Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is a strange but surprisingly enjoyable third person shooter that mixes anime characters with underground military combat, random maps and a lot of loot. I play as an elite Imingter agent fighting through underground networks while trying to clear paths and complete missions. The basic idea is pretty straightforward, but there is more going on than I expected. I can play alone or with someone else, and the game is built around repeated runs where I keep finding different weapons and upgrades. The shooting is the part I enjoy most. There are a lot of guns to collect, and the random weapon system means I am constantly checking what I have found and deciding whether it is worth using. There are also more than 56 nano plugin skills with different effects and random statistics, so I can slowly build a setup that suits the way I want to play. I like this because getting a new weapon does not always mean simply getting a stronger version of what I already have. The extra effects can change how useful something is in a particular situation. The randomly generated underground areas are another good part of the game. The map is made from different sections, so I am not following exactly the same route every time I play. I have to move through the tunnels, deal with aggressive enemies and complete objectives while working with whatever equipment I happen to get. The three difficulty levels also give me some control over how demanding I want the experience to be. I like the basic loop because it gives me a reason to keep playing another run even after I have already seen the main environments. There is also a decent amount of character customisation. I can change the appearance of my character with different costumes and skins, and there are optional cosmetic DLC packs available. The base game itself is free, which I think is important here because the main shooting and progression systems are available without having to buy the game first. There are also 30 Steam achievements, so I have a few extra goals to work towards while playing. The biggest problem for me is that the game can feel rough around the edges. The combat can become chaotic very quickly, especially when several aggressive enemies are attacking at once, and the random systems can sometimes make a run feel much better or much worse depending on what equipment I find. I also think the game relies heavily on grinding. Finding better weapons and improving my build is enjoyable for a while, but eventually I am still going back into similar underground areas and doing the same basic type of work. That limits how much depth I can get from it over a really long period. The presentation is also quite uneven. I like the anime inspired character designs and the exaggerated style, and I think they give the game its own personality. At the same time, the environments and some of the animations are fairly basic, and the game does not always feel as polished as a bigger third person shooter. There is clearly a lot of ambition behind the systems, though, and the developers have continued adding updates and content, including a weapon DLC and a large stability update released in November 2025. Overall, Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is a fun free shooter that I think gets more interesting the more I experiment with its weapons and upgrades. I like the randomised maps, large selection of guns, nano plugins, character customisation and the option to play alone or in co op. The grinding, uneven presentation and sometimes chaotic combat keep it from being one of my highest rated shooters, but there is enough variety here for me to keep coming back for another run. For a free game with this much equipment and progression, I think it is a pretty worthwhile experience, especially when I want something focused on shooting and collecting better gear. Rating: 7.8/10