Time passes, but nostalgia for the 80s does not disappear. That decade gave us many iconic musicians and legendary films, and among the latter there were many action films that are still considered standards of the genre. The creators of the new action Huntdown everyone watched these films and loved them so much that they decided to make their own action in this spirit. It is, of course, “pixelated”, with a side view and with support for local co-op – everything is as it should be.
Mercenaries shoot better
A terrible war took place in the universe of the game and after it a new society was formed, in which megacorporations set their own rules and support everyone who follows them. This has led to the emergence of street gangs, which consist of people who do not want to obey people in black suits. We are offered to become bounty hunters – they are not interested in protecting corporations or joining gangs, but simply carry out orders for a lot of money.
There are three heroes to choose from, which differ in appearance, base weapons and backstory and, according to the developers, are based on classic action movie characters. The girl with the colorful name Anna Conda is a former commando, inspired by Jenette Vasquez from "Aliens". Retired cop John Sawyer, who lost half his limbs in battle and became a cyborg, resembles Snake from "Escape from New York", as well as the main character "Cobras". Well, the cyborg nicknamed Mow Man obviously makes us remember "Terminator" And "RoboCop".
The selected bounty hunter will travel to four regions to eliminate four main targets. You can’t just get to them – all areas are divided into five levels, and at the end of each you have to meet a boss. For passing Huntdown you spend no more than four hours, which is not so little compared to other games in this genre. Recent Blazing Chrome, for example, it ended after two hours.
The hunter’s job is as follows: we arrive at a new location in our cool car, get out of it and run from left to right, killing everyone who tries to interfere. The character shoots only in front of him, horizontally, so it will not be possible to raise a weapon or pour lead on the enemies standing below when positioned on the upper platform. But the hero knows how to hide behind cover – how to crouch behind cars and boxes, and hide from bullets in dark garages, leaning out when shooting.
But even this is https://betfoxx-casino.co.uk/login/ not his main skill. As soon as the character gets close to someone, he can kick him – it seems like a small detail, but how much more fun it makes the battles! No need to worry about lack of cover when falling down towards an enemy ready to fire a shotgun. You just jump closer to him, press the fire button, and for a second he becomes defenseless, and you yourself can put a couple of bullets into him. This is especially fun to do on levels like a construction site, where falling into the abyss means death.
Always something new
The gameplay never gets boring thanks to how often the game creators add new features, adding unique opponents or unusual weapons. Firstly, all gangs have their own “chips”. “Misconducts”, apparently, love hockey, so a large proportion of their comrades are wearing skates and armed with sticks – such enemies quickly get close to the character. And the gang “Homing Warheads” (The Heatseekers) are bikers who ride through the streets on a variety of vehicles. They also use rocket launchers (with homing, of course!), and sometimes explode after death.
Secondly, new guns appear often enough so that there are no complaints about the variety of the arsenal. You can carry two types of weapons with you: a standard one (a pistol that fires in bursts and a slow or fast revolver – depends on the hero) and something else – it can be a submachine gun, an assault rifle, a shotgun or one of several machine guns, and over time a powerful sniper rifle, a rocket launcher, a grenade launcher, a flamethrower and much more will appear. Sometimes you are faced with a choice of what to take with you to the next part of the level – it’s so nice to shoot with everything here.
In addition, other types of weapons are scattered everywhere: grenades (regular and cluster), mines that explode on command, Molotov cocktails and much more, including all sorts of pipes and bats. Since no one forces the player to rush (there are no rewards for fast completion at all), the next skirmish should be approached wisely. If bikers are cutting along the road without stopping, then it is logical to throw a mine and watch the explosion. If the enemy is holding a powerful machine gun in his hands and is hiding behind cover, it is stupid to run in his direction – you also need to stand closer to some box.
Bullets, rockets and explosions
All this is incredibly fun, and most importantly, the pace is maintained almost perfectly. Save points are placed quite close to each other, so if you die, you don’t have to replay long sections. Enemies do not come at the character in crowds, but there are not too few of them – enough that you have to jump, sit behind cover, and in some cases throw grenades. Opponents can even inflict damage on each other – it’s especially funny to watch when you dodge a homing missile, and it hits the enemy.
Well, the bosses are absolutely amazing. All are completely different, all have three phases, offering new challenges. It’s hard to imagine that among 20 bosses it is almost impossible to find unsuccessful ones, but this is true. One calls for turrets and runs after the player, the other is locked in the ring and tries to push the protagonist out in order to shower him with exploding barrels while he climbs back. The third is a flamethrower, as if he arrived here from The Division. You will like the battles with almost everyone so much that you will want to replay them at the first opportunity.
Tests will also push you to repeat the test, although this element can be called one of the unsuccessful ones. At all levels the tasks are the same: kill all enemies, never die and collect all three cases. The latter are most often hidden behind destructible walls or on top of buildings, but sometimes the suitcases are carried by opponents who run away at the sight of the player and try to shoot back. For the sake of these funny catch-ups, you can hunt for cases, but the medal received for this, unfortunately, does not give anything.
But this is a small thing, otherwise the game is amazing. It looks great – the environment is very detailed, some objects react to your jumps, boxes are destroyed gradually, and not immediately after several hits. And the fact that bullet marks remain on the walls makes the shootout even more spectacular.
The soundtrack is also very good. The tools here change depending on the area the character is in. If catchy electronic music is playing in an area controlled by ordinary hooligans, then duels with bikers will take place to the sound of electric guitars. Plus there is voice acting in the style of old action films, and the main character constantly quotes movies and games, uttering idiotic phrases that simultaneously sound stupid and make him cooler – just what is needed for such non-stop action.
Evening spent at Huntdown, will bring a ton of different emotions. The game will make you remember your favorite childhood films and simply give you fun gameplay. Huge variety of weapons, cool bosses and wonderful pacing (as well as local co-op!) make the game one of the brightest releases of spring. It would also have a normal name, otherwise the word Huntdown will not attract a potential buyer scrolling through the list of new products. But it’s also like they tried to make the title in the spirit of an 80s action movie – just one word, but it’s immediately clear what the plot is about.
Pros: fun gameplay that constantly offers new opportunities; the presence of a kick allows you not only to save ammo, but also to implement interesting combinations in battle; two dozen excellent bosses with interesting mechanics and phases; many different types of weapons; chic visual style with rich detail; nice music.