[h1]Alexa, turn on "The Muppets - We're doing a Sequel"[/h1]
I LOVED the first Max Manos due to its unfolding chaos [spoiler]chain reaction my beloved 10 FPS[/spoiler], somewhat-different prestige stages, different shape effects (which could also be combined at some point, causing EVEN MORE mayhem), but this... this game [b]TOOK OFF[/b] the parts of what made it good and [b]APPLIED[/b] these principles [b]TO OTHER PARTS[/b] of gameplay. [i]For instance: screen targets are now all the same, but there's a chance to be on a SPECIAL floor which has some sort of effect to spice things up, instead of targets having different effect on kill and environment...[/i] [b][i]THE SHAPE EFFECTS were you environment.[/i][/b]
[b]Progression[/b] is more on a [i]drag[/i] 'y part, mostly because you're incentivized to keep pushing/buying repeatable upgrades, mostly health, since it can be considered as... a currency gain upgrade, [i]maybe[/i] even better than the actual currency gain upgrade [i](upgrades dont give numbers at all).[/i] Each 5 levels you reach a checkpoint, higher floor-higher money, you're restarting at higher level, meaning bigger money on restarts, and you'll be restarting a lot, cuz your hp is being reduced as you attack enemies and there's a specific goal you need to reach to progress to the next floor. This feels like [b][u]nodebuster[/u][/b] in a sense... Except every "level currency" (access to an upgrade essentially) is gained every 10 floors and the upgrade path for them is just a line.
I never felt more fun outside the "shape floors" (which dont last very long, shame) because the enemies are just... dummy targets, they dont do anything in normal floors, they dont explode into *+><^c , they just exist (some are even completely stationary).
[b]Prestige perks[/b] are a complete opposite in terms of feel from the prequel. They're being unlocked in from-least-to-most powerful order, but the order they're displayed is... not the same as the unlock order. There are no achievements for unlocking them either, which is... understandable, because [b]when you complete the game once[/b] - its gonna get boring, even [b]more[/b] boring with [b]each[/b] new unlock, because perks essentially [b]take away the need for the player AND THE SKILL TREE[/b] step-by-step, only needing the input to go to the next floor by clicking the staircase, which can be mitigated by autoclickers. At the last perk [b]THE GAME PLAYS ITSELF NOW! SKILL TREE IS OBSOLETE![/b] (after 3 more hours of prestige sessions buying mostly HP upgrades) These are less of a "power curve" for the time you spent and more of a "win game (again)" button, it's the kind of "fun for 30 seconds and then realising you have to do [b]just that[/b] for the next hour". Despite being optional - they're still a part of the game, and these were on boring side [b]for longer[/b] than on the exciting side. [b]Max Manos 1[/b] "prestige perks" were actually [b]different[/b] starter weapons, changing your approach to eliminating shapes (not by much, but enough to feel early-mid game being different), even some of the upgrades were changing based on what weapon you had.
[hr][/hr]
I [b]could[/b] recommend it to those who love nodebuster-likes, but those who prefer something more fresh - better check out the first game, it's main theme was supposed to be about chain reactions, and the new game watered down on chain reactions in favor of... being something that was already made i guess, idk. The last level where you wear a mitten [b]is[/b] Max Manos 1, but it's happening throughout the WHOLE experience instead of just last 30 seconds of the game..
