In a seedy motel down in El Paso the lord of all vampires, Draculae, has opened a rift to Hell and is ushering in a ritual to end the world. A drug-addicted monster hunter, James Savage, ventures into the bowels of the motel to stop it, knowing that this adventure may be his last; but hey, he can’t let his ex-girlfriend destroy the world after all.

El Paso Elsewhere wears its influence from Remedy’s oeuvre on its sleeve. The opiate popping hardboiled detective soliloquizing in between shooting down enemies in John Woo slo-mo clearly hearkens to Max Payne and the motel’s hellish depths of dimensional shifting corridors filled with supernatural aberrations are akin to a fusion of Max Payne 1’s nightmare sequences and Control’s eldritch halls of The Oldest House. El Paso uses these elements as a springboard to make its own identity though.

Mechanically the game is similar to Max Payne though its focus on tighter corridors and mix of melee and ranged enemies does bring its own sense of hecticness that sets it apart from Max. You have a full arsenal of weapons here ranging from stakes, which you can only hold a limited amount and guarantee an instant melee kill on any basic enemy, shotguns, molotovs, and rifles. I was constantly switching between weapons throughout the whole game as they all have their uses; even the basic dual pistols stay viable throughout as they are fairly long-range, accurate, and good for getting critical hits off of headshots.

Narratively the game does an actually real good job being a supernatural neo-noir. Max Payne 1 and 2 were mainly just noir pastiche, purposely goofy in a way that didn’t give its cast much depth beyond archetypes. El Paso actually manages to be a quality character study of abusive relationships and addiction through a noir genre lens. James yearns for the past, that one perfect day of his relationship as he puts it; even though he knows nothing but pain and self-destruction awaits him down that road. Affection and care had devolved into abusive control and thinly-veiled threats of violence as true characters were revealed. But like the drug addict he is James still can’t stop trying to regain that impossible high. All of this is well portrayed through the quality voice-acting in between levels as James is transported to each floor through the dimensional elevator. The game also has some levity with its Remedy-esque easter eggs like the continuing adventures of Pill Cop that you find throughout the levels.

It does have its share of flaws and jank though. One thing is it takes some time for the game to actually start taking off, the game has fifty levels, and for around the first fifteen or so you’re basically just fighting basic vampires and werewolves where you're not going to really have to bother using slo-mo that much. The first boss is also a bit of spike and I think they probably could give you a bit more ammo for the strongest weapons for him. I still managed but just be sure to rebind the roll onto something where you can hit it faster and easier for that fight.

Despite any missteps El Paso Elsewhere is still a genuinely great game and I actually like it over most of Remedy’s games aside from Control. Definitely worth checking out.

El Paso, Elsewhere's mix of emotional sincerity and over-the-top action result in a fairly unique experience; despite the game wearing its influences very openly on its sleeve. The gameplay loop provides plenty of fun fast-paced action as you traverse through some well-crafted maze-like levels, serving as a great representation of James's reflection on his failed relationship with Draculae. The writing and voice acting are both great, often shifting effortlessly between heartfelt monologues and witty one liners. The game’s visuals are striking despite the low-poly art style with vibrant effects that do a fantastic job of contrasting many of the gloomy mazes you’ll find yourself shooting through. The soundtrack can feel a bit hit or miss and I expect this may be a point of contention for a lot of players but I found it to generally do a good job of invoking what I perceive to be the heart of the game; the punchy hip-hop tracks pairing well with the chaotic action sequences and the more atmospheric, dissonant tracks complementing the introspective moments.

Unfortunately, the lack of enemy variety and unique environments result in the game feeling quite repetitive and unexciting at times. I understand that the game feeling drawn out may be at least partially intentional in order to really sell the feeling of drudging through James's seemingly insurmountable amount of baggage but I still can't help but feel that a portion of these chapters could have been cut, with the narrative feeling tighter and the pacing feeling more succinct as a result. That being said, getting through some of these rougher moments is well worth it as both endings are quite solid and memorable.

The gameplay is clearly doing its best Max Payne impression, with the problem that all of the enemies in the first hour are melee enemies. So in each fight, in each arena, in each level, you're backpedaling as the throngs of undead accumulate into single-file globs that open themselves up to pop-pop-pops, rinse and repeat.

The slow-mo feels superfluous - it was WAY more impactful in Max Payne because the speed of the action was way higher. You really needed to utilize the slow-mo there, because a room with 5 dudes in it was a problem. A room with 5 gun-toting thugs is a room with 5 immediate threats, as soon as you enter the room. Having all of the enemies be melee means that they're not threats as much as they are moving targets, eagerly lining up to be plinked off. I've scanned ahead in some YouTube playthroughs and see that they do introduce a ranged enemy later on, but it doesn't look like it's going to fix my issue.

