I am writing this review on July 29th 2026, after 5 hours of playtime and with the game in very early access. If you do not want to read the essay below (because you ain't reading allat), in short, this game is mid. I still recommend it though. I went into this game after following it most of its development with an open-mind and an optimistic mindset, and I was disappointed. Just a reminder, this review is being written in EARLY ACCESS. I am well aware the game will receive roughly 12 major updates over the 2 years it is in early access. This review is just my opinion of it now.
[h3] Performance [/h3]
This game actually ran surprisingly well. My specs are attached, and I got pretty decent performance on the mid-level GPU setting. In places with low asset counts (buildings, structures, etc) and medium enemy counts (some missions in the campaign are exactly like this) I got between 70-110 FPS. Now, in high asset areas my computer struggles, like the city you spawn in in mission 1. Also, in high enemy areas, my computer also struggles. This is just a fact of life for games when you're running a set-up like mine. If you are looking into buying this game, PLEASE look at the minimum/recommended specs.
[h3] Gameplay [/h3]
The gameplay is super fun. Bean Time (Max Payne style slowing down time) is SUCH a fun mechanic. The dance where you spin around and shoot bullets is also very nice for dealing with crowds of enemies. However, I do wish the camera worked 100% of the time with it, because it is not fun when the camera doesn't work. The mechanic where you shoot a bullet to redirect to the nearest enemy is also a very fun mechanic. There is no customization system, sadly, hopefully it will be added in a later update. The only vehicle you can control is Killer Bean's black car. Very disappointing, but hopefully this will be changed in a later update. The ragdoll physics are near perfect and are super, super funny. Especially if you kill a bean in Bean Time, you get to see the arms stretch in wonky ways. The rogue-like upgrading system of the campaign is okay. It doesn't fit with the campaign, which I will cover later, but its okay. The guns are a mixed bag. Sometimes the animations are broken, that is okay. The pistols and normal level guns feel pretty balanced. However, once you obtain an elite level gun, the gold pistols and normal level guns become useless unless you're out of ammo and you can't find an ammo box. The elite level guns are so unbalanced with the gun mods they can spawn with that they make every other gun near obsolete (aside from the guns you can obtain from enemies in the final few missions of the campaign). I also wish that there was an option to just not hold any gun, it's not useful, but it would be nice. Melee combat is pretty mid. Once you get an elite level gun it becomes obsolete. Melee combat desperately needs a redesign. There also needs to be new mechanics for stealth. An arkham style stealth system would fit PERFECTLY for this game, especially if the City Hub gets redesigned.
[h3] Level Design [/h3]
Gonna keep this one short and sweet. The City Hub is poorly designed, does not feel like a city, and is a huge letdown. Its mostly just two islands that vaguely resemble a small city with wide open areas that are not characteristic of a city. There is not an abundance of pedestrian life and they look nothing like the cities in the trailers. The missions in the Campaign with non-procedural levels actually have pretty decent level design, and I like them. The procedurally generated levels in the Campaign are SO fun. The procedural generation system is very well done and results, most of the time, with very fun levels.
[h3] Secondary Gamemodes [/h3]
We will be covering these gamemodes before covering the Campaign. The Party gamemode is a quick fun gamemode, just combat in different warehouses with the maps getting bigger and having more enemies to kill as you progress. Battle Arena is self-explanatory, like the Cybergrind in Ultrakill. Conquest leaves a bit to be desired, but is a fun capture the flag gamemode on procedurally generated-islands.
[h3] The Campaign [/h3]
The Campaign is incredibly disappointing. First, lets talk about its length. The Campaign is only about 8 missions long, with only about 3 of those providing more than an hour of gameplay if you are competent. Mission 1 is boring and not well-designed, which is mostly the fault of the bad design of the City Hub. Missions 2, 3, and 4 are the BEST parts of the game and the main reason the rest of the campaign is so much of a let down. The procedurally generated islands with procedural tasks fits the rogue-like nature of the game and its upgrading system so well. Missions 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are obviously unfinished and leave you out to dry for the endings. The main content of these missions (which these missions feature the non-procedurally generated maps) are pretty decent (except the final boss in Mission 8). All 4 of these Missions just abruptly end.
SPOILERS AHEAD, they will be marked with the spoiler tag, just skip em if you don't want spoilers.
Mission 5 isn't as egregious as the others because the main content of it is pretty decent, but still ends abruptly after [spoiler] destroying the plasma drill [/spoiler]. Mission 6 is [spoiler] literally just a boss fight. [/spoiler] It is bull. It should have been merged into the ending of Mission 5. Mission 7 is pretty decent. [spoiler] Storming the super mech is fun, its just the amount of turrets on the mech that makes the level not all that fun. The jet ski not interacting with the waves however was very disappointing. The jet ski literally just moves along a set plane and does not interact with the waves produced by the mech whatsoever. [/spoiler] Its abrupt end leading into Mission 8 is very jarring though, and it should have been merged with Missions 8 and 9. Mission 8 where you [spoiler] go throughout the super mech and destroy the reactor core [/spoiler] is pretty fun. The map should have just been bigger. The ending however, is egregious. [spoiler] When the super mech designer guy tells you to run to escape the super mech before the reactor core explodes, the level just spontaneously ends. There's no tense sequence (because it has to lead into Mission 9) where you have to try and escape and, once again, feels like you're left alone getting blue. [/spoiler] Mission 9 is even more egregious. Has you have guessed, Mission 9 is the final boss and it is not fun. It is a 3D bullet hell and doesn't feel climatic at all. [spoiler] You fight two higherups of the Shadow Agency in remote controlled mechs. They make a nice funny joke out of it, but it takes away all tension and build up. Not to mention, where the hell are they controlling them from?? This super mech was supposed to be the Shadow Agency's base of operations, so why aren't they here??? Killer Bean has been fighting tooth and nail to defeat the Shadow Agency that betrayed him, and he doesn't even get to kill their leader??? The Mission literally just ends after defeating the remote-controlled mech [/spoiler]and that's the end of the campaign. Just that. Complete and utter bull. That is why the upgrading system and rogue-like nature does not fit the campaign, because it is so short. The campaign has replay value, yes, but only in Missions 2, 3, and 4.
[h3] Hopes for the Future and Final Remarks [/h3]
I hope a gamemode like Hitman's WOA is added. Where you keep the upgrading system of the campaign and just do the procedurally generated missions until you run out of lives. This game, more specifically its campaign, heavily disappointed me. But there are great moments to this game that HEAVILY shine, and show great promise. Overall, this game is worth buying, especially if you're reading this review around the time it's been published because I bought this game a few days ago for 15 USD.
