Video Game Review - Mullet Madjack

Your princess is in another castle…

The best way to describe HAMMER95’s Mullet Madjack is a fever dream crossover between DOOM, 80’s anime, and every live-streaming platform there is. It’s a crazy boomer shooter that sees you attempting to rescue “the princess” as you face countless hordes of enemies, and an online audience who’s only excitement is seeing you obliterate everything in reckless abandon. With ten seconds on the clock, Mullet Madjack is a rollercoaster ride of bullet hell and speed-running delights. 

Set in the not to distant future, humanity is in need of that latest dopamine rush. Finding most entertainment now boring, if it’s not exciting in 10 seconds then that’s it, game over. As consumers battle to score their latest hit, a super rich AI known as “Robillionaires” has taken over the world. In true “evil robot” style this AI is as corrupt and evil as they come (move over Skynet) and as such has enslaved humanity in their own constant need of consumer entertainment. Enter Mullet Madjack, the one badass who’s got the stones (and the hairline) to cut the Robillionaires down a peg or two. With a literal ten seconds on the clock, Mullet Madjack has to scour the width and height of a cyberpunk skyscraper while keeping his online audience entertained for his very survival.

As you can probably imagine the gameplay of Mullet Madjack is pretty hectic. As you make your way across the plethora of cramped corridors and open skylines you’ll be racing to score that next important kill in order to stay in the game. Gameplay flows smoothly as you slide through vents, wall run across bill boards, and dodge various obstacles in order to reach the exit door on each floor. After you’ve successfully climbed ten floors you’ll then battle a Robillionaire in an epic boss battle to hopefully then rescue the princess. 

With plenty of enemies to dispatch, Mullet Madjack gives you plenty of tools to do so. Aside from the typical arsenal of guns, Mullet Madjack also allows you to use the protagonists boot to your advantage. Although most - if not all - enemies take one hit to kill, the kick allows you to dispatch of them in a much quicker way. Dashing into enemies will send them flying and it’s great to use this to kick them into the various environmental hazards and through doors all to earn those extra seconds on the all present timer. 

Even with its stellar combat, it’s still quite easy to fail. Aside from having to keep up with the pressure of pleasing your audience, you also have to contend with a more traditional health bar to. Thankfully in between each battle you’ll be able to buy upgrades that’ll help improve your odds of success. These upgrades themselves range from unlocking better and more powerful weapons, to decreasing the hit points to the next boss battle. There’s also more less useful unlocks which act as purely cosmetic which’ll see Mullet Madjack do a pretty decent impression of Duke Nukem. Regardless on how you choose to unlock these upgrades, Mullet Madjack gives you plenty of variation to craft a build that suits your play style. For me I often found myself relying on dealing maximum damage while throwing in the odd debuff to that floors boss.

Much like a traditional roguelike, no two runs are the same and each time you die you’ll be sent back to the beginning of the current chapter. As you progress you’ll also be able to unlock skills that’ll allow you to keep your upgrades if the inevitable does happen. It’s also worth noting that the game have quite the range of difficultly setting to offer a variety of challenges if you choose. And for those who wish to remove the ten second time limit there’s also an option here for that. 

When it comes to presentation, Mullet Madjack is a vibrant journey that’s backed up by a techno infused soundtrack. As mentioned in my introduction the whole game is a psychedelic fever dream that packed full of unique visuals and captivating gameplay. The anime inspired visuals flow smoothly and whether you’re kicking robots through doors, into machinery, or simply hitting them with bullets it’s a gorgeous game to look at. The brutality is taken up a notch when you find a melee weapon which bathes the screen close up anime robot death. Not once did I ever get bored of the gameplay loop and I found myself thrown into the cyberpunk world that HAMMER95 has created.

Overall and Mullet Madjack is a gorgeous first person shooter that comes at you at break neck speed. The gameplay loop is both challenging and rewarding with simple roguelike elements and tight gun play mechanics. Both fans of “boomer shooters” and anime of old will get a real kick out of what Mullet Madjack offers and its endless replay value allows for plenty of robot busting action. 

Could this be the top contender for my game of 2024? You bet! 

Rating: 9/10 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

Mullet Madjack is available now and can be purchased on Steam by clicking here. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social