Leaning into the 90s cyberpunk chaos, with fists and guns
Imagine yourself in a not so distant future. I’m there, I’m mad, and I have a mullet. I’m Jack, a moderator recruited into basically this Twitch stream type of Bloodsport TV show. I’m moderating these billionaires and millionaires that inhabit these robotic bodies and somehow I only have 10 seconds to live. Oops! The game centers around being able to extend that life, second by second, by killing those around us as fast as possible.
It sounds tough, but once we get our hands on the game it becomes a manageable experience that’s part parkour and all guns blazing. We gain precious seconds when we entertain the spectators, and are able to track our kills and lifeline via a device we carry in our left hand. It’s connected to our bloodstream, so every time we take down one of the robot guys it gives us another second or two seconds or three seconds depending on how we accomplish it.
The game’s awesome. It’s fully embraces the mid 90s aesthetic of properties like Akira and Macross, heavy on the anime. The stages are randomized, but I don’t want to call this a roguelike — there are rooms and they’re randomized and we get randomized power ups (of which we can equip three at a time per level) but that’s the extent of the roguelike type of things. There’s no synergy or anything like that, but at least it makes each run a more fresh experience.
MadJack is adrenaline fueled. We can utilize all types of attacks, like punches and point-blank shots and kicking people into fans to shred them. The stages usually last about a minute, especially because we’re just sprinting through each one, kicking dudes and shooting them in the head and slicing them if we have a katana.
Anyway, it’s great. It’s fully frenetic first person shooter action that’s easy to pick up. Mullet MadJack is a love letter to the high speed fps genre and neon 90s anime, and I’m all for it.
This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. It first appeared on The SideQuest LIVE on June 12, 2024. Images and video courtesy the publisher.
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