Mullet Mad Jack is a fast paced fps shooter from the people over at Hammer95. It’s takes the cyperpunk and retro anime aesthetics and combines them with gameplay that is extremely fast paced. Packaged together with a great soundtrack, refined controls, and tons of extras, Mullet Mad Jack has already cemented itself as a staple in the fps genre.

The gameplay revolves around your need for dopamine: you are on a ten second timer, when you hit zero you die, you add seconds by getting kills in a variety of ways and drinking soda: this games holy corn syrup potion. Combat is this game is tied perfectly to this mechanic, you are given a variety of weapons so take down robotic billionaires and waves of lesser robots, each weapon also receiving upgrades. Each weapon has its purpose and upgrading them makes each weapon a tool of destruction. Infinite ammo on the revolver, a sub machine gun that is laser accurate, an overloaded shotgun, and a few more. Each weapon doesn’t feel tacked on, one of the limited options will fit your play style. Another plus to this game is that melee is a viable option which is not common in the genre: the swords provide high damage and status effects, and melee dashing is downright a necessity to thrive in the dystopian neon hell. Melee dashing refills your timer fully, so scouring the hallways and corridors for melee weapons is a free 10 seconds of life. These ideas paired with some of the best movement in gaming create a homogenous spearhead that leads the rest of the game.

A very refreshing aspect of the game is the level design. Each floor is procedurally generated from a pool of premade rooms and hallways. This on its own would just make the game a memorization puzzle, but the game constantly twists this puzzle as you go up the tower: new enemies and obstacles are added each 10 floors. There are enemies that require melee to defeat, floating bombs, laser walls, parkour sections, the game never runs out of fresh ideas to throw at the player.

Boss fights in this game serve more of a thematic purpose than challenge, which is acceptable, they do have great designs and it does still feeling rewarding defeating them to reach the next set of floors. The only boss I would say is underwhelming is the final boss, it is a long fight but it’s not too difficult and with it being it’s own chapter I would’ve liked an increase in difficulty.

The aesthetics of this game have so much care put into them; the old anime aesthetics mixed with the cyperpunk setting feel retro and refreshing at the same time, you can feel the passion behind all this. The cyperpunk setting helps reinforce the gameplay mechanics and give a sense of purpose to pursuing the next objective. This game also shares the philosophical sentiments of said genre: capitalism ultimately drives 99% of the population obsolete, only billionaires and robots have a foothold in society. Rapid consumerism and the presence of online social status equate humans to just being consumers, which ties to doing all the actions you take in game being over a pair of shoes. Shoes are also given for playing different modes which ties back what the game is saying to how players will try to get every pair, like a good consumer. The anime aesthetics fit in quite well, bringing an aura of cheesy fun that works quite well. The music also does a good job to match the intensity of the gameplay.

Mullet Mad Jack has become a game that should be one of the first recommendations when someone asks “what FPS game should I try to get into the genre?”. The game has such a polish to it, rarely do you find games that fully realize themselves and deliver a truly full and dense experience.

THIS IS FOR THE DEMO SINCE IT DOESNT HAVE ITS OWN PAGE

i think it's okay! i think what i like most about boomer shooters is the level design, so having a roguelike boomer shooter where you constantly need to be moving forward through simplistic, samey corridors without much opportunity to really appreciate or understand the different layouts is kind of frustrating. i get that there's a no time limit mode but i wanted to meet the game on its level and play it as the developers intended. from the steam trailer it looks like there's a lot more variety beyond where the demo stops, and that's good. i wish i got to experience a bit of that but i understand. not sure ill be checking this one out soon even tho i rly like the aesthetic and character designs.

"i was high on COCAIN while orgasming nonstop"
The gameplay, the 90's anime art style is goatest of GOAT.
The rush of dopamine u get in few mints is more then enough to justify its price point.
"Got freaking damn it these cutscenes ooozes so much charm and old ass anime coolness
Fucking hell badassness and coolness next level"

The only issue I have with it is that barring a few unique and funny boss fights, and some out of this world setpeace levels, the game level design 70% of the time remains the same, with similar powerups, wish they experimented more.

Edit: "But man replaying it over and over on hardest difficulties I just had to bump this up to 10, this game is outlandishly fun"

Solid 10/10


OLD Demo review
Hands down best Demo i ever played in my life, and GOT DAMN while playing it, I feel like i was high on COCAIN while orgasming nonstop.

