very quickly.

WTF Yes, Cindy Aurum’s awesome. That’s a weird reference though.

Stand up straight citizen, it’s time to step into the immaculately-polished shoes of one of the most fascist police forces in videogame history. Freedom of personal expression is extremely frowned upon in this town, so if anyone ventures outside with even the slightest hint of non-conformist sartorial stylings, the police will be immediately unleashed to ‘fix’ their external appearance via force if necessary… and force is usually necessary in a First-Person Shooter.

Wait, FPS? And it’s called Fashion Police Squad? What a coincidence!

Still, these brainwashed, unkempt goons don’t seem to mind that they essentially have no rights at all when it comes to how they dress and present themselves in public. Also, they’re all bastards who attack anyone with ‘better’ style sense. Hipsters on scooters rudely careen around the place trying to mow everyone down, ‘Karens’ (their term, not mine) constantly complain and kick up a literal stink, and inelegantly-dressed job applicants rush around while hurling their CVs at everyone in sight.

Now, where Fashion Police Squad separates itself from most shooters is that every enemy has to be dealt with in a certain way — not killed, mind. Sure, murdering people for having the wrong color of socks could be darkly hilarious, but also even more morally bankrupt than forcing them to toe the line by force when it comes to fashion.

Someone’s suit looking a little baggy? Sew it up with a machine gun needle called the Tailormade. They’re not looking vibrant enough? Blast them with a paintball shotgun until their fashion sense pops instead of their skull. Baggy pants breaking the dress code? Remove that belt, officer, and… brutally whip them until they’re suddenly looking great?

Look, I didn’t claim that any of these policing methods make sense. I’m just pointing out that using the wrong weapon in combat will be utterly ineffective at curbing a lack of pizzazz. Using a paintball gun on someone with loose pants isn’t only a deeply questionable act, it also doesn’t take care of the problem. As a result, players need to zip around combat arenas making sure that they’re using the right weapon for the job — and it’s a mechanic I’m not entirely convinced of, if I’m being honest.

Sure, Doom Eternal also had enemies with weaknesses to certain approaches. Lobbing a sticky grenade into a Cacodemon’s mouth or sniping the turret off an Arachnotron would greatly weaken these opponents, but the difference was that other weapons were still effective. That’s not the case in Fashion Police Squad, meaning that battlefields with a variety of enemies require constant gun juggling and repositioning to get clear shots at the right target.

In theory it sounds fine, and an interesting twist on simply pointing and shooting. In practice… well, it’s fairly limiting and noticeably less satisfying than getting a minigun out and turning everything into chunks.

Then come the special functions where our character’s belt allows him to swing across gaps, and a water gun that allows him to shoot the floor to move faster and take longer jumps. Again, interesting ideas, but ones that don’t add much to the experience.

The pacing’s not handled well either. Main character Sergeant Des and his partner Haley are always getting in touch with one another to yak about fashion, share their concerns about the rise in fashion crimes and unload a bunch of mediocre puns. Constantly. The radio clicks to life an absurd amount of times per mission, and everything screeches to a halt while they hash out their thoughts. A recent post release update introduced a desperately needed ‘skip dialogue’ feature which is an absolute blessing, but there’s still no way to excise these conversations completely.

On the other hand, one area where FPS absolutely shines is in its overall look. The devs have gone for a faux-retro style which at reminds me of a particularly vibrant PlayStation One game without the technical limitations of the time. For those old enough to remember, imagine something like Duke Nukem mixed with The beautifully cartoonish Misadventures of Tron Bonne, and it looks awesome.

I’m conflicted about Fashion Police Squad. It’s a great-looking title with mechanics that may not be to my personal taste but are at least fairly unique. However, I found playing became a bit of a slog as time passed, and that didn’t change as the difficulty ramps up in later levels — instead of getting more tense, it simply becomes more tedious due to cramped level design and continually swapping to the correct weapons in chaotic situations.

