TL;DR Exceptional short Boomer Shooter with a unique art style that breaks the trend of having a bad final boss! 8/10
Calcium Contract is a very cozy Boomer Shooter that I've refered to as "Doom for Babies". It's artstyle is very pleasant and as someone who read books like where the wild things are and other clay-model picture books and liked claymation movies like Coraline; This game is very nostalgic and is a constant fun time with only a couple downs.
The main appraisal i can give CC is that it is exceptionally accessible. For my first playthrough i did it on Macabre the hardest difficulty and it took me no more then 3 total hours. Though i have some experience under my belt in the genre, this game is very welcoming as a first time experience for people breaking into the genre. it isn't that expensive at 10$, and although that may seem a little steep, i feel like it makes up for it with it's interesting additions.
Though there's not a lot in the arsenal, everything is fun, feels really nice to use, and have a cute animation to them. The Trumpet/Starting weapon is very very good even on highest diff with 3 separate projectile that can also bounce around angles. So satisfying. The Accordian/Shotgun is also exceptional and feels great. The stun it provides can feel almost vital to breaking through some areas, and makes chickens much easier to deal with. Neither of these have ammo from what i can tell, and trust me, that's to the game's strength. The bonethrower is a nice addition, i love how it has the shrapnel that can deal extra damage to enemies close by, this made dealing with horse swarms so much easier. And the skull was a bucket of fun in itself, serving almost like a hybird of a Plasma gun Altfire and a BFG from doom 2. It also disrupts projectiles, making it good against the Horses, Flying Smileys, Spitting Slug, etc. The scythe is a good challenge, and it's nice it can be charged for wider arc (?) and more damage. still, i would stick to trumpet for main dmg, besides challenge runs.
The enemies really make this game, though. There's so many and they all have a cute charm to them that mke them great to look at. The Hitscan Cats & Sniper Cat are the most adorable, while the Goat and Alpha Goat make me so angry. The floating smileys annoy me, but in a good way. They're well designed and their gas escape is a neat trick. The fireball ones annoy me alot, though. The Purple and Red Chicken are fine, but the green chickens are the best addition, having a throwing knife which deals THIRTY damage in Macabre. Very good enemy and satisfying to kill. The Clock Guy, Jester, and Masked Phantom were all cool enemies with abilities you dont really see in boomer shooters (Though, the masked phantom reminded me slightly of the Doom 2 Arch vile.). THe Spitting Slug was annoying and tanky, but this game needed a solid tank like them besides the Alpha Goat. USE SKULLS AGAINST THEM. JUST DO IT.
FInally the Bird Serpent fight was amazing. Took me like thirty minutes with many tries, but i finally got it down and was thoroughly impressed with how much it tests your abilities. The gimmick to the boss is cool, and while i don't want to spoil it, i will say it truly tests how much you've learned about the game's weapon mechanics, as there's no real unique movement to it. One Tip; don't bother with shotgun imo, just use Trumpet Bonethrower and Skulls.
And that's not even getting into it's neat grenade mechanics. Or the time rewind. or the amazing powerups it has that remind me of Blood and Dusk. But i can't waffle on forever! Calcium Contract is a great game that while it doesn't do anything insane definitely changes up the formula with weapon techs, amazing map design for the most part, (looking at you M5. Sewer Levels...), and a cutesy artstyle that made me sitback and play 2 playthroughs back to back. My biggest complain would be no Altfires, rather the grenade being right click.
Hope next to play HROT! Keep making shooters, Dev! 8.5/10!