The music is kind of a bummer to me, because I really like all of the instrumental stuff, but as soon as one of the lyrics-laden tracks spins up, I kina physically recoil. I'm glad that the dev is having fun and putting their music out there. I just really don't think it's good, earnestly or ironically.

Scrubbing through the full-game playthrough on YouTube, I think it's EXTREMELY unlikely that I'm going to give this game 7 hours to playthrough. That is a genuinely staggering runtime to me, and it seems like it'd be such a better game if it was half that length and foregrounded the story first and foremost

On its surface, a bald-faced Max Payne homage with little to offer iteratively. El Paso, Elsewhere is, however, much more than just a Max Payne homage, but a love letter to all of Remedy’s games.

“Love letter” is not my ideal turn of phrase here. I’ve heard so many reviewers toss around “love letter” that it makes my stomach churn. Love letter this, spiritual successor that; “is every boomer shooter a love letter to Quake?” I hear you ask. Maybe every first person shooter is a love letter to Quake, my friend…

You can dive and shoot enemies in slow-motion, therefore it’s a Max Payne-like title – this isn’t the first Max Payne-like, but certainly the most publicized one in a long while. El Paso, Elsewhere had already piqued my interest long before its release, so you can imagine how excited I was after playing through Max Payne (twice) and Max Payne 2 (twice) and realized that another Max Payne – a surreal, supernatural Max Payne – was about to explode onto the indie scene.

And then, it came out, and it started making Top 10s. Like, Game of the Year Top 10s. Seriously? It’s that good?!

El Paso, Nightmare would temper my expectations going in. From a holistic perspective, Nightmare’s greatest success (as an unsavory “appetizer,”) is that Elsewhere appears much more stylish, more refined, and much more bold in comparison.

Hot off the heels of the original Max Payne titles, the greatest compliment I can give Elsewhere is that it’s nothing if not a faithful recreation of the archetype. It is a smidge floatier, although I’d argue this elevates the experience if anything.

Additionally, although it only appears to imitate Max Payne at a glance, Remedy superfans will notice the many flourishes of El Paso, Elsewhere which have roots beyond the immediately obvious.

There’s a dream sequence in Max Payne 2 where the ceiling vanishes, revealing a bloodred canopy sky; naturally, the ceiling also appears to have vanished in El Paso, Elsewhere, allowing players to peer into the undulating void beyond. This works on two levels: first as a stylistic choice inherited from the Max Payne series, and also mechanically, as our overhead view is no longer obstructed by low ceilings, allowing a wider perspective and letting environments feel a lot less claustrophobic overall.

There’s also some more obvious garnishes: the Pill Cop radio shows, the pistols akimbo, the big ol' title cards for each chapter. I drew parallels between the Force Beyond and Thomas Zane in the original Alan Wake, and the Void’s geometry containing elements of the Oldest House from Control.

Remedy games have a lot of character thanks to Sam Lake’s textural metanarratives and thematic undertones, although what El Paso, Elsewhere lacks in Remedy’s two decades worth of interconnected storytelling, it makes up for with Xalavier Nelson Jr.’s triple threat powerhouse performance as game director, singer-songwriter, and vocal talent of protagonist James Savage.

I won’t lie though, for every needle drop that works, there’s at least one other needle drop that doesn’t. Human Sundae is a little too goofy for the grotesque viscerafest it’s describing, and At the End just doesn’t gel with the otherworldly visuals of the level it’s built for.

That’s not to say there aren’t some prime cuts here: In the Hole, Break Shit, Blood Pressure, and Monster Club are all noisy, chaotic tracks that perfectly compliment their respective chapters. My favorite track is Interview 38. I love how it starts like an audio log and slowly morphs into I see that it’s inside you I see that it’s inside you I see that it’s inside you I see that it’s inside you

However, Xalavier Nelson Jr.’s performance as James Savage always hits the mark. A medley of grim, surly, wry, analytical, and insecure – a character as fun and interesting as any Max Payne could be.

El Paso, Elsewhere’s biggest downfall – and I’m sorry that I’ve waited until now to reveal this – is that it’s simply not built with bullet time in mind.

I’ve said this previously about Max Payne 3. That game is steadfastly a cover shooter first and a Max Payne sequel second. El Paso, Elsewhere is more like an arena shooter first and a Max Payne-like second. Most of El Paso, Elsewhere could work as a first person shooter without bullet time, and that’s a problem.