Fans of ’90s-style retro-shooters might find Fashion Police Squad‘s offbeat and quirky approach to the genre to their liking, but there’s already a lot of stiff competition in the genre — it’s interesting, but flawed approach simply doesn’t measure up to the others already strutting on the catwalk.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Mopeful Games and published by No More Robots. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 7 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 not rated. Nothing in it should cause too much offence though, enemies aren’t massacred en masse but instead made stylish through shooting them with fashion accessories.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. All dialogue and story events are displayed in text format. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. There are audio samples that indicate where enemies are coming from and these do not come with visual cues. Unfortunately, this means it is not fully accessible — it should still be fairly playable, but since the damage indicator doesn’t show where attacks are coming from, it can take longer to figure it out without sound.

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

The post Fashion Police Squad Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

The subject of this installment: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, developed by Snoozy Kazoo and published by Graffiti Games.

Has it ever struck you as particularly weird that in Zelda games, Link is constantly barging into other people’s houses, breaking their pots and making off with their money, and he never seems to face consequences for it? The developers of Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion have certainly picked up on it, and they’ve fashioned an entire adventure around a character whose sole purpose in life is to create problems for anyone in his path.

Set in a universe inhabited by sentient food products, the titular character — who has an evil smile perpetually plastered onto his face, and whose “dialogue” consists almost entirely of ellipses — has already committed tax evasion before the game has even begun. The mayor gives Turnip Boy some chores to make up for the money he owes, and the joke is that while he consistently completes his tasks, he indiscriminately steals, vandalizes and kills in the process, leaving his town in a greater state of disarray than when he started.

For a comedy title, Turnip Boy is a reasonably funny one. It’s short enough that its primary joke never gets old — I particularly liked the running gag where Turnip Boy responds to any document he’s given by immediately ripping it in half — and nearly every NPC exists to drop non sequiturs that all sound like the stuff I used to text people late at night while high on ambien. An encounter with a needlessly-aggressive macaroni noodle got an audible chuckle out of me.

As an homage to Zelda, however, Turnip Boy just doesn’t have the girth or intricacy of Nintendo’s flagship franchise. One of the reasons I’ve stood by the Zelda series, even through its worst days, is because there’s nothing else quite like it in the industry. Its particular dungeon/overworld/dungeon rhythm is rarely imitated, and even when unrelated developers attempt to recreate the formula, the puzzles and bosses are rarely up to par.

While I could maybe complain that Turnip Boy’s soundtrack dangerously straddles the line between “catchy” and “grating,” or that only being able to equip one item at a time is needlessly finicky given how many of the Switch’s buttons aren’t even used, the game doesn’t have many noteworthy flaws, per se. Instead, it’s all just too simple and too straightforward. The dungeons don’t even have any maps, because they’re too small in scale to need maps. The moment-to-moment enemy encounters are dull, and the bosses don’t rile up enough excitement to make up for it.

After a while, it became evident that the only reason I kept playing Turnip Boy was to drink up more of that amusing dialogue. That’s more of a hook than many games can offer, but it was barely enough to hold my interest for even the couple of hours it took to blaze through the short campaign.

As much as I loved Breath of the Wild, Nintendo’s intention to make the series follow a similar open-world formula from here on out leaves a void that I’d love to see filled by other developers, yet the secret to crafting a classic Zelda adventure remains as elusive as the recipe for Coca-Cola. I appreciate that Turnip Boy managed to make me giggle a few times, but I can’t say it justifies a fifteen-dollar price tag.

The post This Is Not A Review: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Original and unusual!

LOW The levels with asteroids and icy connectors and incoming fire.

WTF How are they growing potatoes out here?

Poland wasn’t on my radar too often before I started doing game reviews, but it’s impossible not to take notice of it now. From huge triple-A experiences to intriguing indies, there are tons of worthwhile titles being crafted there. I don’t know much about the country itself or why their dev scene is booming, but I’m glad that it is. The latest gem to make an appearance is Kosmokrats, the first offering from Olztyn-based Pixel Delusion.