I'VE GOT 10 SECONDS TO WRITE THIS REVIEW, INJECT THE DOPAMINE INTO MY BLOOD.

You know when you see those videos that's Subway Surfers under a Family Guy clip? This game is basically riding on that concept of zero attention span and quick dopamine rushes being the lifeblood of your character and it's fucking amazing. You got 10 seconds, better impress the chat by murdering the shit out of every dude you see and climb the corporate tower to save the Influencer. Don't forget! if you work hard you too can own those sick shoes!, it's not an unobtainable goal they parade to you to keep you working a meaningless, endless cycle! You too can make it on the list of the TOP 500 BILLIONARES! JUST GO, GO, YOU GOT THIS.

While it is very clearly following in Post Void's footsteps, it carves out its own identity with its charming style and unique twists. There's a steady flow of new challenges introduced in every chapter, and it's fast paced.
And while the colorful VHS OVA aesthetic can be overwhelming, the bright signposting always leads you the right way, and enemies clearly stand out from their environments. I just wish there was more incentive to replay it, because outside of some cosmetics: there's little variety to level layouts and character upgrades and certain weapons, namely the shotgun and SMG, are completely broken once fully upgraded. Endless mode had me just wishing for those two showing up every time I finished a level.
Still, there's enough satisfying combat and soul here to charm anyone; it's hard to fault a game that executes a core idea so well, in such a short but engrossing runtime.

Overall, despite the depressing ending, the game overall is the most engaging shooter I’ve played in 2024. Excellent gunplay, tense platforming, striking visuals, and an over-the-top story all combine for a game that has way more smooth sides than rough edges. The game is a great addition to the insane month of Indie releases that are coming out this May, especially if you own a Steam Deck, which it ran perfectly on. Just maybe don’t think about the story too hard, and just enjoy the fun of nonstop violence.

(This is a brief summary of a much longer review, which can be read here: https://vgu.tv/2024/05/14/mullet-mad-jack-review-millionaire-murder-simulator/)

𝟳,𝟮/𝟭𝟬🍹
«𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 `𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙙` 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚, 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟮𝘿-𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝»

The developers managed to create a more complex game from the concept of my favorite “Post Void” (2020), dividing the adrenaline arcade run (where every second of delay can cost your life, and every broken robots jaw will prolong your existence) into 10`8 floors of 40-60 seconds each, with a boss room before a new stage, local fragments of the plot about the “rescue of the princess” will also be presented through them, or.. rather local humor, and completing it will save your progress, and also each new stage is a gradual progression in the danger of the environment and the new, stronger enemies,
Many people may not like the 2D graphics (and the crazy flickering of letters on the screen), yes, all the models here are literally sprites, and not everyone is an anime fan, but shooter fans still won’t be able to avoid the “cheating” wild influx of dopamine from the gameplay, but only for about the first 2-4 hours, full game takes about 6 hours maximum, even on hardcore -this is exactly what the developer intended (as written), don’t even start on average dif., it’s too easy, you’ll ruin your first “dopamine” impression,
Naturally, there is also ultra hardcore, and, permadeath - complete everything with 1 try, and, endless mode with a leaderboard from all over the world,
I'll start right away with criticism, I didn’t really like the general style of the game (there are better anime), especially the weapon designs are kind of nondescript,
Purely formal plot, general from 1 line: the world is owned by robot billiards, and if in 2070 a person will not have fun every 10 seconds, broadcasting this to the network, then the zoomer’s brain will turn off, and why doesn’t anything happen to us outside of combat? Moreover, the main character really looks like an endlessly stuck squirrel in a wheel, which will obviously never receive the “corporation prize”; here you even sympathize with the villain more, because he is against the current structure of the system, but he seemed more stupid.. In general, philosophical depth , how in
Therefore, don`t expect the philosophical depth here that could be found in
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285670/Post_Void/
in PV we wanted to reach the end, because life gave us the last chance to break out of the “trip”, and it depended only on us whether we would make at least one miscalculation or sink into oblivion, the whole game may speedrun in 6 minutes, but all elements worked perfectly in conjunction with the incredible “hurrying” soundtrack, force you to train a “monotonous” skill for several hours until you win, and the levels seemed like a real labyrinth, where it was very dangerous to leave enemies behind, and btw the game was fun to complete with any weapon, and the initial pistol was extremely good aim training,
In "Mullet Mad Jack" I remember only 1 rare motif of the main melody, and the rooms were repeated exactly over and over again with the same placement of enemies (and visually the maps also lack variety),
But the revolver, on the contrary, is the most powerfull weapon here, with which I played through the entire game, I hardly used any other weapons: a rifle, a railgun, a shotgun, an SMG, a fire or ice katana, it’s extremely difficult to perfrom headshots with them, or they fire in bursts, or there’s insufficient damage, But the firebrands give + a second, and from a pistol it’s only 1 shot.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲? For example, for the environment killing system, we can kick enemies into fans (It's better to stop a little, because the electric discharge can damage us too), into fire extinguishers, and into lasers - which is the most dangerous “platforming” trap of the game, here you can also fall into the abyss, and there is a “wallrun” ability, the kic btw - is a very good gameplay addition, it`s also used to reset shields from enemies, but doesn`t give damage, and therefore add. seconds,
Each level we, classically, can choose a random bonus to strength, speed, extra. environmental damage, additional seconds, ricochets, as well as reducing the HP of the future boss by 10-30%, upgrades will be reset after checkpoints, and there are no overbalanced things, even “slow mo” in the last 3 seconds of life don`t help, I constantly died because of it, because the sudden change in pace of the game is very disorienting,
But there is also a permanent upgrade, consisting of 3 slots: unlock the option to improve any weapon (e.g., a level 3 revolver doesn`t require reloading at all - the real clicker begins.. without reloading, probably, any weapon is a little imbalanced after all.. and yes, weapons also don`t reset like regular bonuses),
There is also an option to save one improvement for the next stage, and an option to rewind the bonus roulette,

