Huntdown Review (Steam)

Upon release Huntdown somehow went under our radar. We aren’t really sure how this happened as it’s not exactly a quiet or subtle game. In fact, it’s one of the craziest and most intense experiences we’ve ever played.

The best way to describe Huntdown is that it’s a side scrolling action mix of Contra, Judge Dredd and The Warriors set on fire and pushed down a hill in a cyber punk styled shopping trolley. It’s so incredibly full-on, violent and well realised that it has quickly shot to the top of our go to games list on the Switch.

The game has players pick from one of three super bounty hunters before blasting their way through four areas divided up into stages with a larger than life mob boss at the end of each. At your disposal are an endlessly diverse amount of weapons ranging from assault rifles, flame throwers and hockey sticks with new ones being introduced throughout. While using these tools of destruction to rain down justice on the criminal gangs your chosen hero will offer up one liners from every 80’s and 90’s action movie ever made and generally kick arse.

Set pieces are never far away and even when the scripted moments take a rest your arsenal is more than capable of creating its own. A particular highlight was when we jumped from a lift, blasted one goon with a shotgun and turned, kicking another into an explosive barrel which then set of a chain reaction of carnage.

The sound and look of Huntdown is also exceptional. The heavy cyber punk influence is consistent and creative throughout and the detail of the level design in exceptional. If there is one issue it’s that in handheld mode the game has almost too much going on to see properly which makes things even more difficult. It’s strange to say but this particular 2D blaster really should be experienced on the big screen with the sound turned up as loudly as possible.

Each of the four areas has its own distinct style and represents a different part of the gang controlled city. This reflects in the enemies as well with the first gang seeming like your everyday 80’s thugs before things take a turn towards the influence of The Warriors with hoodlums in over the top ice hockey gear and motor bikes. The bosses are great as well with each being larger than life characters that are challenging but not impossible to overcome.

To increase the scope of Huntdown, an arcade mode was a good idea. Re-playability, aside from ramping difficulty is a tough thing on such a linear, traditional, format. You can jump between the different areas to start, and so the game responsibly recommends finishing the campaign first (as the methodical reveal of each progressively more ludicrous bounty characters is one of the joys of Huntdown).

This mode will appeal to those who want to try for the kill combos and who enjoy the pursuit of high scores, but also just for those who want to jump back in for a time. You could say there’s a nod at the roguelite with this mode.

Furthering the commitment to the “olde skool” are the various gaudy pickups, and that one-life-left thrill. It compliments the main campaign well, and provides a bit of a legacy for players. Keep it in your library, you never know when you might want to just jump back in. A solid, no-frills feature that works.

We’ve been trying to find a criticism of the game and the truth is there really isn’t one. Ok, it’s not going to last you forever but there is still a decent chunk of game here and you’ll certainly want to revisit it. The check point system is good so you are never too frustrated and there are some limited secrets to find in the form of the hidden brief case collectables in each level. The cover mechanic also works well and your character controls like a dream. There really isn’t anything to moan about.

Overall, Huntdown is one of the best action games we’ve played in years. It’s up there with the very best games in the genre and even eclipses the excellent Not a Hero. It’s no exaggeration to say that if this had been released in the 16-bit era we would be heralding it along with Contra and other classics of the genre. If action is your thing then we cannot recommend this enough.

 Overall 10/10

Huntdown Review (Switch)

Upon release Huntdown somehow went under our radar. We aren’t really sure how this happened as it’s not exactly a quiet or subtle game. In fact, it’s one of the craziest and most intense experiences we’ve ever played.

The best way to describe Huntdown is that it’s a side scrolling action mix of Contra, Judge Dredd and The Warriors set on fire and pushed down a hill in a cyber punk styled shopping trolley. It’s so incredibly full-on, violent and well realised that it has quickly shot to the top of our go to games list on the Switch.

The game has players pick from one of three super bounty hunters before blasting their way through four areas divided up into stages with a larger than life mob boss at the end of each. At your disposal are an endlessly diverse amount of weapons ranging from assault rifles, flame throwers and hockey sticks with new ones being introduced throughout. While using these tools of destruction to rain down justice on the criminal gangs your chosen hero will offer up one liners from every 80’s and 90’s action movie ever made and generally kick arse.

Set pieces are never far away and even when the scripted moments take a rest your arsenal is more than capable of creating its own. A particular highlight was when we jumped from a lift, blasted one goon with a shotgun and turned, kicking another into an explosive barrel which then set of a chain reaction of carnage.

The sound and look of Huntdown is also exceptional. The heavy cyber punk influence is consistent and creative throughout and the detail of the level design in exceptional. If there is one issue it’s that in handheld mode the game has almost too much going on to see properly which makes things even more difficult. It’s strange to say but this particular 2D blaster really should be experienced on the big screen with the sound turned up as loudly as possible.

Each of the four areas has its own distinct style and represents a different part of the gang controlled city. This reflects in the enemies as well with the first gang seeming like your everyday 80’s thugs before things take a turn towards the influence of The Warriors with hoodlums in over the top ice hockey gear and motor bikes. The bosses are great as well with each being larger than life characters that are challenging but not impossible to overcome.

