fantastic<\/em>. Shooting, dodging, cycling weapons, it all feels great. You can do just about everything in the game to the rhythm of each level\u2019s song, and you get bonus points, as well as bonus damage, for keeping in time to the music.<\/p>\nAll of the music has a distinct drum beat that is easy to keep track of while in the heat of battle, and each level features a guest vocalist from some pretty famous bands, such as Trivium and System of a Down. The songs start with basic drum beats, adding layers of vocals, guitars, and so on as your combo meter goes up. It\u2019s a really nice touch, and the implementation is seamless. The music is the real star, as the threadbare narrative is tucked into bland cutscenes that bookend each level.<\/p>\n
The cracks start to show up when you look beyond the core gameplay. The title doesn\u2019t do anything poorly per se, but everything comes across as barebones. The environments across all eight levels blur together and have similar colour grading with uninteresting level design. Each level amounts to a series of arenas connected by hallways ending in a boss, and they do little in the way to encourage creative or differing combat approaches. You can successfully beat the game with solely the shotgun if you so choose.<\/p>\n
The encounter design practically stops evolving after the second level, only occasionally introducing variations of enemies thereafter. Many of the enemies aren\u2019t terribly fun to fight, which is another big problem. As fun as the guns may be to use \u2014 every weapon is satisfying, and a blast to play around with \u2014 everything starts to stale quickly. Completing torments \u2014 mini-dungeons that unlock and upgrade perks \u2014 add some variety to the affair, but these are brief distractions at best. You can 100 per cent the game in about 6-7 hours, too, making the $39.99 price tag astonishingly steep.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, you have a game with one masterfully designed core element \u2014 the rhythm gunplay \u2014 surrounded by a number of elements that, while not terrible, are mediocre at best.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n