There have been many games based on the Games Workshops dark vision of the future over the years, but as far as we can remember this is the first time we’ve had one in the form of a side scrolling shooter. It’s also one of the few times where the Space Marines aren’t the main focus of the game. Instead, this time you get to play as an Ork and unleash a much more visceral type of brutality on the Hive city of Luteus Prime.
The game has a fun and crazy tone to it which suits the Orks
and a lovely hand drawn art style that puts across the 40K world in a way not
really seen before. There are a few issues with the amounts of browns, reds and
greens on display which make it a little difficult to see what’s happening when
in handheld mode but overall, it works. The beautiful, animated cut scenes are
also absolutely outstanding.
The action is full on and unrelenting and sits somewhere
between Bro Force and Huntdown in terms of pace. There’s also a choice of
different characters to pick from and a ton of different weapons to find and
unlock in order to customise your Ork and commit the exact type of destruction
you want. The weapons pack a real punch as well with some excellent sound work
and visual feedback that makes them feel impactful and solid.
Initially we found the controls very mixed up in terms of
layout but there is a customisation option so everyone should be able to find a
set up that works for them. You can also play through the game in Co-op but this
is unfortunately one of the areas that the Switch begins to struggle with. As
you progress and it becomes more and more chaotic the frame rate really begins
to take a dive.
Performance becomes very juddery and characters even
teleport at times which is not great for a game based around fast paced
blasting. We never got to the point where is completely stalled our progress,
but the game did continually feel off and unstable to the point it stopped
being fun in busy sections.
If you can put up with that though there are a ton of 40K
main stays to blast and batter your way through. These include other Orks,
Imperial Guard (including taking on both a Lemon Russ and a Baneblade), and if
you delve deep enough into the Hive you’ll find a good old Genestealer cult
awaiting you. All of which are drawn beautifully and behave differently enough
to provide a good amount of variety.
Overall, Shootas, Blood and Teeth is a patch way from being
an excellent side scrolling blaster. Everything about it works in terms of the
feel and look but it is just continually stalled by poor performance. It seems
the Switch version is the only one affected by these issues currently so unless
you specifically want it handheld it may be worth looking to one of the other
versions. That said, it’s never a complete disaster, so Switch gamers looking
for a fun (if juddery), single player experience will find a lot to like here.
Overall 7/10
We receive no commission from store links:
Vanilla version: https://www.iningames.com/
Collector's edition: https://gamesrocket.com/
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