![]() "We had 160 colours at first, then we had to add a few new for some darker tones. To successfully pull off a retro look, Easy Trigger limited its colour palette to evoke the Atari 2600. Those movies are rarely seen in daylight, so we wanted to capture that grit." "These dark movies from the '80s, most of them were black or set at night, like The Running Man, Cobra and Blade Runner. "Huntdown and plays like a '90s game, but the content, the world we are building feels like a sci-fi vision of the early 1980s or late '70s," Gustafsson tells us. ![]() Huntdown was created as a love letter to the games and films Easy Trigger grew up with, trying to capture the dark essence of classics like Escape from New York, Blade Runner, Robocop, Starship Troopers, and many, many more. Tommy Gustafsson, the co-founder of Swedish studio Easy Trigger, wore many different hats as director, working on the game's art, graphics, animation, story, music, sound design and voice direction. ĭevelopment started in 2016 with the team building a custom engine within Unity. However, Huntdown brings this genre roaring into the future with stunning, hand crafted visuals and animations, alongside smart tweaks to gameplay which add a tactical layer to combat: no easy task for a five-person games studio. On one hand, it's a retro-inspired 2D run-and-gun game in the vein of Contra, bringing to mind nostalgia-tinged visions of Arnold Schwarzenegger stomping around Los Angeles with shades and a shotgun. Unfortunately, Huntdown only supports local co-op – there is no online multiplayer – but I had a riotous time playing on my lonesome and, given its budget price tag, these few gripes are easily forgiven.Huntdown is a fascinating contradiction. It’s clear Easy Trigger has hopes Huntdown will be a hit on the speedrunning/streaming circuit – given its built-in timer, infinite lives, and strategic boss battles – but there’s plenty of entertainment on offer for those who just want a few hours of old fashioned arcade mayhem. Finally, the in-game text could also use another quick proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors… I can relate. I’ll also admit that as much as I allowed Huntdown‘s sleazy aesthetic to wash over me, my delicate sensibilities found a couple of its character stereotypes a tad questionable. These tasks are exactly the same for each area, which is a little disappointing. Huntdown‘s midnight run is an admittedly short but challenging one, with three characters, four difficulty levels, and a small selection of side-objectives to be completed. From its hair-bristling intro theme, to its smooth synth overtures and drum-pounding beats, Huntdown‘s music outfits the city with an evolving sound, as specifically attuned to each district as the gimmicked gang lurking within its doorways. More so, it is a vital part of making the chaos compelling. An eclectic blend reminiscent of John Carpenter, Vangelis, and The Running Man soundtrack, Huntdown‘s OST complements the overall atmosphere and the on-screen action. Huntdown features one of the very best scores I’ve heard this year. I’ve not played many games where a boss takes a phone call for the duration of his fight, or a biker’s Valley Girl sweetheart cheers him on incessantly, but Huntdown affords each of its tiny pixelated figures larger-than-life character. Aside from the mission briefs (in which the actor appears to be struggling with inflection), Huntdown‘s cast turns it to 11, the kind of performance where you leave everything in the recording booth, and the experience is better for it. To bring the occupants of these miserable locales to life, Huntdown is packed with balls-to-the-wall voice-acting – a cacophony of guttural insults, shouts, and blood-curdling screams from both the hunters and their prey. And while these bosses are undeniably challenging – sometimes very difficult – they rarely feel unfair, only necessitating the use of smarter tactics, faster reactions or, when all else fails, bigger guns. ![]() Whether battling teenage samurai sisters, mech-riding arms dealers, a high class model rocking a hologram projector, or a sky-high battle above rush-hour traffic, Huntdown boasts smart and creative firefights. Explosive effects and ballistic physics are visually spectacular and immensely gratifying, while every boss fight is a uniquely designed set-piece. Huntdown achieves this wanton sensation by displaying excellence at almost every turn. Huntdown takes the classic run ‘n’ gun action that has come before and infuses it with breathless new energy, fine-tuned to modern gaming standards, exuding a “controlled chaos” that permeates every single moment. ![]() Lightning-paced from first second to last, and punctuated with satisfying gunplay, a slick cover system, and devastating weaponry. What sets Huntdown apart from its contemporaries, and I cannot stress this enough, is its masterful sculpturing of explicit and outrageous Hollywood violence. ![]()
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