We’ve been trying to find a criticism of the game and the truth is there really isn’t one. Ok, it’s not going to last you forever but there is still a decent chunk of game here and you’ll certainly want to revisit it. The check point system is good so you are never too frustrated and there are some limited secrets to find in the form of the hidden brief case collectables in each level. The cover mechanic also works well and your character controls like a dream. There really isn’t anything to moan about.

Overall, Huntdown is one of the best action games we’ve played in years. It’s up there with the very best games in the genre and even eclipses the excellent Not a Hero. It’s no exaggeration to say that if this had been released in the 16-bit era we would be heralding it along with Contra and other classics of the genre. If action is your thing then we cannot recommend this enough.

 

Overall 10/10

Steam Round Up - The Master Plan, Vortex Attack and Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser

 Vortex Attack

Like many shooters before it, Vortex Attack started life in the arcades. It’s a vertical shooter where the aim is to shoot enemies and then hit the crystals they leave behind. This sends them shooting into a vortex at the top of the screen. Eventually the vortex is destroyed and you move onto the next level.

It’s a nice idea but we found ourselves getting bored with the game quite quickly. The screen is stationary with enemies phasing into it and this made it begin to seem repetitive. We also didn’t get the frantic adrenaline rush found in many bullet hell style shooters.  It’s certainly worth a look for hard-core shooter fans as it does try to do something a bit different but there are many better examples of the genre out there.

Overall 5/10

Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser

From a vertical shooter to a horizontal one with the wonderfully named Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser. Taking inspiration from a host of 70’s and 80’s anime shows the game puts you in control of a huge flying robot that can link to other large robots to make even bigger flying robots.

It’s a fun and frantic game and there are lot of different weapons and combinations of things to try out. The style of the whole thing can only be described as joyful and it certainly proves a blast in small doses. The only major issue is that it can be completed in a very short amount of time and there isn’t really the depth or surprises on hand to keep you coming back for more. If you want something fun and full of pop culture references to blast away though this could well be for you.

Overall 7/10

The Masterplan

Escape and heist games seem to be the thing of the moment and The Masterplan is another to add into the mix. From a top down perspective you need to plan and execute your heist and escape leaving as little evidence as possible before the cops arrive .

You start off small by taking down bars and kiosks before moving on to many bigger and better things. There’s a lot at work under the hood here with civilians running off to call the cops and people deciding to get brave when they have a gun pointed at them among the issues to contend with. Planning is key and things can descend quickly if you rush in.

Sadly, while it’s trying to do all the right things the controls are very clunky and trying to carry out actions at speed seems counter intuitive. Issues like small icons and the fact you can only draw a ‘select all box’ by moving from top left to right and down (or else it simply won’t draw a box), really hinder the experience. Closing a door without having your character getting stuck the wrong side of it really shouldn’t be this tough either.

There’s fun to be had an it’ll no doubt become smoother with updates but it probably could have done with staying in Early Access a bit longer. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on it though as the potential on show is huge

Overall 6/10

ARMED SEVEN Review (PC)

Written by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

With a back story featuring a futuristic past-time (1989) and straight-outta-the-hat faction names (the Neo Loran Order, anyone?), Armed Seven conceptually nods... nay, headbutts toward a certain area. It is a to-the-gunpoint side-scrolling schmup featuring mechs, lasers, bullets and guns.

Genres can rise and fall, and then re-rise, changed and mutated, such as the point-and-click adventure. Time changes tastes and this is the same with the side-scrolling shooter. Armed Seven does everything by the book, even to the point of it having a clunky inelegance. It actually plays like something from my childhood that I would curiously boot up from a demo disk or a collection of shareware, pre-internet.

In control of a floating mech, you can pitch your guns at angles, but not move them once firing, adding the only other element of tactics outside of moving. You can pick your load-out, with a primary, secondary and chargeable special weapons. These come in the expected varied formats of machine guns, lasers, missiles and so forth. Curiously, I found, when you start a level, be it a traditionally war-torn past-future landscape or space-action-battlefield, the game tells you where your weak-spot is. The player mech is surprisingly large on the screen, but the hit-box is rather small. You can drift closer than it feels reasonable to incoming fire, harmlessly passing through your metal legs. This somewhat broke the connection for me between the character and controls. Hard to judge in the midst of battle.

This hints at the larger problem at the core of this game and just about forgivable at the price (a cheerful £3.99). The vehicles are a dull mixture of planes and mechs, and that's just about it. None of the thrill of the bio-mechanical R-Type, or the bizarre otherwordliness of Tyrian, or my personal favourite, the grungy, gory and brutal Gradius: Interstellar Assault. Hell, I feel Beat Hazard has a more varied approach and that's essentially an audio-'em-up game. A story as hammy as this deserves more craziness, more badassery... just more.

The side-scroll-schmup exists in pockets, occurring occasionally melted onto other game forms, or as pure and vicious shooters with an avid fanbase. These games, to succeed in the modern game biome, need to have adapted, whilst retaining what is essentially fun about the format. Pulling in some new ideas does not jeopardise the “retro” or “old skool”, I just want a bit of creativity. A customisable load-out is simply not enough to hold my attention for sustained periods. I simply do not buy that this is any more than a solidly made throwback. Like rockabilly music adopters who, with all the swagger and grunt, rarely stray from what can be a staid musical experience. It is a shame, but Armed Seven probably won't last too long in my memory. Maybe this is the point, but I wasn't moved to much more than a passing smile of nostalgia.

Overall 5/10