Kosmokrats puts the player in the role of a potato peeler — the lowest-ranking crewmate on a spaceship populated by a group who seems inspired by Cold War-era Soviets. They’re in a space race with the Capitalists (their name is always displayed in red, white and blue font — a nice touch) and there’s been a problem with staffing.

The goal of the comrades is to assemble space stations and ships in zero-G before the Capitalists do, and this is done by using a remote drone to push and pull puzzle-shaped pieces together. Unfortunately, the drone pilot is knocked out of service and the Peeler is forcibly volunteered to take his place. After just a few minutes of training, the entire mission depends on them.

With Kosmokrats, Pixel Delusion has crafted a three-pronged experience which ends up being successful and interesting on all counts.

The first prong is the spaceship assembling. Using the drone to shove and tug components into alignment with each other is great — it’s easy to spin a piece out of control since there’s no friction to slow things down and some of the bits are shaped in ways that require finicky maneuvering, but when two parts chonk home and fuse together, it’s deeply satisfying. It’s an easy concept to grasp, but things do get more complicated when other elements come into play like time limits, trying to avoid damage, incoming asteroids and more.

Upping the stakes is that the player must manage limited resources. If the Peeler accidentally smashes an external potato storage device mounted on the side of a piece being shepherded, the crew has less food to eat. If they’re careless and crushes a fellow comrade while they’re spacewalking, there’s one less pair of hands to help out.

There’s also an ingenious randomized element to each craft the Peeler must assemble. To my eye, no two ships were ever alike, and in levels where I performed horribly and wanted to restart, the ship pieces, overall design and various components were shuffled and different. Simply memorizing how parts fit together isn’t an option, so each new job is a dynamic exercise in making it work. That said, some assignments are easier than others, and I had to restart a handful of times in hopes of randomly getting a simpler ship to build, or one that was less difficult to manipulate.

The second prong of Kosmokrats is political commentary. It’s obviously a take on the old Soviet Union and their imperfectly-applied Communism running neck-and-neck with money-blinded Americans who have no qualms about abandoning their men when it’s not cost-efficient to save them. With so few games these days being open about their political leanings, getting a story like this was refreshing and honest, not to mention the fact that it’s quite funny to boot.

The final prong is what really put this experience over the top for me — the branching storyline. Not only does progress in the campaign depend on how well the Peeler does at assembling ships (Did the crew starve? Are there any crew left?) there are also choices to be made via text and action. Depending on these decisions, Kosmokrats can end in many different ways, some much darker than others. On the plus side, if things turn into a disaster, the developers have included a function that allows players to ‘rewind’ the story and steer things differently. They’ll likely have to replay a few levels since the option isn’t granular, but it’s much, much better than making one wrong call and getting kicked back to the start.

Kosmokrats is an incredibly strong debut from a brand-new studio, and I had a wonderful time with the comrades and their journey through space. The gameplay was engaging, the jokes were good, and I was absolutely invested in the fate of the Peeler and their crewmates. This well-crafted work doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre, but becomes a noteworthy, standout release because of it. Whatever Pixel Delusion does next, I’m in.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Pixel Delusion and published by Modern Wolf. It is currently available on PC and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch. 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, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Violence. Some cosmonauts do get squished in space and there are some violent acts in the cutscenes. There’s a romantic storyline between two characters and handcuffs are mentioned. Vodka is available to buy and the player can drink it. The M is technically correct, but even with all of this, it still feels fairly lighthearted and comedic.   

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: I played the entire game on mute and had no problems at all. All dialogue is accompanied by text (it is not able to be resized or altered, see examples above) and there are no audio cues needed for gameplay. This title is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. There is no control diagram. During gameplay sections, the drone is moved with the left stick and pulling is done with one face button. During dialogue scenes, a face button advances text and confirms choices, another cancels, and the left stick moves the camera.

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HIGH Managing to resist the humans and defend the farm.

LOW Having to click endlessly to get through dialogue.

WTF Getting the same ending three times in a row.