And the coolest thing is that each "boss" done differently every time, and you always have the motivation to reach the end to find out how the game will surprise you, and this isn`t only a hardcore challenge, because of which you can "bombed" that you will have to replay 10 floors again, often - a pleasant surprise, especially in the epilogue - the chapter “after all chapters”, after the credits it seems that the game is not going to end at all)
Oh, and there are also relaxing sliding sections where you can 100% farm yourself some seconds and admire your sneakers,
But still, I can understand people who are not satisfied with the “straightforwardness” of the core gameplay,so I try to remain objective, 90% of the time you literally press the W + Shift button (This is a dash) and click the mouse, the locations lack some multi-turns storeys (this happens, but very rarely), each level can be "pass by luck" very quickly, that with frequent deaths, it can very easily drag you into an endless routine, it’s hard to force yourself to stop and rest, ideally, play with an interesting pobcast from YouTube, and yes, the achievements don’t seem to be as tough as they could be done for such a game.

p.s. There weren't enough spiders in the ventilation, although the manual seems to say that they should be there.
p.p.s. For completely reading the manual through the game menu you will be given a good rifle.

😊 𝗦𝘂𝗯 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺`𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿`𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41977550
//
Разработчикам удалось создать из концепции моего любимого "Post Void" (2020) более комплексную игру, разделив адреналиновый аркадный забег (где каждая секунда промедления может стоить жизни, а каждая выбитая челюсть робота продлит ваше существование) на 10*8 этажей по 40-60 секунд каждый, с комнатой-боссом перед новым этапом, через них также будут подаваться местные крупицы сюжета про "спасение принцессы", а скорее местный юмор, а также прохождение таковой сохранит ваш прогресс, и также каждый новый этап - это постепенная прогрессия в опасности окружения и появления новых более сильных врагов,
Многим может не зайти 2D-графика (и безумное мельтешение буковок на экране), да, все модельки тут - это буквально спрайты, и фанатами аниме далеко не все являются, но любители шутеров всё равно не смогут избежать "читерного" дикого притока дофамина от игры, но только где-то первые 2-4 часа, а проходится она часов за 6 максимум, даже на хардкоре - именно эта сложность задумана разработчиком (так и написано), на среднем даже не начинайте, слишком легко, испортите себе первые "дофаминовые" впечатления,
естественно, ещё присутствует ультра хардкор, и, permadeth - пройти всё с 1 жизнью, и, бесконечный режим с таблицей лидеров со всего мира,
Сразу проедусь по критике, мне не очень понравилась общая стилистика игры (есть аниме и получше), особенно дизайны оружий какие-то "никакие", Чисто формальный сюжет, общий замес из 1 строчки: миром владеют роботы-биллиардеры, и, если в 2070 человек не будет получать удовольствие каждые 10 секунд, транслируя это в сеть, то мозг зумера отключится, при этом почему вне боя с нами тогда ничего не происходит? Причём главный герой же реально как бесконечно застрявшая белка в колесе, которая никогда, очевидно, так и не получит "приз корпорации", тут даже злодею сопереживаешь больше, ибо он против нынешнего устройства системы, но выставлен более глупым.. В общем, философской глубины, как в
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1285670/Post_Void/
