![]() Local co-op allows you to team up as two of the three playable bounty hunters, each offering some slight variation in terms of how they behave and take out the bad guys. Huntdown is entirely accessible though, the first few stages are straightforward and comfortable, allowing the presentation and style to take centre-stage before the real action kicks in. Watching out for traps and obstacles too. Calling on those long-since dormant skills of dodging projectiles whilst keeping an eye on many moving 2D objects and reacting and timing jumps and shots just so. And eventually saving the best weapons and limited high-powered ammo for the more difficult ‘final phase’ of any boss encounter.Īs alluded to earlier, Huntdown’s combat and action offers up a fair bit of challenge. And in a nod to the talented team at Easy Trigger Games each one has a distinct feel to it.Įven though for the most part they’re all about figuring out the attack pattern and reacting accordingly. With each stage ending in a boss battle, Huntdown features its fair share of duels. Like a quasi-wrestling match in an underground arena or trying to fend off incoming mortar fire whilst battling on a moving truck. Complete enough bounties and stages and your final showdown in any district will be against the gang leader in a grander and more involved multi-stage battle. The setup is as simple and classic beat-em up as that, with each stage pitting you in a run and gun arcade side-scroller of a level against a stream of no good-bits before you then face off against the boss – the bounty. There’s a ‘let’s throw everything in’ tone to a lot of Huntdown, and throughout the journey to, err, hunt down various criminal gangs throughout the different city districts you’ll go from cyberpunk neon skyline one moment to a industrial zone filled with biker gangs and continuously burning oil fires the next. Plus, plenty of cyberpunk-style neon love. From checkpoints being run by a fully voiced and animated mobile surgery vehicle to the lively backdrops that draw on everything from The Terminator to Robocop and even a little Blade Runner. There’s a lot happening on screen at any given moment. "Within its arcade-era pixel art there’s a staggering amount of detail too, this is an experience akin to seeing Metal Slug at the arcade for the first time.” ![]() ![]() It’s just that the animation and sheer number of sprites make it the style of game you could only find at an arcade back in the day. Huntdown even borrows a few ideas pioneered by Konami’s classic. ![]() That isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with the latter. Within its arcade-era pixel art there’s a staggering amount of detail too, meaning this is an experience more akin to seeing Metal Slug at the arcade for the first time versus firing up Super Contra (or Super Probotector) on the SNES at home. That isn’t the case, and it’s this presentation that sets Huntdown apart from many other pixel-heavy arcade-action releases – adding a layer of cool to the often simple but engaging and challenging combat. Maybe the voiceover and high-quality audio would be absent when playing the final product. This was a trailer worthy of the VHS-era depicted, so maybe it was a brilliant cinematic homage. Throw in high quality sound design, thanks to crisp firearm blasts and chunky synthwave music, and you wouldn’t be at fault for thinking that perhaps the game itself would look and feel a little different. When the official trailer for Huntdown appeared, it was hard not to be impressed with its blend of 80s futuristic action and voiceover ripped from the grindhouse movie scene of the 1970s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |