Oh man, so boring! It's a pretty good-looking and competently-made brawler, but ... there is just n o t h i n g interesting or fun about the levels, enemies, or gameplay at all.
You're a guy (or a couple of guys) who break out of prison and then fight through a huge force of normal-ass enemy soldiers until a helicopter picks you up at the end. You have a punch, a kick, a jump kick, and maybe an elbow. Every single enemy is a soldier in a uniform. Some have knives, some have guns, some just try to punch you. A couple drive motorcycles and try to run you over once before going off screen. There is one SINGLE boss at the end - a guy with a handgun. That's it! That's the whole thing! And it's still like a half-hour long, which feels like an absolute eternity. I was begging for it to be over after like the second level.
Again, it looks nice -- maybe I'm imagining it, but I feel like I can see some DNA of METAL SLUG in here in some of the character designs (such as they are) and the art for the machines. But the focus is so rigorously realistic (as much as it can be, given the type of game this is) that there's no place for, you know, punching down a helicopter or having an eight-foot tall shirtless super-soldier kick through a brick wall at the end of a level and try to suplex you, or whatever. I mean, give me SOMETHING, it can't just be THREE HUNDRED GUYS IN FATIGUES standing in a straight line for me to punch through. Especially not when the combat feels a little gummy and unresponsive. Occasionally you do get to pick up a dropped rifle and start dumping on dudes (again, a little METAL SLUG-y) but those moments are, of course, fleeting.
I kind of don't know what they were thinking with this. Did they sit around and say, hey, what if we made DOUBLE DRAGON but with no characters? It's like if 1942 was a beat-'em-up - although that feels kind of unfair to 1942, which is actually a good game.
You're a guy (or a couple of guys) who break out of prison and then fight through a huge force of normal-ass enemy soldiers until a helicopter picks you up at the end. You have a punch, a kick, a jump kick, and maybe an elbow. Every single enemy is a soldier in a uniform. Some have knives, some have guns, some just try to punch you. A couple drive motorcycles and try to run you over once before going off screen. There is one SINGLE boss at the end - a guy with a handgun. That's it! That's the whole thing! And it's still like a half-hour long, which feels like an absolute eternity. I was begging for it to be over after like the second level.
Again, it looks nice -- maybe I'm imagining it, but I feel like I can see some DNA of METAL SLUG in here in some of the character designs (such as they are) and the art for the machines. But the focus is so rigorously realistic (as much as it can be, given the type of game this is) that there's no place for, you know, punching down a helicopter or having an eight-foot tall shirtless super-soldier kick through a brick wall at the end of a level and try to suplex you, or whatever. I mean, give me SOMETHING, it can't just be THREE HUNDRED GUYS IN FATIGUES standing in a straight line for me to punch through. Especially not when the combat feels a little gummy and unresponsive. Occasionally you do get to pick up a dropped rifle and start dumping on dudes (again, a little METAL SLUG-y) but those moments are, of course, fleeting.
I kind of don't know what they were thinking with this. Did they sit around and say, hey, what if we made DOUBLE DRAGON but with no characters? It's like if 1942 was a beat-'em-up - although that feels kind of unfair to 1942, which is actually a good game.