The bullet time doesn’t just feel superfluous, it is superfluous. Closer to Max Payne 2 in terms of overpowered, but in the sense that the game was not meant for it. This issue is exacerbated by the enemies, which do not engage players in such a way to reinforce the game’s central mechanics – they don’t necessitate bullet time, but it does make them significantly easier to kill.

There’s the rub, really. Enemies like the mummified vampires or leaping werewolves could’ve worked in the context of an arena shooter. In a Max Payne-like, though? What’s the point? Some enemies shoot projectiles but they’re so easy to dodge, and bullet time only trivializes these projectiles further.

Minor spoilers, but there’s two main “boss fights,” and the first one was really good. I died a few times trying to learn the tells, but once I did, I was like, whoa! This is sick. I was rolling out of enemy attacks like I was playing Dark Souls and going Max Payne mode and it was awesome.

The second (and final) boss? Basically the same boss, but way more jank for some reason. Their character model kept getting stuck in the floor I think. Also their second phase is just their first phase but faster maybe? I don’t know. Didn’t really leave an impression on me. A little sad it never really evolved beyond “roll out of an enemy’s attack”. I also didn’t use bullet time for the final boss at all.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that, yeah, nothing in this game feels like it was made for bullet time. The levels are mostly flat with very little verticality. The enemies are mostly close-range, or can be killed safely at a distance.

It’s still fun though haha. Bullet time blasting vampires and werewolves doesn’t get old. I guess you can retrofit bullet time onto anything and it’s automatically better unless you’re Max Payne 3!

This won’t be on my GOTY list but it’s still fun and you have to support indie devs otherwise I get you

This game is A Lot and so it's kind of hard to fully put into words what it felt like to me by the end.

Starting with the gameplay: It is indeed heavily inspired by the old Max Payne games. However the enemy selection feels a lot more like it's from an old 90s FPS like Quake or Unreal. Meanwhile the level design, quick kills and soundtrack make it feel a litle bit like Hotline Miami. All in all the levels get a little bit tedious, but I got around most of that by bumping up the enemy damage and item healing to 1,5. There are a lot of genuinely satisfying moments in the game where you perfectly line up a headshot right at the critical moment. Even better is when you enter a room, enter bullet time, land 6 headshots in a row so fast that your resource bar is still full afterwards and cleaning up with the shotgun. While some of the levels do drag on a bit and there are a lot of them... these Perfect Moments make it feel all worth it to me.

At the start of the game you have a kind of heavier, surreal take on From Dusk 'til Dawn to wrap up the early vibe. Max Payne, Quake, Hotline Miami, From Dusk 'til Dawn... those influences kind of wrap up the aesthetic at the start. Though of course not quite because Hotline Miami has an electronic soundtrack. El Paso, Elsewhere pumps an electronic hip-hop OST and boy does it work. Not all of the tracks are instant favourites but some levels are kind of defined by how PERFECT the track is. "BREAK SHIT" being my personal favourite. Even if it's not your usual favourite genre I'd say it's worth sticking with it just for those absolutely Perfect Moments.

So the real story behind the game starts to become clear about halfway through and it gets pretty heavy. I won't spoil anything but there's a recurring theme that ties in with the protagonists substance addiction. Basically the protagonist has gone for a very long with something that was terrible for him in the chase after those Perfect Moments. Interestingly, the game makes a point of saying that the chase for Perfect Moments doesn't have to be a bad thing in and of itself. As he says at the very early stages: A good death is almost no work at all, you just need to pick the right moment for a just suicide mission. A good life is something you have to commit to every day. It's easy to find one quick perfect moment and commit to it, even knowing that it will only get worse. Yet picking the harder option will lead to many more Perfect Moments down the line.

The game is also very obviously limited in terms of production resources and it shows. While some will complain that this makes it feel cheap, I think it's truly impressive how beautiful the game looks at times. A lot of levels do not have any roof, which I assume started as a result of time constraints. The game even acknowledges that this is a thing and kind of explains it away as a part of the entity that's creating these levels. Rather than feel like lampshading though, this feels like the most natural thing in the world. Even if you had your doubts on that one, you do find maps with roofs later on and the protagonist even comments on how this makes his life more difficult. When there's no roof you can scout rooms ahead, you can snipe flying enemies, you can navigate to the pillars of light that mark your level objectives. With a roof? No such luck. On top of this, the game has some of the most surprisingly beautiful shots that I've seen in gameplay since Bloodborne. The player perspective, props, level architecture and skybox sometimes line up to make something absolutely beautiful and you'll almost feel silly that you doubted the game's graphics in the face of these Perfect Moments.

