Followers of unconventional narrative-driven video games could also be conversant in Hypnospace Outlaw, a cool venture from just a few years in the past that aimed to simulate an alternate tackle the social surroundings of the late ’90s web. Although Hypnospace Outlaw will probably be receiving a correct sequel with the upcoming Dreamsettler, Tendershoot determined to provide ready gamers a extra unconventional spin-off launch that takes issues in a a lot totally different path. Dubbed Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, this classic-style boomer shooter launched on PC and Xbox in 2023 and kind of bears some narrative connections to Hypnospace Outlaw. It’s an honest sport in its personal proper, and though it didn’t handle to ‘wow’ us, we’d nonetheless recommend you give it a glance.
The story of Slayers X is slightly fascinating, as there are primarily two ranges to it. On the primary, you’ve gotten the premise: that is the in-universe sport that Zane Lofton from Hypnospace Outlaw referenced. He primarily designed this with the assistance of a buddy, so the expertise you’re finally getting with Slayers X is one thing an immature, sexy teenager would make if he was given free rein to precise himself. This results in the second narrative degree, the ‘in-game’ plot. You play the position of “Huge Z”, an X-Slayer in-training who’s pressured into motion when the monstrous Psyko Sindikate assaults his city, kills each his mother and mentor, and kidnaps certainly one of his fellow X-Slayers. He thus units out on a quest for revenge, blowing up an entire lot of baddies alongside the best way as he fights to free his buddy.
There’s an absurdly irreverent and juvenile type of humor consistently on show right here that (initially anyway) may be fairly charming. The sheer ridiculousness of your protagonist calling his foes “turd holes” or shouting “Your dad is silly” as he blasts them right into a effective pink mist provides lots to the expertise at first, however this type of comedy will get outdated fairly quick. After that time, it begins to have the identical power as your mid-30s coworker who brags between smoke breaks about how he nonetheless ‘will get away with’ being invited by teenagers to the native highschool promenade. In small doses, gross-out, infantile humor may be humorous, however there comes a degree the place it feels prefer it’s purely going for shock worth and begins being plain gross.
Divisive gags apart, Slayers X nonetheless has the bones of a stable, if unspectacular, boomer shooter. You roam by way of a quick marketing campaign that duties you with exploring self-contained, maze-like ranges which are plagued by enemies, well being and ammo pickups, and secret rooms to find. Alongside the best way, it’s important to handle dwindling assets, successfully use cowl, and ensure you’re utilizing the correct device for the job.
All of the anticipated staples of a various gun arsenal are current and accounted for, and also you’ll should resolve on the fly whether or not the scenario requires the one goal energy of the Glass Blasta (shotgun) or one thing extra like the group management capabilities of the Sludge Launcher (grenade launcher). There’s an honest lineup of weapons on provide right here, neatly strolling that line of creating you are feeling like you’ve gotten loads of choices with none weapon overlapping an excessive amount of into one other’s area of interest.
Ranges are satisfying to discover and motion feels sufficiently tight, however maybe the best shortcoming of Slayers X is that it simply appears like one other bog-standard shooter. Other than the irreverent early-2000s humor, Slayers X lacks that all-important ‘X issue’ to assist it stand out from the pack. Trend Police Squad had the advantage of its distinctive and flamboyant premise. Ion Fury has the excellence of being a real new title constructed on the well-known Construct Engine. Quake is among the best video games ever made and was instrumental in setting the usual of what a 3D shooter could possibly be. What does Slayers X have? Poop jokes. If all you’re on the lookout for is an fulfilling new boomer shooter on your Change, Slayers X isn’t essentially a unhealthy alternative—the problem is just that there’s no scarcity of video games you possibly can play as an alternative that do the identical issues, however higher.
And although this can be a little bit of a nitpick, Slayers X feels prefer it’s additionally sorely in want of some gyro controls to assist out with aiming. This drawback isn’t distinctive to this sport, however the journey on the Change Pleasure-Con sticks merely doesn’t really feel enough for a sport that calls for this degree of precision and fast reactions. Taking part in in docked mode with a Professional Controller is a greater expertise, however this assumes that gamers have a Professional Controller, and even then, movement controls would provide a superior expertise. To reiterate our earlier level, different style entries have completed this higher on Change by together with movement controls, and their omission right here makes Slayers X really feel that a lot lesser of an expertise.
Fortuitously, the visuals are as much as par—Slayers X appears like a real artifact from the period. Although we might’ve appreciated to see a bit of extra biome range (a budget flats and sewers are likely to mix collectively after some time), it’s nonetheless good to see the charming juxtaposition between the straightforward 3D environments and the detailed 2D sprites. All the pieces runs at a clean body fee and particular point out must be made in regards to the handful of FMV cutscenes, too; they’ve a charmingly low-res and low cost manufacturing high quality to them which feels genuine with out being overly tacky.
Conclusion
Slayers X is an fulfilling however primary entry within the boomer shooter style that manages to fulfill with out excelling in anybody space. The degrees are enjoyable to discover, the gunplay feels good, and the gags may be amusing in small doses. Even so, little issues just like the more and more grating humorousness and lack of gyro controls drag this one down a bit, whereas the core gameplay feels just a bit too vanilla. We’d give Slayers X a advice, however with the caveat that you must in all probability first play by way of just a few different old-school shooters earlier than getting round to this one. It is fairly respectable, however this isn’t a top-shelf instance of the style.
