It is very difficult to work with the nostalgia factor, especially if you want to access the beautiful harbor. Because, even though the old formulas have many capabilities, it is very difficult to capture the essence of it and develop it into something that is provocative and original. Over the last few years, there have been many attempts to restore the glory of the games from decades past (with varying results) but few have been as successful as the Swedish Easy Trigger Games with their new indie Huntdown.
This action game with some great black tips gives us the opportunity to immerse yourself in the familiar retro world, as well as gameplay, concept and presentation that is kept fresh and updated. The premise is simple: you take on a conservative hunter (there are three to choose from) and you have to remove the gangs of riots that create chaos in the city, in a situation that can only be described as an eighty post-apocalyptic 2000s vision. There are four places to visit and, in total, there are 20 episodes (each with a greater or lesser degree of prestige) that you must defeat before reaching the end and the credits from the neon. It may seem easy, and at first Huntdown is not difficult to understand, but the game hides a few surprises that you must learn to handle; in fact, most entertainment lies in trying and improving your skills in a set of simple rules.
If you've played any ancient platform since the era of Super Nintendo, you'll feel at home on this two-lane computer. In this case, unlike many competitors in the present and past, Easy Trigger Games has managed to create an excellent control system: every time you press a button to perform an action, it turns out that the on-screen character is alive. In this way, something as simple as firing on your main weapon creates an indescribable joy that is stored throughout the game, no matter how much time you spend playing. In every feeling, everything, from weaponry to character movement, conveys a sense of balance and power; many times it reminded us of the definitive Doom of 2016, where the player can feel comfortable and ready to face adversity in a violent and aggressive environment. Bending your knees in front of an enemy crowd before pulling the trigger on your powerful shot is something everyone should have.
In any case, the first thing you will notice when starting this routine action is that the text section is amazing. It is true that some games like The Messenger or Blazing Chrome have also given us excellent pixel graphics lately, but at Huntdown special love is included with each detail and design, making each level different, though the theme remains the same: a dystopian of the future, where false anchors create concrete ropes and a rain-soaked roof. I don't know how many times we have fallen in this shoot with the biker team just because something in the back was colliding. Sometimes there are references to movies like Termector, Robocop or Blade Runner, and none of them give the impression of being shoehorned or in-game.
The soundtrack is on the same lines as that of a video game from the '80s, where the music and music synthesizer is integrated into electric and drum strings. The songs were a bit strange at first, but they gradually become more time-consuming with each of them on holiday hunting. The characters help take the experience to another level: although three are treated, more or less, in the same way (they have only different weapons), the chance of being able to choose is greater and you retain the power and vitality of the game most of the time if there was one protagonist. For example, it's more fun to take the arrogant person around the axes Anna Conda (the coolest girl from Sarah Connor or Ellen Ripley), and switch to the deadly robot Mow Man, who announces it colder than your opponents have died after being burned innocent. Finally, there is the song of the war hero, John Sawyer, who finishes a group of three.
If good fruit hunters look different to you, wait and see the management; As we mentioned earlier, you will have to deal with a few of these criminals along the way. The Hoodlum Doll scene, for example, is led by a half-robotic pilot, dressed in leather attacking with arrows and light bullets; The Misconducts ring is a furry gole which sees the correction of its operation as an advantage rather than a violation of the law's immorality. Battles against these thugs are one of the most critical things you'll find in Huntdown, and on the basis of case and case, you'll need to learn the attack pattern of your opponents.
The study managed to find the perfect balance between level of complexity and accessibility. Sometimes the challenge curve can be very high, but there are many savings points, so it will not be possible to deal with the same repetition for hundreds of times. And, generally, the levels are pretty short, so in the most rare cases you will spend more than ten minutes in each situation (fighting the final boss is included with that strip). So the rhythm of the game follows a great arcade roll, and it's very easy to get caught up, whether you want to play longer or shorter.
Finally, perhaps what we liked most about Huntdown was that the studio was able to develop the idea successfully. They did not try to cover their potential, but from the start it was clear what they wanted and did wrong. In this way, it's very easy to fully enjoy the game, as this studio would not be distracted by adding unnecessary stuff and never tried to reach a large audience with modern things that wouldn't fit into the final product. It is a complete feature that is not widely available in games today, because it is much easier to find things that don't work and errors that are the result of poor planning. However, at Huntdown it looks like they've got exactly what they've been looking for from the start; This makes working as a critic much easier, as you don't have to go too far talking about issues and hurting the cause.
Indeed, Huntdown is a broad 10: basically, all the elements are perfect and the end result is so good that our critical perspective can find no fault with it. Of course there will be someone who needs more features and is crying out for more updates and stories, but we can't think of anything that would like to add to this magical adventure. It's fun from start to finish, and considering the price, we couldn't imagine a less expensive game released this year. Huntdown is the kind of title that reminds me why we love this thing so much, and if you like a good retro action too, you won't miss playing this gem.
