Not A Hero

Geoffrey Wright | February 10, 2016 | Review | No Comments

Quick action games are become a cornerstone in the current gaming world and there are a lot out there set a very high standard for this genre. They create the addictive nature of having to try again, straight away, without a break to complete that one level. The level may be frustrating and may be driving you to start a mass genocide but this genre of game has something about it that keeps you coming back.

The latest entry into this little genre of games is Not A Hero. As the title suggests you play as anti-heroes who are trying to clean up a city of crime for the time traveling BunnyLord who is currently running for mayor. This sounds like a crazy premise for a story and I trust that you are finding this hard to take in but believe me, this is the plot to the game.

The gameplay is very simple and easy to pick up but can take some skill to fully master. You control one of many characters (who are borderline profiling) in a 2D environment in which you run and gun. Different guns and special items can be picked up but your overall objective of the game as a whole is the same – un-life everyone on screen!

Each of the 24 levels has a main objective to complete before you can leave. The objective can range from total wipeout of enemies to collecting a briefcase. As well as the main objective there are three additional challenges which you can complete but they are usually a lot harder than your main task. However though if you complete them your end ranking will reflect that.

The whole experience felt a little chaotic. In between dodging, jumping and firing I found myself dying a lot due to the God damn reloading not being auto! Learning to reload manually was like learning to walk again as it is a common feature in modern gaming but what made it slightly worse is how unforgiving the game can be. The levels are fast and frantic that offer no check points during the levels. Some are short but some are really long with cutscenes that cannot be skipped. not A Hero is the hipster of the gaming world. From its looks to the gameplay it oozes old school-ness.

Gamers who like a good challenge will have a lot of fun here but sometimes it feels like a chore to play. I did enjoy my time with it and was going for the extra objectives but after a few levels in I just started to complete the main objective as quickly as possible. This was not because I just wanted the experience to be over, it is just how the game needs to play. You need to know your objective and a rough idea of how you are going to do it. All the stuff in the middle you just make up along the ride.

Not A Hero is not perfect and can be quite frustrating. Every level feels like chaos and I can guarantee that any plan you had will go out the windows as soon as you start playing!

Chaos aside, it plays very well and it is entertaining. Running through levels gunning enemies down, causing pixilated explosions and jumping through windows makes it feel like an action movie from the 80s. If anything from this statement excites you even a little then you will find great pleasure in Not A Hero.