izigame.me

I had a moderately fun time with this game. A Max Payne/Hotline Miami-esk type game with hard boiled/stranglehold aesthetic. With great moments of action shooting, a neat aesthetic, clear inspiration from previous gems in the industry, it proves itself to be a good contender for indie games that fall into this aesthetic. The developers did a great job on this, and I look forward to what they make next, as making games is difficult, and proves to have a whole lot of promise.
Even so, it does suffer from some flaws I personally found off-putting:
-The game has a struggle with balancing the slow-mo feature and its dive mechanic. Slow-mo is significantly too long imo, which can give the player an easy crutch for most of the game, which depreciates most of its shooting segments. You can play the game without it by unbinding the spacebar key, but you should be able to use every tool at your disposal with how unapologetic the AI can be with its shooting sometimes. The dive is also harder to read whenever you're focused on shooting others but that is focused in the next topic.
-The game is harder to read visibly. There are these red arrows that are used to indicate where enemies are are admittedly harder to see, especially when it comes to focusing on another enemy when you run out of slow-mo. in the surprisingly wide view the player gets, with its very open level design that might blend in with other parts. AKA a table of cocaine can look like cover when it actually has to be a box, confusing the player as to what they should hide behind. The enemies themselves can be farther enough away from the player due to this scope the player is given that it can distract them from stray bullets that can kill them if they aren't careful enough. The bullets themselves blend into the harsh partially neon background. Which also brings me to the shotgun. The shotguns muzzle flash is so powerful, you don't see where you bullets land, and your enemies using shotguns as well. Making it harder to dodge or see if you have a determined kill unless they fall over with blood on their chest. It also is harder to see whether or not you're still diving to avoid bullets while trying to focus on other people, which could have you stop your I-Frames and immediately die from stray bullets or an enemy you were paying attention to. This wouldn't be a problem if confusion wasn't the main problem with dying. I found myself more frustrated then I was whenever I played either of the previous games i mentioned at the start. This is what I found to be the most problematic part of this game.
-The story appears to just be killing people from a mob? It's a bit confusing as its ending does not emphasize any point except just "ending"? The cinematics are actually quite nice, and intriguing, but most of the in-game police scenes just feel a bit empty. The bar does appear to have value, as it does give some backstory and purpose behind what the main character is doing. But everything else feels light in story, which is fine when most of the game is just shooting people. Was hoping for something interesting to unfold though.
Despite some of the flaws I stated, the developers did an great job. I look forward to what they have next, and the vision is very clear. There was a lot of effort put into this it looks like, even if it does miss. Support indie developers.