Love this game! Sadly its just shy of being perfect, but would love a sequel or remake some time in the future!
Pros:
- Memorable characters
- Tells a story, that while not perfect, has stuck with me and that's better than most.
- Art, fun, sexy, and stylish.
- Actual game-play. I can not stress how much I love there actually being a game to this game. Very few other "games" out there hit this mark. I want more of this please.
- Bopping sound track
- Free (why is this free? Shut up and take my money)
Cons:
- Too short (which is also a compliment that I wanted more.)The game is the correct length, but I still want more of it damn it!
- Characters and story while I enjoyed them still end up being a little weak due to just us not having much time with them. (cant be helped as its a short game by design) Honestly felt more attached to the villains then the heroes as it felt more cut scenes were given to them. (the romance didn't land as much for me, because a one night stand wasn't great grounds to make me believe in their chemistry.) If there is a sequel or remake this is one of the major things I would want. More time with the characters and story.
- Combat is good enough to be fun, but not great. I have played hotline miami, and so was expecting that sort of gameplay from the trailers, which is what I got, sort of. The main lacking thing that deathblossom has is choice. Most levels are puzzles with one, maybe two correct ways to play them out. Hotline miami had so many more, with its masks, weapons, enemy patrols, and building entry points. This lack of choice kills the replay-ability in the long run (minus speed running) and player engagement in the short. I never really had to stop to think when I played. The most direct path was always the correct path. If the game had been longer and run out of new ideas to throw at me I would have ended up being bored.
The second issue was just the visual polish. Something about the combat animations just felt janky. I'm not an animator so I can't say why, only that I felt it.
Also. My take while playing was the bullet time was there to make the game possible for most players, because otherwise it was too hard, rather than as a core design choice. Would have liked to see it used more through out the game. Maybe upgrades to increase how long you can stay in slow mo, Enemies with Magic bullets that track you if you start using it, bonuses for triggering it right as your about to get hit, etc... none of those are likely good ideas, but I just wanted to see more of the game interacting with the mechanic somehow.
Don't take my critiques to mean I did not like this game. I loved this game (and am critical of the things I love), I am a fan of this game, and of the developer and will be telling anyone who will listen to come and shoot some zombies.