Slayer Shock

This is a difficult review to write, since I really love David Pittman's other games. However, there are some major design issues. After reading his post-mortem blog post, it makes sense why. Considering this was a solo effort, it's still commendable. Gameplay-wise, it's essentially an open-world lite immersive sim. [list] [*]First of all, stealth. Kind of works, but difficult to use. Enemies have no status indicators for their level of awareness of you. They also don't react until they've fully detected you, at which point they come running at full speed. Eventually it becomes more usable after you acquire stealth perks, but it's still janky. You get used to it, but pure stealth builds are nearly impossible. Neon Struct had a glorious stealth system compared to this. [*]Most missions are randomly generated from a small set of stock mission types (Rescue, Patrol, etc.). There isn't much variation other than location, map layout, and number of items to collect. It gets stale quickly - there are few unique missions related to the story. For this kind of genre, Slayer Shock puts too much emphasis on the rogue-lite elements and not enough on the story. The story also isn't particularly interesting, which is unfortunate because I liked the overall setting and vibe. [*][i]Minor issues:[/i] Enemy AI is wonky. Most of them follow the same attack pattern - running at you in a straight line. There are a few enemies that have different attack patterns, but you encounter them rarely. Art style has a bit of the uncanny valley look. You get used to it fast, but I prefer Pittman's previous games which had a unique art style despite being less complex. [/list] Now the good parts. Weapon selection pretty good. Mission selection, although randomly generated from a limited set of types, is well-done. Sound effects and music are excellent. Creativity, top notch. The vampire + midwestern town type setting are cool. Lighting and special effects are improved from Pittman's previous games in the same engine. Lastly, the controls feel great and quite familiar for an imm sim. Slayer Shock is suspiciously similar to Redfall, despite predating it by 8 years. Both are open-world lite immersive sims about hunting vampires in small, forest-filled towns. Both had tumultuous development periods and produced a half-baked product. Both have lack-luster stories and missions but great gunplay. Surprisingly though, Slayer Shock does a better job than Redfall with many of these things. Overall, Slayer Shock can be worth it on sale as long as you enjoy lots of grinding and are willing to overlook the issues. It's certainly got more creativity than Redfall, and despite the mishaps is fun to play through especially if you enjoyed David Pittman's other titles.

After finishing the tutorial area and loading into the hub, I selected a suburban map and headed out on my quest to become a vampire hunting beast. Unfortunately the game then crashed, and then crashed again - and only after turning off all graphics options did the game chug along at 15-30 fps. On a 4060. I'll just go back to Eldritch, which anyone else should do if they're interested in this game or it's concept.

Feels unfinished in every way, does a very poor job of conveying its mechanics to the player, and in general feels like an early access title let out of its cage too early. Minor Key games continue to produce games that I should love, but that instead, I cannot stand.

Positive: You kill the vampire, they burst into dust like in the t.v show. Negatives: Game feels as under-developed as the coffee-shop hub in the game. I bought this because Eldritch is amazing, I can't tell if the game is unfinished or if the Dev rushed it out half baked...or I'm just sort of speechless. There is not enough input from the environment/AI to tell if sneaking works. Eldritch has the AI getting alerted, investigating and then going for the kill. Whereas in this game it's like, they see me, they instantly know for certain where I am and it's just them screaming and me getting mobbed by all of the mobs. I am so glad I bought this on sale. I'll delete or edit my review if there's a future patch but right now it feels like a test product that got pushed out the door too early :/

[h1]Slayer Shock: Basically Becoming Buffy [/h1] Q: Did two grown men do a cartoon review on Slayer Shock? A: YES AND IT IS[url=https://youtu.be/P-a1l3iXOY4] RIGHT HERE, check it out on the 2 Headed Hero channel! [/url] Slayer Shock is an ambitious hybrid of a FPS, a roguelike, an RPG, an immersive sim, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I highly recommend it with the following caveats. You ENJOY: [list] [*]slashing up tons of vamps and vamp-adjacent bad guys [*]goofy bloodsucker humor [*]a run that takes about 5-6 hours to complete [*]Nebraska [/list] You can DEAL WITH: [list] [*]low poly stuff [*]procedural levels [*]unbalanced mission difficulty [*]a run that takes about 5-6 hours to complete [*]Nebraska [/list] I had fun with it - the movement is fast and furious and feels good, the weapon variety is large, and the randomized storylines can be hilarious. Slayer Shock is a firm base with rough edges, definitely worth a sale buy. If Minor Key ever decides to give it the polish it needs, it would be a fantastic contender in the growing arena of indie immersive sims.

This game was disappointing after playing other games from this developer. It has been abandoned in a half-baked state.

Enemy spawned in front of me while sneaking on another enemy. Just no.

[h1] A rewarding and salty affair [/h1] [b] Gameplay [/b] You're dropped into rural Nebraska during a vampiric invasion and take on quests to rid the state of evil. Each mission grants you rewards like vampire dust and blueprints for new weaponry, and throughout each level you'll discover chests that can be opened/lock-picked for extra dust and ammunition. There's a healthy mixed of melee and ranged weaponry, and you're able to conduct each mission with stealth in mind. Stealing items, destroying coffins, assassinating elite vampires, and more. [b] Atmosphere [/b] The music is laid back but is reactive to the current awareness of enemies, and can grow in intensity if the situation becomes dire. The graphics and sound are not intrusive, but give plenty of hints to where enemies are located (call-outs, footsteps, yelps). Lighting cues are soft and the design of the different areas are both distinct and fun to explore (not to mention randomly generated). It's got solid grounds for atmosphere; You could, in all honesty, put on a podcast or some other video you've been meaning to watch and play this in the background. [b] Mechanics [/b] You spawn at your hub base after the completion of each mission and can catch up with your crew. You may lose members or gain new ones as quest rewards. Weapons smiths, trainers, researchers, everyone has a role and a personality. Some characters may argue with one another and cause you to be without a trainer or ammo-giver for a time. After you've equipped yourself with a crossbow, shotgun, and whatever your heart desires, you can choose a location to investigate and carry out a random mission in that area. It's exciting to explore houses and country-sides, multi-story buildings and chapels, knowing there's loot to be found and vampires to be slain. Areas can become more dangerous throughout the seasons (the game's episodic formatting), and if left untouched can be lost to vampire control. It is [i] imperative [/i] you balance your skills and resource usage in how you approach each quest. There are enough difficulty levels to choose from if you're looking to keep your damage capacity high, and your crew members permanently at your side. [b]The Score...?[/b] Five stakes out of Five steaks, I was grinning ear to ear throughout my first playthrough and can't wait to dive into the next one. I absolutely binged it, and considering I adore Eldritch as well, it's not surprising. The movement controls are tight, the combat is challenging and allows for creative approaches to problem-solving. It's rewarding from start to finish, and a welcome addition to the indie immersive sim genre. [b] TLDR [/b] You kill vampires with fun weapons and complete quests to get more loot and new members for your hunting crew. Skill trees, guns, katanas, stakes, garlic, all that and more await you in this engaging and well-worth title.

I was a teenage vampire hunter

ля где мой подик