Xbox Game Pass may have a extensive (and terrible) update this week, but that hasn’t stopped the service from adding more blockbusters to its rotating catalog. Neon whiteone of the most imaginative and embarrassing games I’ve ever played it. It’s the latest and greatest addition and you owe it to yourself to experience its story of love, loss, crime families and masochistic BDSM chicks as you race through the skies at gunpoint.
Neon white comes to us through Ben Esposito, the celebrated developer behind Donut Countywho decided to do a complete about-face and make a game for degenerates. As the titular character, you find yourself in Heaven, only you’re a hired assassin helping to eradicate all the demons in the lower levels of God’s Kingdom. To do this, you and the other Neons – sinners brought up from Hell to earn a place in Heaven for killing the most demons – must use soul cards spread across nearly 100 levels to exorcise the demons and figure out exactly what the hell is going on.
This premise sets Neon whitea speedrunning first-person shooter, in motion. However, it’s even more complicated and fascinating than that. Soul Cards basically act as replacements for firearms, and each has a set number of uses as well as an alternate ability when discarded. The pistol, for example, is a card called Elevate because you get an extra jump when discarded. A submachine gun can be discarded to perform a ground pound, and discarding a shotgun propels you forward as a fireball. Eventually, the levels become so layered, not to mention the many mixes of these cards, that it no longer feels like a shooter, but more like the wildest 3D platformer with the most sophisticated movement mechanics.
If this sounds complicated, that’s because it is, and it’s just one facet of a busy, busy Game. Neon white also serves as a visual novel with dating sim elements, including hunting for gifts to give to characters in the hub area, which unlocks personal side quests and missions tailored to the character’s personality. This is how you learn the exceptionally cool The occupation Neon whitewhich consists of other Neons that White seems to know from his days in the living world. Among them is Neon Green, who serves as the game’s main antagonist, the buddy-himbo Neon Yellow, your incredibly sensual ex Neon Red, and Neon Violet, the prime example of DDLG relationship dynamics. No, I’m not going to spell that out for you, that’s between you, God, and your Google search bar.
Together, this creates a game that splendid everywhere. One moment you’re doing the craziest shit in a level to get the best time possible – maybe even trying to outdo your friends Neon white‘s leaderboards—and the next moment you’re in a fan-service anime beach episode starring Neon Red and Violet, complete with illustrations of them in bathing suits. One second you’re in a boss fight to the death, and the next you could be in a scene where White belts out My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome To The Black Parade” in a karaoke bar in heaven, of all places.
The whole thing is accompanied by one of the coolest electronic soundtracks by the duo Machine Girl, and did I mention that White is voiced by Steven Blum, the voice of Cowboy Bebop‘s Spike Spiegel? So many aspects of Neon white feel enveloped in that feverish Y2K aesthetic that extends to many of the character designs and stage directions, as well as the broader, awkward tone. My advice? It want to be cheesy, so steer into the skid rather than fighting it. You’ll enjoy the game much more that way.
What are you waiting for? What part of all this not sell on the most buckwild game you will get Game pass all year round? In heaven there are shootouts with busty murderesses who may or may not kill you. What else could you want from a game or an art?