тут не ждите, в Post Void хотелось дойти до конца, потому что жизнь дала нам последний шанс вырываться из "трипа", и только от нас зависело допустим ли мы хоть 1 просчёт или канем в небытие, вся игра спидранилась за 6 минут, но каждый элемент прекрасно работал в совокупности с невероятным "торопящим" саундтреком, заставляя несколько часов набивать "однообразный" навык до победного, а уровни казались настоящим лабиринтом, где врагов очень опасно было оставлять позади себя, и, кстати, игру было максимально кайфово проходить с любым видом оружия, а начальный пиколет был крайне хорошей тренировкой аима,
В "Mullet Mad Jack"-е же мне запомнился только 1 редкий мотив главной мелодии, а комнаты из раза в раз точь-в-точь повторялись с тем же самым расположением врагов (да и визуально картам не хватает разнообразия),
А револьвер же наоборот самая имба, с которым я и прошёл всю игру, а другими пушками: винтовкой, рельсотроном, дробовиком, смг, огеннной или ледяной катаной, вообще не пользовался, крайне сложно ими ставить хедшоты, либо стрельба очередями, либо недостаточный урон, а ведь головёшки дают +секунду, а с пистолета это всего 1 выстрел.

За что же я тогда хвалю? Например, за систему убийства окружением, мы можем пинать врагов в вентиляторы (при этом лучше немного приостановиться т.к электрический разряд может демегнуть и нас) в огнетушители, и в лазеры - что самая опасная "платформенная" ловушка игры, тут также можно провалиться в пропасть, и есть "wallrun", пинок кстати очень хорошее дополнение, используется для сброса щитов с врагов, но не даёт урона обычным, а следовательно и доп. секунд,
Каждый уровень мы, классически, можем выбрать рандомный бонус к силе, скорости, доп. урону от окружения, доп. секундам, или прострелам/рикошетам, а также к снижению хп будущего босса на 10-30%, апгрейды будут сбрасываться после чекпоинтов, причём нет каких-то оверимбалансных штук, даже "слоу мо" в последние 3 секунды жизни зачастую меня наоборот убивало, ибо резкая смена темпа игры очень дезориентирует,
Но также есть и перманентная прокачка, состоящая из 3 слотов: открытие опции улучшение любого оружия (например, револьвер 3 уровня вообще не требует перезарядки - настоящий кликер начинается.. без перезарядки, наверное, любое оружие немного имбалансное всё же.. а да, оружие же еще и не сбрасывается как обычные бонусы),
еще опция сохранения одного улучшения на следующий этап, и опция перекрутки рулетки бонусов,

А самое кайфовое, что каждый "босс" выполнен по разному, и всегда есть мотивация дойти до конца, чтобы узнать, чем же игра вас удивит, и это не только хардкорный челлендж, из-за которого вы бомбанёте, что вам опять перепроходить 10 этажей, зачастую - приятный сюрприз, особенно в эпилоге - главе "после всех глав", после титров кажется, что игра вообще не собирается заканчиваться)
А, и есть ещё расслабительные секции скольжения, где вы 100% нафармите себе секунд, и полюбуетесь своими кроссовками,
Но всё же я могу понять людей, кому не зайдёт "прямолинейность" кор. геймплея, поэтому стараюсь сохранить объективность, 90% времени вы буквально жмёте кнопку W+Shift (Это рывок) и кликаете мышкой, локациям не хватает каких поворотов многоэтажности (это встречается, но очень редко), каждый уровень "на дурачка" пролетается очень быстро, что при частых смертях, очень легко может затянуть вас в бесконечную рутину, тяжело заставить себя прерваться и отдохнуть, в идеале - играйте под интересный подкаст с Ютуба, а и да, ачивки вроде не такие жёские, как можно было бы сделать для такой игры.

p.s. Не хватило пауков в вентиляции, хотя в мануале вроде сказано, что они там должны быть.
p.p.s. За полный просмотр мануала через менюшку игры дадут неплохую винтовку.

