If You Love '80s Action Movies, You Need to Play This Game - Huntdown Review
The era of the 1980s has maintained an incredible charm. Something of a mystic aura of coolness hangs around it, and it is no coincidence that recently the love for that crazy decade has returned with the full force of Daniel LaRusso crane kick to the face. So much so, in fact, that dozens of development studios are now deluging us with new chapters of beloved series, remasters, remakes, and even entirely unreleased games from that magical time period.
Unfortunately, it’s just as easy to find some broken and busted titles that don’t capture the right feeling or are just a quick cash grab. The recent games that have succeeded in completely satisfying the most nostalgic of palates can be counted on one hand. Street of Rage 4 (and the recently released Final Vendetta) thrust open the doors with awesome, retro-inspired takes on the beat-em-up genre, but now we have Huntdown throwing itself into the fray while doing a slick forward roll with guns blazing and hitting dead center with each shot—just like the best of the ’80s action heroes.
Huntdown borrows heavily from the rain-soaked cyberpunk imagery of the ’80s, replete with megacorporations, an exploited population, and street gangs wreaking violence and terror by strutting about in the worst fashions ever conceived. And imbued in this atmosphere of heavy Blade Runner nostalgia, with tears streaming down my face...hidden by the pixelated rain, I threw myself headlong into this adventure, already in love with what I was seeing.
Huntdown follows three bounty hunters—Anna Conda, John Sawyer, and Mow Man—hired by the police to end the domination of four rival gangs scattered across four neighborhoods of the futuristic city in which I find myself. Our three heroes seem to have teleported directly from the films of the decade that inspired the game. They would look right at home as partners of Snake Plissken, popping out of some trash-strewn alley in the aforementioned Blade Runner, or taking on the villains of the oft-overlooked The Running Man.
Perfect, linear mazes are the focus of what Huntdown has to offer in terms of gameplay. Sure, this formula is simplistic and cut down to the bone, but it is so effective that I barely even saw it as a shortcoming. You can run, jump, and shoot as is in most classic 2D side-scrolling shooters, with the addition of a side shot, which is essential to avoid the fanning of enemy bullets.
The douchebags set before me will try to stop me in every way: by skating quickly towards me with hockey sticks and gleaming crowbars; by attacking me on motorcycles and aboard giant mechs; even by riding jet bikes while raining Molotov cocktails down on me from the air. To return fire, I have a pistol with infinite shots and a secondary throwing weapon. The initial loadout differs depending on which character you choose, but this is the only variable in a combat system that keeps movement animations identical in timing and feel across the cast.
That’s not to downplay how different those loadouts can feel, however. With Anna Conda, I wielded a lightning-fast machine gun and a throwing ax. John has a revolver and a boomerang. And the very precise Mow Man brandishes a semi-automatic pistol and throwing knives, with a rate of fire determined solely by how fast I can pound the shoot button—the perfect weapon to release pent-up, Gen-X anger.
The necessity of this style of gameplay sets aside the possibility of shooting vertically or at variable angles as happens in the Metal Slug series. But by limiting the game system this way, the devs are also allowing the experience to be embroidered around the player by presenting well-balanced, never-frustrating clashes. The difficulty curve and the ability to choose between four difficulty levels allow you to customize the game experience, and the bosses are as splendid to look at as they are to battle. There is no lack of that classic trial-and-error gameplay in Huntdown, but every single boss attack pattern is easily readable, and the game never seems unfair, yielding a truly sublime experience overall. The enemies are so varied that they never give you that sense of repetitiveness that is common in games of this ilk, and as soon the level change hits you see what’s what here with a whole new slew of odd looking dudes (and dudettes) to gun down.
With four asshat gangs to defeat and twenty bosses to best before seeing the endgame, I played for about four or five hours before Huntdown unfortunately ended. From there, though, I was able to replay levels looking for the collectible cases (i.e., stashes) that are hidden behind destructible elements.
Another great element in this game are the numerous guns (with limited ammo, of course) that can be collected from enemies’ corpses—from the simplest Uzi up to the assault-powered Gatling guns. Each weapon provides the exact feedback that I expect from a control, sound, and graphical standpoint. Huntdown also sports excellent visual effects and animations, and praise also should be heaped on the soundtrack as it‘s often hearkening back to 8- and 16-bit classics, with a splash of more modern flavor as well.
Huntdown proves what can be done when there is a cohesive and precise vision from the beginning to the end of a project—when true quality and passion are put on the field. Add in sensible choices made according to tried-and-true game design principles and what you get is a little gem in pixel-art form, with simple but incredibly fascinating gameplay. It handily stole several hours of my life, and it tested me without ever tipping over into frustrating me. It’s as simple as this: If you don’t dig Huntdown, then you don’t dig fun, and I feel sorry for you.
SCORE: 5 STARS OUT OF 5
PLAY IF YOU LIKE:
• Blackthorne. Huntdown may not be as brutally metal as this enduring 16-bit blast-a-thon, but it tries super, super
Have you played Huntdown? Let us know what you think of it in the comments! Even if you haven't played it, leave a comment sharing your favorite '80s action blockbuster movie!
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