Of Murder and Moonshine

Amazing game! Controls --> great Level design --> super duper music/sound --> noice atmosphere --> gooders

Pixel shooter where many design choices work against you rather than in your favor. You are put in the shoes of Leonard, a crook working for the mob during prohibition in the United States. Other mobsters regard you as a dumb guy who will do whatever they tell you, so you become the ideal hitman who asks no questions. The game contains a plot that connects everything, although the primary focus is on missions. There will be no upgrades, side quests, or collectibles to deal with, making everything relatively straightforward. All you need to do is get to the target, kill it, and then leave the map. Because precision is so important, using a mouse and keyboard is far more convenient. The keyboard allows you to move around and jump, whereas the mouse is utilized for aiming and firing. You can also slide, however this technique is only effective for jumping across large gaps. The final button allows you to scout the map and determine what threat you will be dealing with. Screenshots do not do the pixel art justice. While the game takes place at night with low lighting that prevents you from seeing all of the features, there are lots of small touches, particularly animations, that bring the setting to life. There are trees swaying in the breeze, people wandering around or enjoying the nightlife in the city, and so on. The bad news is that assets are very repetitious, making the stages appear similar. Stages may contain both innocent people and mobsters, but you can eliminate anyone standing between you and the target. Shooting all over the place will attract the attention of cops, but you will still have time to flee. If the cops catch you on the scene, you will lost without any opportunity of fighting back. One convenient feature is the ability to conceal the gun under your coat, making you less of a threat when entering a civilian zone. Of course, this does not function when you attempt to go into hostile strongholds or structures. Before the start of each mission, you can select one of five weapons. You can use a little handgun, a strong shotgun with a short range, a quick machine gun with poor precision, an accurate rifle, or a simple wooden bat. The best weapon is the rifle with the best accuracy, but it fires slowly and is ineffective in confined spaces or against a large number of enemies. However, this is not a big deal because you can collect weapons from dead mobsters. Unfortunately, the gameplay and shooting mechanic is not very good. The first issue is that headshots are ineffective, and you can only one-shot an enemy if you fire a full shotgun blast in their face. You can withstand around three hits, but death comes soon because you have no defense. You cannot even crouch or hide behind assets. Then there are wooden boxes that are only big enough to keep you from hitting anything until you aim a bit higher. The only defense strategy is to jump like crazy and jump between floors in the hopes of avoiding shots, but this takes time, which you do not have because of the cops. The worst decision and unfair mechanic is that enemies can shoot you through civilians but you cannot do the same. This means that an enemy will take you out before you get a chance to fire a single bullet at them. Bat has flashes of being the best weapon because it can hit multiple enemies with a single swing, but stealth is not an option. An opponent knows you are there even if you approach from behind, and if you kill him right away without firing a single shot, every other enemy will know where you are and what you did. The bat also has difficulty connecting with an enemy when you are close together.

I thought stealth would be a thing here and that is not the case. Gun blazin' is how we take out the targets. We pretty much take out a target per level. I do like the music and the level layouts. It can be tough to keep track of ur character when all hell breaks loose (blends in background). The price tag may be a bit steep for some but the game is solid. Gameplay Impressions: https://youtu.be/N5VYB1Ce5_E

Simple concept yet still very challenging. Love the art work and overall aesthetic of this game.

I know I haven't played the game for too long but I still have some things I wanna say. I feel like the enemies aim is crazy. I have seen a guy with aim bot miss more shots then these guys. For guys who won't hear a bullet shoot his friend next to him but are able to perfectly align a shot at me through the door that I haven't even opened yet his wild. The game seems like a bunch of little stories put together instead of a giant-ish story especially with how you purchase a gun at the beginning. It's like re-buying pants every time you wanna go somewhere, these guys are the mafia don't they just have something on them? Plus the fact I can head shot a man with bolt-action and he doesn't die but a baseball bat one taps is crazy. It feels like Battlefield more then an assassin game. I love the scope out feature when you press G (I think it is G) where you can look ahead but I feel like it is a bit overpowered-ish, like it would be nice if some areas were darkened off like the inside of buildings or rooms you haven't opened the door for or that it has limited range. Also a way to know if some areas are off limits would be nice like for an example there is a mission where there are 6-ish people with guns standing by a door that i can walk through but as soon as my left pinky toe enters into the second floor I get point blank pumped. When you pull out your weapon too and everyone immediately knowing too is wild. Good game but needs a bit of work. You are an extremely talented dev and I hope the success of the game doesn't demotivate you but pushes you to try more. You! Have! So! Much! Potential! KEEP GOING!!!

Really good game. From level design to sound and visuals a very beatiful game that reminds me of the old hitman games. I like the atmosphere and the challengeing levels.

[h3]Positives[/h3] [list] [*]Aesthetic is awesome. The artwork, lighting, and story fit great [*]Mechanically really interesting. Deciding how long to go undercover and planning an exit is fun [*]Gun variety helped keep things fresh [*]Health indicators were simple and worked great. Haven't seen that done before [*]Sound effects fit well. I like the NPC sounds a lot [/list] [h3]Negatives[/h3] The game made me pretty frustrated. Enemies were so good at shooting it felt like there was nothing I could do. When I won a level, it didn't feel like it was because of skill, I was either lucky or it was too easy. I had a few ideas of what the intended strategy might be (use cover, keep frantically moving around) but nothing seemed to be effective. Also important objects like crates, doors, and enemies blended in too easily with the background. [h3]Suggestions[/h3] [list] [*][u]Make enemies shoot where the player was half a second ago, not where they are now[/u] [*]First shot fired by enemies always misses [*]Make interactable objects and enemies brighter and contrast more [*]If your supposed to utilize cover, maybe make the player feel more safe when they use it. Maybe a crouch button, less fragile crates, a sprite when touching the crate that ducks your head [*]If gameplay is supposed to be frantic, maybe allow more horizontal movement [/list] I think there is a lot of good aspects here. This game stood out enough for me to buy it, so I think you did a great job in terms of crafting a particular vibe. In my opinion, a few hours of changes can make this game go from a negative experience to a pretty positive one. Nevertheless, its awesome you finished a game, that is so much more than most people ever do.

A mix between Hotline Miami and Gunpoint. Pixel graphics look great, weapons are varied and the music and story create a nice ambience. Levels are hard but short, so while sometimes they can get a bit frustrating, there's a reward feeling when beating them. I feel it'd be great if the main character had 1-2 more abilities that would allow for more variety in gameplay strategy.