Huntdown

Now city residents must obey the new government unquestioningly, otherwise they will be expelled from the safe center to a scorched wasteland or areas under the control of angry gangs. To say for sure which of the options is worse — to die alone from radiation and thirst, or to be raped and hung from a rusted lamppost, but in a noisy company — is rather problematic.

The world split into two contrasting halves. The humble majority, who had tasted the sweet life before the war, are now desperate for the coziness and comfort that corporations have built on the ruins of the old world. In turn, the rebellious minority who learned to count by selling drugs had no chance of a decent life.

It is not the policies of the ruling companies or the fear cultivated by gangs that hold these opposing “coalitions” together, but by bounty hunters, a group of renegades who do not want to play by either side's rules. Since most resources are concentrated in the hands of corporations, mercenaries often curb the growth of organized crime by splashing other people's brains across dirty pavements.

The story “Huntdown” It begins when one of the corporations decides to get rid of several gangs that prevent it from doing business. Some sell drugs, others sell people and guns, while others wreak havoc for perverse entertainment. By and large, this is where the story ends, because the only task of the mercenaries is to clear four districts, simultaneously decapitating their ruling gangs.

The gameplay is a classic “run and gun” — at each level, the main character moves towards the boss and kills a lot of opponents in the process. Huntdown is most similar to “Judge Dredd” and “Demolition Man” of the Sega Mega Drive era, but it stands out for its tactical component. At high difficulty, even ordinary enemies die from a few hits, so haste inevitably leads to death.

The developers littered the levels with numerous shelters — niches in the walls and all sorts of boxes. Despite the fact that the latter quickly crumble under someone else's gunfire, they allow you to take a breath and come out victorious even from a hopeless situation. At the same time, opponents can also hide in shelters, which makes killing them, especially in the face of a numerical advantage, quite an exciting and non-trivial task.

The game offers three bounty hunters to choose from — an angry lady who went through the Third World Cyborg and was very young, but no less dangerous, droid. From a gameplay point of view, they are not much different, except for their basic weapons, but given that the levels are literally strewn with more lethal devices, this does not matter much.

However, the presence of several main characters perfectly illustrates the attention to detail that “Huntdown” is imbued with. Each of the mercenaries has a well-developed design; their own voice acting and unique vehicles, which are shown in videos and at the beginning of each level. Little things like this make the game world more believable and memorable.

The shootings feel more real simply because part of the environment collapses and the gunshots leave their marks on seemingly flat walls. The fallen heroes are not just resurrected at the checkpoint, but are brought to their senses by an eternally dissatisfied doctor, who must have been deprived of his license due to alcoholism or organ trafficking. And each of the twenty bosses is not only an original image, but also a unique opponent that unfolds during the fight.

Despite its dark surroundings, “Huntdown” does not try to reflect on the bloodthirsty nature of humanity or the price of progress — it is a moderately hilarious action movie that refers to the cinema of the eighties and nineties. Mercenaries constantly joke and swear at their dead opponents, gangs and their bosses are both colorful and cartoonish, and the environment, which represents the very essence of decline, is not depressing.

The showdown takes place in various locations: doorways littered with garbage, graffiti-covered subway stations and bars varnished with a centimeter layer of whiskey. But these hot spots are always surrounded by skyscrapers, floating cars and prosperity for corporations with totalitarian manners. The beauty is that these views are framed by very high-quality and rich in detail pixel art.