The reason that I keep emphasising those Perfect Moments in both the game and the narrative is that I kind of feel like they are meant to be tied together. You put up with some tedious gameplay for those Perfect Moments. You put up with the somewhat generic ambient score in order to hear the next track from the "Real" OST. Just like the protagonist you have to decide whether the hard parts are worth the payoff and you have to decide whether sticking with it is an addiction or a productive project.

I don't entirely know whether this was even deliberate but I have to assume it was at least partially so. Certainly I feel like the story did not need as many levels as it did if they wanted to only serve the gameplay. Either way I find it hard to even say whether I like that they did the game this way. It's hard to say whether the tedious stuff was worth putting up with just for the game to make its point about Perfet Moments. Yet then the fact that I am even pondering the question kind of validates the choice, right? Was the game more like the Perfect Moment that comes from getting yourself ice cream as a reward for going through your hardships or is it closer to the Perfect Moment that comes from being seduced into an addiction? I have to believe that its the former.

This feels like a really loving homage to something the creators hadn't actually played in years (Max Payne, obviously) and just developed off of the memory of it in their heads.

Most elements of the game feel pretty superfluous: the slow-mo is pretty useless because most enemies are melee, meaning you use it to point at enemy's heads and immediately kill them before they become even remotely threatening. That, and the fact most of the monsters go down in a matter of maybe 3 shots to the head with any given weapon, make the combat pretty boring and easy. Legitimately the only times I died are when the levels were designed to have the monsters ambush you around corners where they'd chop off all your health before you could react, and I never ran out of ammo or health pickups. If you want to know specifically how redundant some mechanics are, rolling and diving a specific number of times are some of the rarer achievements for this game on Steam.

Plus, the game just goes on for too long; I was somewhat interested in the story and even liked some of the characters enough to get invested in some conversations early on, but about 2 hours of content could be cut and nothing could be lost. Seriously, there are more scenes where the protagonist is just talking to himself like he's in a soap opera where he's the only character than him interacting with ANYONE ELSE IN THE GAME.

Really wanted to like this one, and there are some parts of it I do like - the broad brush strokes of the narrative, the soundtrack (sans the rapping; lyrics were too cringe for me lol) - but ultimately it felt easy, repetitive, hollow, and boring. Making most of the enemies in a Max Payne homage melee was not a good move, and there's way too many levels. You don't have to slo-mo or dive-dodge basically at all in this game, and in fact will actively hurt you in the boss fights as the roll-dodge is how you get away from the boss tracking. A strong effort for sure, but a weak outcome.

Dripping with Max Payne influence, El Paso, Elsewhere does maybe too good of an homage to that style game.

The constant motion abilities with gunplay and movement are good. It gets a bit dragged down by aiming mechanics that just feel slightly off though. Where the reticle is in relation to the camera placement just feels slightly off, so whenever I was aiming, I found it unnatural and like I was going to miss.

The game is a bit rough around the edges in a few places. Some of this is charming and really works for the style of game its going for. It's not able to overcome all of those rough spots, especially in regards to hit detection and clipping.

I found myself a few times getting stuck on something or getting stuck inside something. These of course would always happen in a wave of enemies, so I'd end up dying or in pretty rough shape when this would occur, making the whole experience a bit frustrating at times. Especially with the more common hit detection issues.

To just finish the bad stuff and get it all out of the way, the game is also way too long. The environments, the gunplay, the weapon and enemy variety, these are all pretty good in El Paso, Elsewhere, but because the game feels like it drags, some of these good factors get less impressive as the game goes on. Especially once the game stop introducing new enemies, new weapons and new environments.

There are good to great things with this game too. The music is fantastic, the weapon variety is nice, the enemy variety is as well, and the story is pretty good on top of it. The voiceover of our main character is also done very well.

El Paso, Elsewhere does a great job standing apart from its inspiration while feeling so similar to that Max Payne style gunplay and vibe. Some of the design choices from those games probably should've been left to that era. Minor frustrations and bigger ones drag the overall creative and interesting experience down which is a shame but this is a game worth trying if Max Payne style mechanics is something you enjoy. The story, the music, and overall experience should be enough to push through some of the issues.

I came for the Max Payne style gunplay. Stayed for the raw emotional story about abuse and the trauma that comes with it.

