Rob reviews Madshot on PC...
Madshot is a fast-paced platforming shooter with rogue-lite elements. Across its various levels, you'll be battling a multitude of Lovecraftian horrors as you make your way towards the monstrous Cthulhu. With hints of Hades and Dead Cells, Madshot aims to be seated at the back of the roguelike bus - but does it get tripped up along the way?
Roguelite is a genre that I'd like to think of myself as a bit of a veteran. Hades, Dead Cells, and Curse of the Dead Gods are often featured in my mixture of "go-to" games when I can't decide on what to play. While Madshot doesn't quite reach the same levels as these heavyweights, developer Overflow does come close. And with the title being part of Steam's Early Access...well they have time for refinement.
As with any other roguelike title, the narrative begins with Madshot being very thin on the ground. When starting the game you'll be introduced to your character along with his presumably deceased spouse. Unable to deal with the loss of this loved one, our "hero" dons his Cthulhu-esq mask and decided to invade the famed Eldritch Mountain in search of the source of eternal life. However, his quest isn't that easy and the mountain's master - the pesky sea monster Cthulhu - has decided to send its minions to protect the secrets of the mountain. As such the hero fights with his hands.
The story behind Madshot's Lovecraftian nightmare is extremely shallow. Whereas Hades has quite a depth of dialogue and exposition, Madshot doesn't. It's just you, plenty of enemies, and a procedural landscape. But, the story is just the tip of the Lovecraft mountain, and thankfully Madshot's gameplay makes up for this shortfall.
Much like other titles such as the aforementioned Hades and Dead Cells, Madshot's hook is its repetitive gameplay. It's a classic roguelite through and through in which you'll be dragged through the living and death loop until you eventually have that perfect run and finish the game. To keep this gameplay fresh, the developer has also taken aspects from Castlevania to create a great mix of shooter/action-platformer within a gothic environment.
When it comes to playing the game, Madshot performs quite well. Its gameplay rewards those who play aggressively, rather than conservative. Each of the procedurally generated levels is an acrobatic playground that's filled with spaces to roll through and platforms to jump from. It adds a touch of complexity as you'll have to grapple with the environment whilst taking down your foes. If shooting the enemies wasn't enough, each location is littered with boxes and other items that can be physically thrown too!
Madshot also takes advantage of RNG to add spice to its gameplay. As you can imagine due to this some runs are easier than others. However, it all comes together to make the game infinitely repayable as the next run could be THAT run where everything clicks into place.
Away from this and the general gameplay - along with the multiple mechanics - feels well-rounded. While some weapons and abilities feel a little unbalanced, it's nothing that takes away from the overall experience and considering that the game is still in Early Access, I would expect that these will be ironed out before the initial release.
Visuals are a nice touch with each scene representing something straight out of a comic book. The presentation is full of bold lines and crisp, clear colours. The background landscape is also pleasing, with plenty of gorgeous landscapes that help to draw an eye to the current environment. While it's an art style that's not overly unique, it works well within the game's environment. It's aesthetically pleasing, which is what we all want, right?
The Lovecraftian terrors that stalk each scene are also presented well. While the constant mass of bats, grotesque blobs, and zombies did get a little tedious - it's all forgiven once you reach a boss battle. As you can imagine, aside from being absolute bullet sponges - they look pretty good. For example, an early boss dubbed the "Alchemist" takes on a mad scientist role. Aside from attacking you with a rifle, he will utilise potions and poisons to trap you into being less manoeuvrable, to then hit you with his very accurate sniper rifle. It's quite a fun battle which sees you duking it out within a gothic laboratory, all to the rhythm of a heavy metal assemble.
In a way, the soundtrack to Madshot reminded me of that seen in DOOM. It's a larger-than-life soundtrack that's filled with powerful electric guitar riffs and head-banging drum beats. It's the perfect accomplice to the game that gets your adrenaline flowing as you perform some crazy acrobatics. For those looking for a more hard-core experience, have Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' playing - trust me, it goes so well!
All in all, Madshot has great potential to be up there with the greats of the genre. Its simple roguelike gameplay offers heaps of replay value all within a fun and dynamic environment. Throw in some memorable boss characters and a head-banging heavy metal soundtrack, then Madshot has a lot going for it. That being said the game also has a few negatives. But being in Early Access does give the development team time to iron these out before the full release.
Considering that the game is great to play now, I'm fully looking forward to following Madshot into its bright future.
Rating: 8/10
Madshot is available now and can be purchased via Steam
A code was kindly provided for this review
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