George Orwell’s novel debut, Animal Farm, remains as relevant today as when it was first published in 1945. A satire first and foremost, it chronicles the takeover of a farm by its overworked animals. They are initially united in their cause, but soon fall into the same self-serving mindset of the humans who came before them. The choice to port this novel into a videogame format may seem strange, but anything that offers some social awareness these days is a good thing.

The game is presented a ‘storybook’ format, along with graphics which never get too scary or realistic. While the title is described by the developers as something along the lines of farm management, the truth is that it’s actually closer to being a visual novel. It’s not possible to build or milk the cows, for example. Instead, the player’s interactions are limited to a few choices available each day on the farm, and most of these involve taking sides in the animals’ internal struggles over the course of seven years.

The main screen is a bird’s eye view of the farm. Every day, the player usually gets to decide between gathering food (hay) or other random choices like building a fence or singing to cheer the animals up. Sometimes the actions will unexpectedly benefit or damage one of the characters, but there’s no way to predict whether the player’s choice will be wrong or right.

The only two indicators on the farm screen are hay reserves and animalism, which functions as the farm’s religion. These things sometimes suffer through no fault of the player’s, so it feels a bit like clicking random choices without much rationale.

The only other screens are the barn meetings that the animals organize every once in a while and the battle screen. These meetings don’t seem to deviate much based on player input, and the rare battles aren’t much of a departure — again, it’s a matter of clicking an animal and choosing between a choice such as attack, defend or hide.

The novel’s story remains intact, and the developer added in a few new details and characters while keeping true to the original tone and style.
A single playthrough takes an average of less than an hour, but I’m not clear how it would take to unlock all the endings because there’s no way of knowing which steps to take in order to change the story. There is a logbook that keeps track of unlocked achievements (keeping a granary fully stocked, etc.) and story twists, but there’s not much else to guide the player.

I commend the developers for keeping true to Orwell’s work, depressing endings and all, but unfortunately what we have here is a worst-of-both-worlds situation — as a visual novel, it’s a slog to get through the repetitive mundane, choices, and the gameplay isn’t refined or engaging enough to be an solid management sim. Simply reading the book might be a better option.

— Damiano Gerli

Disclosures: This game is developed by Nerial and published by The Dairymen. It is currently available on PC, iOS and Android. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: The game is not rated by the ESRB and, while the game does have cartoonish graphics and no violence of any kind, its political messages and dark undertones are definitely not appropriate for kids under 12.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is subtitled, but there are no options to resize or modify the subtitles. There are no audio cues needed for play. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: On PC, the game is entirely controlled via the mouse. There is no control diagram.

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HIGH A colorful, hilarious roguelike parody of startup culture.

LOW  The framerate can be rough, especially in later dungeons.

WTF I really need a job.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself increasingly anxious over the thought of finding a job in games media. Those anxieties have not gone away, as I tirelessly toil with the fear of not “making it” in an industry that doesn’t seem to want me. As silly as it sounds, I used to think that no one understood what the hell I was going through. Thankfully Going Under, an isometric third-person roguelike from Aggro Crab, managed to perfectly capture these feelings in their work.

Players control Jackie Fiasco, a bright-eyed and eager unpaid intern starting her very first day at Fizzle Beverages. This parody of modern start-ups that makes and distributes strange soda flavors. The Fizzle offices act as a hub that players navigate before going into one of three main dungeons where Jackie will be killing hordes of monsters. Each dungeon is themed around different apps. For example, Joblin is a parody of something like Indeed or LinkedIn run by over-caffeinated goblins.

Gameplay is a combination of beat-’em-up and a roguelike dungeon crawler. On a basic level, will players traverse randomly generated levels and try to get to the boss at the end, picking up different weapons and skills along the way. If they die, they’re kicked out and have to try the run again.

When in a dungeon, Jackie can carry three items and switch between them at will. Almost any item — from staplers to pencils, laptops to swords — can be picked up and used as a weapon, and most of the environments are destructible, so I learned how to make the most of anything I was given. I enjoyed seeing how well I could improvise in any situation, whether it was using a t-shirt cannon to take down brutish enemies or throwing office furniture at creatures flying around me.