I'm incredibly impressed with what is for offer here. The writing, voice acting and visual design all adds a sort of texture to the story. A human tale of one miserable breakup between two people coated in an end of the world style flair. The real shine comes from the impressive camera direction in cutscenes. Most of them take place in the same location but the level of creativity on display make that location feel rich, constantly shifting the tone from safety to suffering.

The gunplay is strong but does have some content pacing problems. New enemies and weapons show up at odd intervals leading to long stretches without anything new to offer. However, due to the short length of the game it's less of a deal breaker and more of a noticeable blemish. The enemies all showcase specific weapon weaknesses, which is good to keep the players switching from old reliable. It's likely not going to be the thing you remember this game for but it is still incredibly entertaining to bullet time dive through a window. Just this time it will involve werewolves in a bathroom.

I really recommend you check this one out. It's another great example that we don't need photorealistic AAA graphics to tell an impactful and moving story.

What an incredible journey this game is. Your Ex is the Lord of the Vampires, and she is about to destroy the world. You go on a pill infused journey to stop her.
The storytelling and soundtrack especially are world class. There were so many times I couldn't put the game down, as I felt a strong need to see what happened next. You learn about how you were with Draculae, how you'd speak to each other, past dramas, your inner struggles as you are faced with a decaying body, and wanting to go back to a simpler time, while still feeling the need to keep going to stop the world from ending. It's enthralling. The cutscenes are shot perfectly, the voice acting feels very real, and the soundtrack lifts the entire experience to the next lvl. Despite the game's indie budget, it feels incredibly AAA (in a good way) in these departments.

The gameplay itself has you running around, shooting monsters. You have a full arsenal of guns, a dodge-roll, and a slow motion mechanic (that I forgot to use throughout the entire game, oops). You can also dive, which I also forgot to use. Oops.

Despite the simple premise, the game is quite satisfying to play. The enemies are placed in ways that make you really have to think about who you want to prioritize. Shooting werewolves in front isn't going to be of much use when you re being sniped by energy-balls from the back.

That said, what is holding this game back from being a full 5/5 stars, is its pacing in the gameplay lvls. While the story pacing is great, you can often feel like the game drags on. The game spends a very long time between introducing new enemies, so you are stuck fighting just a basic enemy that runs towards you for a good hour or so. Then they'll introduce one more enemy, and it once again takes forever before you see anything new. After everything has been introduced, the same issue persists, it takes too long before something special happens. That's not to say the gameplay isn't fun, I think more the issue is that the devs did not have enough resources to make everything they wanted to.

A side-complaint I also wanted to mention is that for most of the game it is simply too easy. Out of all the levels, I think I only died on 3 of them, one of which being the first boss, and one of my deaths was because I got stuck in the geometry and was unable to move. While not a huge issue, I would have loved to see a difficulty mode where they don't necessarily boost any numbers, but make resources and ammo a bit more scarce, forcing you to use your whole arsenal while not having instant access to healing, and without the slow-motion bar. While I played the entire game without using the slow-motion, if I were to use it it would completely invalidate any challenge in this game if I were to use it.

Usually when a game offers a slow-motion mechanic, the enemies and world design is balanced around it. For example, the enemies that charge energy-balls are very easy to locate and take out, even with full-speed gameplay, before they ever get to shoot. They could have made it a lot more interesting if the player was forced to use the slow-motion to deal with situations like these.

It feels like there should have been more enemy types, it feels like there should have been at least one more environment to explore, and it feels like there should have been more secrets. Because of what I can only assume is budget constraints, they had to do the best with what they had. They wanted the story to have this length, and they wanted you to have this amount of time between the hard hitting story beats, so instead of making something new, they remixed what they had. While not a big issue, it can sometimes feel like the game drags on a little too long before new things are introduced. It does get repetitive.

Personally, with this many levels in the game, there should have been more enemy variety. Once you overcome the challenge of one enemy, and how they are combined with other enemies, throwing more of the same at the player is ultimately pointless. They should either have added more variety, or cut down on the repetitiveness.

That said, the game is full of awesome moments, unique setpieces during the lvls, and the main character's monologues never get old. In the end, "I wanted more game" is probably not the worst critique a dev can get.

I really hope this game does well so they can make a sequel. I need to know what happens next.

There’s a lot to like about this vampire-filled take on Max Payne. I thought it did a good job of nailing the self-important inner monologue of the main character, slow motion is always fun and the weapons, while few in number, generally have a decent punch. It doesn’t quite get there though; the biggest issue is probably the enemies themselves as most of them are melee types that just dumbly rush towards you. It’s also too long for the lack of level variety. It took me a little under 10 hours to get through all the levels but I think it could have stood to be more like 5-6.