😊 Поддержка подпиской: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37365104

The 1.5 stars are merely for the presentation, and even then I didn't enjoy a bunch of it. To be fair, I did not finish the game, but it definitely feels like I experienced a lot of the content there is to experience.

Alright first thing. Art style is kinda cool? It's very much supposed to evoke the era of 90s anime but not fully committing? It's good quality art but it all feels like it's clashing especially when you're getting your 90s shoujo looking woman at the top right of your screen between checkpoints and seeing very harsh and thick lines on enemies on environments almost to feeling cell-shaded? The main protagonist doesn't even feel like he really fits in this game's art direction.

The gameplay loop is an enticing concept on paper but needs way more then this game gives. Has a Post Void type loop of having your time constantly tick down and the only way to replenish time is to kill enemies and the game adds variation to that loop. With not just guns being the way to kill enemies but also to kick them or other upgrades relating to pushing enemies around and throwing them into obstacles in the environment. Where the game loses me is that Post Void at least has this simplicity of being an extremely bite sized game that has you running through it at crazy speeds with small levels. This game is trying to stretch that loop out into longer levels that do not have variation. Post Void also doesn't have a lot of environment variety but at least they aren't trying to make you sit there for longer then needed/wanted. Each floor feeling visually the same with some variation, the enemies changing every once and a while. You can't have a game that is built for constant replays feel so consistently same-y. A good game to replay always offers ways for you run through the same levels with your own approach and have more depth. This game has only a handful of ways to approach each situation. Overall just a very short gameplay loop stuck in a game that does not support it overall. Just feels like an extreme nothing burger.

This game's writing feels like a terminally online person who only hangs in twitch chats would think is funny in a post-ironic sense. Where the butt of a joke is like "haha guys what if a chat moderator was this ultra badass character, also heres themes about over consumerism. Can't go wrong with throwing in a streamer as the damsel in distress to get easy internet joke points" Just feels so fucking bland. I give White Noise a pass for the annoying writing but atleast that game had a really good gameplay loop which this game cannot be given as a way to overlook the bad writing. Extremely safe and boring writing meant for online people to get a laugh out of.

Overall just a very disappointing package of a game. Don't know what I was expecting but certainly something way better then what was handed to me. Skip out on this one, I don't get the hype.

If Post Void was a love letter to late 80's/early 90's anime OVA's.

Seriously, Mullet Mad Jack is great. But if you want to play something both much shorter and much cheaper to see if this is the kind of game for you. Post Void is incredible and I also highly recommend it.


Extended Thoughts

Mullet Mad Jack is a goofy time (good). Just like in Post Void, you are playing an FPS Roguelite where you have to run to the level exit ASAP because your health drops rapidly over time. Once you get to an exit you get to chose one of 3 upgrades you keep for the next couple of rooms.

The biggest difference is in Post Void you keep it for the next couple of rooms because you will then finish the game. Whereas in Mullet Mad Jack you are either playing the Endless Mode, or you have finished a chapter in its much longer Campaign.

So here you are paying for an increase in production value and volume of content. Both in a more traditional story mode, and in gameplay variation. Here you very quickly learn how the game works, get into a flow state, get flow interrupted by the addition of a new mechanic/environmental hazard/enemy, quickly return to flow state, repeat. And just when you think the game is reaching it's limit of what it can switch up, it finishes.

Game feels good, sounds good, looks good and has a campaign that feels like just the right length. My only criticism is the boss fights, that are sadly pretty dull. As boss fights are when the game drops its unique game loop in favour of the pretty stale FPS cliché of 'circle-strafe the bullet sponge'.

All in all, fun ~3-4 hour campaign, can easily see myself playing the Endless mode every once in a while.

I do want to leave this off with a difficulty recommendation, as I did see some people calling the game "dull after a while".

I played the first chapter on Normal difficulty, then restarted and played through the whole campaign on Challenge. Mullet Mad Jack describes these difficulties as:
Normal - "Recommended Start - For Average FPS Players"
Challenge - "The True Experience - Suffer As Intended By The Devs"
I don't know who these "Average FPS Players" are, but they're bad at video games. If you are both abled bodied, and this isn't your first FPS, you can skip Normal and go straight to Challenge.