Better Than Dead

Better Than Dead is a potentially fantastic game that just needs more work and time. There seems a be a huge misunderstanding in the reviews that keeps cropping up over and over again - the aiming and controls are abysmal and people cannot line up shots. That is not what this game is. This is a run and gun and slide simulator. I think perhaps the bodycam aesthetic and the way the character can arc their gun while moving around make this game seem like it should be played differently. Provided you are constantly sliding, triggering slomo, and just making sure you're clicking in the correct direction, gunplay is buttery smooth. I should note, I did drop the mouse sensitivity down to .3, which I found made everything really click for me. Although, I am saying this as someone that has played a whole lotta CS2 and is used to low-sens aiming. But my point is that you should be playing like what you see in the gameplay trailer footage and gifs for the game. The atmosphere and tone are on point. I love the environmental story-telling filling in for the lack of an overt narrative. If I had two major critiques, one would be the overall jank - Animations are only half done for civilians. You'll often seem them sliding away on their feet instead of running. Enemies will clip through environments, and I lost a couple of runs simply because I got stuck on the enemies ragdoll and couldn't move. For a game this visceral, the blood effects are incredibly lacking. Everything just looks like raspberry jam. The other major critique would be the music, which just doesn't fit the genre this game is aiming for. The 80s pop tunes do not mesh well with the grimy, Hong Kong vibe. I'm aware that this game is in early access and will be receiving more content and fixes, so I'm very hopeful for it's future. As of right now, the game is a ton of fun, but janky and short (I'm at the last 3 missions having only played for a little over 2 hours). Still a solid recommend for me. Just needs more time in the oven.