OTXO Review (BackStabbath)
I wish I like this more, but there's some fundamental issues that hold it back.
First the positive:
- The combat feels great, the guns are punchy and when things are flowing nicely it's easy to fall into the zone and cause chaos, and at the end you're left with the blood-splattered evidence of the carnage you created with a sense of pride.
- The music is a perfect compliment to the chaos. While it might not have the same identity, variety and personality of the Hotline Miami OST, it does a great service to the mood of world and gameplay.
However, I have a lot of problems that keep me from thinking this game lives up to it's potential.
- While the monochromatic aesthetic showcases the viscera perfectly, it also makes the enviroments very difficult to read, especially when you're in the moment and trying to keep up the momentum. I would frequently bump into furniture during tense firefights, particularly large rectangular objects that aren't immediately recognisable as a rug or a floor pattern, which breaks the flow and got me killed multiple times.
- While the rogue-like structure might make the gameplay seemingly "infinite", it often makes levels feel carelessly structured and occasionally unfair. You will absolutely still find situations where the rooms and hallways are so large that you'll be shot by enemies you can't see even when you're looking in their direction. It also means that unlike Hotline Miami, there's no way to learn the levels through repeat attempts, so a bad seed and unfair level layouts will probably result in your death with nothing to learn from the experience.
- While some liquors are interesting, many of them aren't impactful enough to make repeat runs feel interesting and distinct from each other, so if the base loop isn't enough to keep you interested, you'll be bored after a few runs and the slow progression of importing more liquors makes it feel like you need to grind your way out of the problem.
- The bosses are uninspired, and can largely be defeated by just firing in their general direction while circling around the room.
6/10. If Steam let me give a more middling recommendation I would, but I don't think my feelings on it are positive enough to give it a full endorsement.