Recommended by @JohnHarrelson for being like Bangai-O Spirits. Rapid-fire review, much like the game itself.
At its best, the game is accommodating of a fast-and-loose, impulsive playstyle. Bounce around like a mad dog off its chain as you dump whatever guns you grab and blow through whatever's in your way. If you're not clicking with it at first stick around, it gets better. For FPS fans, I recommend Severed Steel difficulty on NG and Tempered Steel difficulty on NG+.
Obvious selling point is the destructible levels. Blast open walls with your arm cannon to get the drop on enemies, enter sealed rooms, or just go fast. It's entertaining in its own right but yearns for more enemies or mechanics that really contextualize you tearing up the floorboards. The shield guy is good, but it feels like the start of a more interesting roster, not a punctuation mark to this one. Many of the weapons are pretty bog-standard and similar to each other, though I can't fault the terrain-piercing sniper rifle or the explosive automatic shotgun.
The main way to avoid damage (read: not explode instantly) is by sliding, diving, wall-running, etc. which all give you full iframes. It's an alright system, leads to frenetic movement which is fun and exhilarating, if not particularly thoughtful. Bullet-time via a meter a la FEAR is a fine and fitting addition on paper, but the balance isn't quite there, especially when you can still use it during stunts (which you want to be doing nearly constantly) even if your meter is empty. "Rebalanced Bullet-Time," unlockable via the Rogue Steel gamemode, removes this which helps some. Health and meter only refill on kills, which can create an interesting dynamic in desperate situations, but also makes clearing rooms full of goons quite easy.
Levels are short and punchy, with little to no bloat. The major strength of this game, and its main similarity to Bangai-O Spirits, is how it sidesteps the need for considered level design. Place some cool-looking stuff, some stacked rooms, and some walls to jump around with, and the terrain destruction will do the rest of the work. That's not to say the campaign is phoned-in: there's a constant desire to mix things up with fun objectives and silly environments. 5 custom user campaigns are also included, I didn't play all of them but I quite liked "Command: Exist." There's a ton of bonus content and customizability in general which is fantastic if you find the game too easy/hard or just want to mix things up.
Unrefined execution, but its heart's in the right place. Fun for a few solid playsessions. We need more games like this!
At its best, the game is accommodating of a fast-and-loose, impulsive playstyle. Bounce around like a mad dog off its chain as you dump whatever guns you grab and blow through whatever's in your way. If you're not clicking with it at first stick around, it gets better. For FPS fans, I recommend Severed Steel difficulty on NG and Tempered Steel difficulty on NG+.
Obvious selling point is the destructible levels. Blast open walls with your arm cannon to get the drop on enemies, enter sealed rooms, or just go fast. It's entertaining in its own right but yearns for more enemies or mechanics that really contextualize you tearing up the floorboards. The shield guy is good, but it feels like the start of a more interesting roster, not a punctuation mark to this one. Many of the weapons are pretty bog-standard and similar to each other, though I can't fault the terrain-piercing sniper rifle or the explosive automatic shotgun.
The main way to avoid damage (read: not explode instantly) is by sliding, diving, wall-running, etc. which all give you full iframes. It's an alright system, leads to frenetic movement which is fun and exhilarating, if not particularly thoughtful. Bullet-time via a meter a la FEAR is a fine and fitting addition on paper, but the balance isn't quite there, especially when you can still use it during stunts (which you want to be doing nearly constantly) even if your meter is empty. "Rebalanced Bullet-Time," unlockable via the Rogue Steel gamemode, removes this which helps some. Health and meter only refill on kills, which can create an interesting dynamic in desperate situations, but also makes clearing rooms full of goons quite easy.
Levels are short and punchy, with little to no bloat. The major strength of this game, and its main similarity to Bangai-O Spirits, is how it sidesteps the need for considered level design. Place some cool-looking stuff, some stacked rooms, and some walls to jump around with, and the terrain destruction will do the rest of the work. That's not to say the campaign is phoned-in: there's a constant desire to mix things up with fun objectives and silly environments. 5 custom user campaigns are also included, I didn't play all of them but I quite liked "Command: Exist." There's a ton of bonus content and customizability in general which is fantastic if you find the game too easy/hard or just want to mix things up.
Unrefined execution, but its heart's in the right place. Fun for a few solid playsessions. We need more games like this!