Jackie also has skills that are unlocked in the hub and found in the dungeons, and like most good roguelikes, their effects stack as she collects more of them on a run. Effects range from having a slight chance of healing after defeating an enemy, or enlarging weapons to a ridiculous size. Once Jackie uses a skill enough, she’s able to equip one in the hub, prior to a run.

Aside from these skills, Jackie can also choose a “mentor”. Mentors are members of the Fizzle office, and they’ll lend Jackie certain effects after she’s completed sidequests for them. For example, Kara is a tech wizard who develops apps. Once I did some tasks for her (electrocute 5 enemies, kill 5 enemies with laptops, etc.) she enhanced Jackie’s abilities and an app store started showing up in dungeons.

In terms of difficulty, Going Under is hard but never truly frustrating. As someone who’s new to roguelikes, the idea of being forced to start a game over used to intimidate me. In Going Under, there have been plenty of times where I lost half an hour’s worth of progress and it was a little annoying, but I also used these as learning moments — sure, I got my ass handed to me, but I improved on every subsequent run.

While the gameplay is good, what makes Going Under special is the quality of the writing and characters. The story of an unpaid intern, hopeful in their chances to make it is both funny and something that hits close to home. Seeing Jackie deal with bullshit from higher-ups for the sake of possibly securing a job she might never get is all too relatable, and I can’t believe more games haven’t attempted to tackle these issues.

jackie’s coworkers are also delightful, with my favorite being Tappi, an accountant for Fizzle. Hearing her complain about her ex-girlfriend or give (awful) advice on saving money had me laughing out loud. The writing is exceptional and never gets too dark, but I appreciated how real it all felt.

Now, I know this is a game review but I need to get real for a second. Like I mentioned earlier, my anxieties surrounding finding work have been through the roof during the past few months. However, as I spent time at this fictional startup slaying monsters as Jackie, I saw myself working through hordes of my own fears. I saw someone else who was trying to succeed as they drowned in a sea of “just put out some more effort” and “someday you’ll make it” and I didn’t feel so alone.

Going Under  is one of the most important games I’ve played in 2020 and one I’ll keep playing for months on end, thanks to the meaningful writing and enjoyable dungeon crawling. For those looking for an accessible starting point in roguelikes, or those who just need some delightful takedowns of late-stage capitalism, this is it.

Disclosures: This game is published by Team17 and developed by AggroCrab. It is available on PS4, PC, Switch and XBO. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS4. Approximately 18 hours were spent in singleplayer and the game was not completed (still playing, dying and playing again). There is no multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Sexual Themes and Violence. The game is very stylized, using simplistic and bright colors that make the violence safe for younger children. I will say that the themes of unpaid labor, unfulfilled love and how awful capitalism is will go through most kids’ heads. I feel like older teens and adults will get more out of this game.

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

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is subtitled and told through text bubbles. text cannot be resized. There are no audio cues necessary for play. The game is fully accessible. (See examples above.)

Remappable Controls: No, the controls are not remappable. The y-axis cannot be changed. There are also plenty of assist options to make the game easier for newcomers.

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HIGH “Power” by Kanye West is the best superhero theme music.

LOW The treatment of women.

WTF I would exceed this review’s word limit listing all the WTFs here.

What’s it like revisiting 2011’s Saints Row: The Third nine years later? It’s crude, brash and sometimes offensive, full of dick jokes and ’80s references, and the entire thing feels like a twisted cartoon trying to overload the player’s senses… And yet, there’s still plenty to love and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Originally released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, Saints Row: The Third was the third entry in Volition’s third-person open-world action series. Spearsoft has remastered it for modern consoles and added mild visual upgrades including improved lighting and a general graphic cleanup, but up close it still looks like a title from 2011. Thankfully, the visuals are just stylized enough – I’d say it hasn’t aged horribly. This remaster also includes all of the DLC and unlocks bonus weapons and costumes from the start.

