Fans of unconventional narrative-driven games may be familiar with Hypnospace Outlaw, a cool project from a few years ago that aimed to simulate an alternative view of the social environment of the Internet in the late 90s. While Hypnospace Outlaw will get a proper sequel with the upcoming Dreamsettler, Tendershoot decided to give waiting players a more unconventional spin-off release that takes things in a much different direction. Called Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, this classic-style boomer shooter launched on PC and Xbox in 2023. Somehow has some narrative ties to Hypnospace Outlaw. It’s a decent game in itself, and even though it didn’t manage to ‘wow’ us, we suggest you check it out.
The story of Slayers X is quite fascinating, as there are two levels. First off, you have the premise: this is the in-universe game referenced by Zane Lofton of Hypnospace Outlaw. He essentially designed this with the help of a friend, so the experience you ultimately get with Slayers X is something an immature, horny teenager would do if given the freedom to express himself. This leads to the second narrative level, the ‘in-game’ plot. You play the role of “Big Z”, an X-Assassin-in-training who is forced into action when the monstrous Psyko Syndicate attacks his town, kills his mother and mentor, and kidnaps one of his fellow X-Assassins. So he sets out on a quest for revenge, blowing up a bunch of baddies along the way as he fights to free his friend.
There is a constant presence here of an absurdly reckless and juvenile kind of humor that (at first anyway) can be quite charming. The sheer absurdity of your protagonist calling his enemies “shit” or yelling “Your dad is stupid” as he throws them into a fine red mist adds a lot to the experience at first, but this kind of comedy gets old pretty quickly. After that point, he starts to have the same energy as your mid-30s co-worker who brags between cigarette breaks about how he still ‘gets it’ if teenagers ask him to a high school prom. In small doses, obnoxious, childish humor can be funny, but there comes a point where it seems like it’s just for shock value and it starts to be just plain obnoxious.
Divisive gags aside, Slayers X still has the bones of a solid, if unspectacular, boomer shooter. You wander through a short campaign that tasks you with exploring self-contained, maze-like levels filled with enemies, picking up health and ammo, and secret rooms to uncover. Along the way, you must manage dwindling resources, use cover effectively, and make sure you’re using the right tool for the job.
All the expected elements of a diverse arsenal of weapons are present and accounted for, and you’ll have to decide on the fly whether the situation calls for the single-target power of the Glass Blast (Shotgun) or something more like the crowd control capabilities of the Sludge Launcher (Grenade Launcher). There’s a decent line of weapons on offer here, neatly walking that line to make you feel like you have a lot of options without one weapon overlapping too much into someone else’s niche.
The levels are satisfying to explore and the movement feels tight enough, but perhaps Slayers X’s biggest flaw is that it feels like another standard shooter. Aside from the reckless humor of the early 2000s, the X-Men lack that all-important ‘X-factor’ that would help them stand out from the crowd. Fashion Police Squad had the advantage of its unique and dazzling premises. Ion Fury has the distinction of being a true new title built on the famous Build Engine. Quake is one of the best games ever made and was instrumental in setting the standard for what a 3D shooter could be. What does Slayers X have? Poop jokes. If all you’re looking for is an enjoyable new boomer shooter for your Switch, Slayers X isn’t necessary bad
And while this may be a small gripe, Slayers X feels like it also badly needed some gyro controls to help with aiming. This issue isn’t unique to this game, but the movement of the Switch Joy-Con sticks just doesn’t seem up to par for a game that requires this level of precision and quick reaction. Playing in docked mode with a Pro Controller is a better experience, but that assumes players have Pro Controller, and even then motion controls would offer a superior experience. To reiterate our previous point, other entries in the genre have done it better on the Switch by including motion controls, and their omission here makes Slayers X feel like less of an experience.
Fortunately, the visuals are up to snuff – Slayers X feels like a true artifact from that era. While we’d like to see a bit more biome variety (cheap flats and sewers tend to get mixed up after a while), it’s still nice to see the charming juxtaposition between simple 3D environments and detailed 2D sprites. Everything runs at a smooth frame rate, and a handful of FMV cutscenes should be mentioned in particular; they have a charming low definition and cheap production quality that feels authentic without being overly sweet.
Conclusion
Slayers X is an enjoyable but basic entry in the boomer shooter genre that manages to satisfy but doesn’t excel in any one area. The levels are fun to explore, the shooting is good, and the gags can be fun in small doses. Despite this, little things like the increasingly harsh sense of humor and the lack of gyro controls drag this game down a bit, while the core gameplay feels a little too vanilla. We’d recommend Slayers X, but with the caveat that you should probably play a few other old-school shooters first before jumping into this one. It’s pretty decent, but this isn’t a top example of the genre.
