SULFUR

An incredibly promising game that’s as unforgiving as it should be, but not in all the right ways. Even on Medium difficulty (keeping equipped items) it becomes a bit of a struggle, and in some ways not enough of one. There are many scenarios where you’ll regenerate health in the same moment you die, get sniped by archers with absolutely no line of sight left to you, get rushed by enemies that teleport away from your bullets, or just get a downright unlucky seed. The latter is definitely part of the struggle that you [i]do[/i] want, meaning you have to prepare for the worst and adapt, but on the opposite end of the spectrum it can become a little too point-and-shoot at times. You’ll also occasionally get absolutely bodied by this ghost enemy which [strike]I can only guess functions the same as the one in Spelunky[/strike] seems to spawn at complete random, which definitely makes the “tactical” way of playing less fun. Speaking of, the movement — while unique — is incredibly satisfying once you get a feel for it, and really exemplifies the movement shooter aspect of the game. I only wish there was more of an incentive to actually be moving that quickly beyond just “hurry up.” Other things like being able to descend waterfalls but still taking damage when traveling down them into what would normally be a killbox even when there’s water visible below, and ore veins not dropping anything when hit with explosives definitely feels like a punishment for exploring in what’s meant to be a dungeon crawler, especially when coupled with the ghost aspect. As for what I’d like at least the option to change is the fact that even with the challenge Medium still offers, your weapon rank progress carries over along with your equipped items and money, where Very Easy has you lose nothing and Easy strangely has you now lose money. There’s also no way to change your difficulty (or enable cheats) mid-game, which wouldn’t normally be an issue if it were a true roguelike, but there’s so much in the post-run that’s influenced that unless you’re playing on Hardcore (permadeath) you’ll have to be progressing through absolutely everything again just to experience a different difficulty — not just getting good items again, which is easy enough to do if you don’t mind having a suite of mediocre guns as opposed to getting a really specific build since everything is so compatible. Think [i][url=store.steampowered.com/app/1016790/West_of_Dead/]West of Dead[/url][/i] but without the evil max volume bug. On the topic of guns, the gunplay itself can get spread a little thin as far as what really works in regards to enchantments, which is another thing I would like at least the option for there to be more leniency with (at least not having to re-rank a duplicate gun that you’ve already grinded all the same attachments/enchantments for to make again, even if that feature would be tied to a cheat), but there’s a wide range of items available to you to experiment with, many with ties to other properties and some slightly more risqué than others. I also think certain guns/calibers should be able to break walls the same as explosives can (e.g. a fully loaded Breacher 8) and that bullet bounces should damage you if you get hit, maybe coupled with a “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out” achievement, but I understand you want the experimentation with weapons to go [i]mostly[/i] unpunished. One thing really impressive to me that I think could be easily overlooked is the cosmetic damage on enemies, specifically with melee weapons. Their sprites always face you, but they’re rendered in 3D space in a way where your cuts will still match the direction you’re facing even if they’re prone on the ground and not fully rotated towards you. Doing melee attacks also won’t fully cancel your reload, but they will reset the draw of the bow-gun. Finally, the soundtrack, while simple, keeps a groove throughout every gunfight with an energy that never wavers, and the attention to detail is further noticeable with the inclusion of dynamite that burns as you hold it, distinct sounds from different calibers, and even distortion when firing underwater. The only other things I could possibly ask for are the round icons in the magazine changing with what you’ve chambered the weapon with (just as a visual cue) and maybe a beastiary to complete? I understand how the latter might not make a lot of sense with the whole “amnesia” bit, but you could always say it’s magic and I’m sure nobody would ask any questions whatsoever.