Can we start referring to things as Cthulhu-likes? With how much cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos, old Squid face himself most notably, has infected the entertainment industry, I think it’s safe to say that we can. Once a small genre and niche horror set, cosmic horror and Lovecraftian horror have exploded massively into the current zeitgeist and you can’t walk a dog or play a game without bumping into squamous tentacles creeping around somewhere.
In Swaggers Madshot, from developer Overflow, with dual guns and a need to put one between old squid faces eyes.
Madshot may not be Cthulhu-like, but it is an acrobatic, action 2D rogue-like starring various creatures of the Cthulhu Mythos oeuvre. You play a sorcerer seeking revenge on Cthulhu and its ilk, and the only way to do that is by shooting, slashing and magicking your way through endless piles of nightmarish abominations.
Madshot’s story really doesn’t matter. It’s only there as an excuse to put you up against the Great Old Ones in an action context, something you usually can’t do in most games that feature these nigh-on omnipotent titans. Madshot also embraces the rogue-like concept through and through, so if you’ve played one before, you know what systems to expect.
As with many rogue-lites, randomisation is key to the level and event design. Along with that other caveat, death-ending runs that pop you right back to the beginning with almost nothing to show for your effort. Your route to the bosses is randomised on each playthrough, letting you pick which stage and route to tackle. You can effectively make each district run short and quick or as long and hard as you want to.
Stages are broken up into mini-boss fights, randomised events, power-ups, enhancements and a shop, to name a few. Each 2D arena is designed as a mini-platform action challenge where you have to kill everything that comes your way to open up a portal to the next stage. Your move sets are simple; dual guns, a dodge roll, double jumps and wall jumps. There’s a little bit of a twin-stick shooter at play as well since the right analogue controls your aim. Monsters swarm you from everywhere, each with their own distinct look and attacks but rarely any real intelligence. They’re just swarms for you to cut through.
On death, some monsters will drop health, gold or white orbs to power up your special meter. At the end of each stage, depending on which one you picked, you’re rewarded with extra health, aether to spend in your creepy mansion home base and the coveted alterations. Alterations are a combination of stat boosts and extra abilities, such as adding slow to your attacks or making your bullets bounce. You can hold a number of attributes and they can be powered up either through the shop or if you choose a stage whose reward is an alteration boost.
You aren’t only limited to two guns though. There are also weapon stages that let you choose from one of three weapons to carry with you, ranging from swords to monster-summoning wands. You can also unlock permanent new weapons through a series of challenges that you can pick up from your manor, such as surviving three stages without taking damage.
Of course, if you die, you’ll lose those extra health pickups, alterations and stage weapons. When you do die, and you will, you respawn in your manor. Here you can change your outfit, including the mask you wear, pick up challenges, change weapons if you’ve unlocked them, spend on additional abilities such as highlighting explosive elements in a stage and equip and enhance ability-boosting effects that are permanent.
This is where we come to the stuff that is permanent in your playthrough. The abilities and boosts you unlock in your home base won’t reset. The other place to find more permanent stat-boosting effects for your health and base damage is in the shop stages. But finding them, since both the shop stages and what they contain are randomised, can be hit or miss. But once you do, they go a long way towards making Madshot’s goal achievable. Assuming you don’t die before you find the shop and lose all that cash that is.
Of course, we’d be missing out on the major reason you probably picked up Madshot for; the monsters. Madshot is full of wonderfully creepy monsters and designs, albeit in a cartoony way and makes good use of the Cthulhu Mythos monsters, even showcasing some of the lesser-known creatures in its bestiary. And they’re all fun to fight against, making certain that you use those moves and make good use of the environment to survive.
Initially, Madshot feels hard and somewhat unfair, but once you pick up on the flow of gameplay, along with the nuance in control and design, each run becomes easier and more fun. What killed you easily in only a couple of hits, suddenly feels laughable as you wall jump your way across the level, shooting things in the head as you somersault over them and complete a stage without taking any damage. Eventually, Madshot develops into an addictive flow of kill, die, get a little further and repeat. It’s that addictive quality, seeing yourself getting better at navigating the arenas and bosses that keeps you coming back for more each time.
Madshot Launch Trailer
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Grab your copy of Madshot on Switch here https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Madshot-2411200.html
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