SR:tTR takes place five years after the events of Saints Row 2. The members of the Third Street Saints gang have become international celebrities, their faces and names plastered on everything from energy drinks to science-fiction blockbusters. Adjusting to life after fame (and a botched bank robbery) they find themselves caught up in a turf war of epic proportions between several rival gangs in the city of Steelport.

The player controls the leader of the Saints, and they are fully customizable – and seriously, the customization is crazy, including everything from voice options to, uh… more ‘intimate’ aspects of the body. Creating a character feels like a game unto itself, and the player will be granted even more options down the line.

The central plot is a basic revenge tale as the Saints try to take over Steelport while avenging a fallen member, but it largely feels like a cobbled mess built on references and gags that teenagers wrote – the bombastic setpieces and humor sometimes work, but it also suffers from a serious lack of originality since many of them are parodies of other games and movies — things like an entire sequence that’s just one huge Tron reference that also nods to the arm cannon from Capcom’s Mega Man games. There are also some wacky survival minigames that parody Japanese game shows, and more.

While some of these worked more than others, the understated and sarcastic banter between the Saints was what had me laughing hardest. For example, there’s a pimp named Zimos who only spoke in autotune and managed to steal every scene he was in. I also loved how my main character would frequently reply to every command with a smartass remark amidst the gunfire. It’s not much, but those subtle moments made me laugh out loud more than some of the Looney Tunes-esque gags.

Thankfully, the story takes a backseat to gameplay. Steelport is home to many, many diversions, and while SR:tTR never reinvents the open-world formula, the content is enjoyable enough to stomach mild genre fatigue.

Some missions have the player protecting AI companions with a sniper rifle, there are city-ruining tank rampages, assassination contracts and even a mode where the player has to cause bodily harm to themselves in order to earn insurance money. One particular highlight was when the player jumps from a helicopter and onto a penthouse while Kanye West’s “Power” is blasting in the background. Of course, not every mission can be that great, but there’s enough variety here to keep open-world players engaged.

Experience from completed missions grants players enhancements, which makes up a large part of the experience. By the end of the game, my character was able to sprint for an unlimited amount of time while shooting flaming rounds from an assault rifle.

Mechanically, Third shows its age. The characters feel weightless and there’s no option to toggle auto-aim like most modern third-person shooters offer. Driving is a little clunky, and the guns players will use have different properties, but they don’t feel different. The hand-to-hand combat is also a bit creaky, since it’s damn-near impossible to land a punch.

It’s also worth noting that the enemies feel like bullet sponges and are relentless. On the Normal difficulty setting I found myself often having to restart at a checkpoint after getting annihilated. The AI companions meant to give backup are useless and need to be saved by the player far too often.

In spite of all this, revisiting Steelport after so long was still an enjoyable experience. Seeing my custom character discuss very serious plans while wearing samurai armor and an angry tiger mask is the best comedic relief any game has offered me in the past ten years, and replaying it brought me back to a time in middle school when I wanted nothing but open-world. It’s also the perfect starting point for those new to the series, and any game that lets me dress up as a hot dog while flying on a motorized broomstick deserves a glowing recommendation.

— CJ Salcedo

Disclosures: This game is developed by Volition, remastered by Spearsoft and published by Deep Silver. It’s available on XBO, PS4 and PC. This copy was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS4. Approximately 25 hours of play was devoted to the single-player and the game was completed solo. No time was spent in co-op.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, and Strong Language. While the humor of the game is very juvenile, this not one that kids should be playing. Characters constantly swear with words like sh*t, f*ck and b*tch used in abundance. There are plenty of sexual references ranging from strippers, prostitutes, the ability to make the player character fully naked (with pixelation covering any sensitive areas) and a bat that looks like a marital aid. The game is also violent, with characters getting shot, stabbed and bludgeoned to death. Definitely not for any kids below the age of 17.

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

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: I played a majority of the game with no sound and found it easy to manage. Enemies appear as red blips on the minimap as well as collectibles and mission markers. There are subtitles though they cannot be resized or recolored. I’d say it’s fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, the controls are not remappable.

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