Rating: 4.5/5
Keeping this one short because as they say: “One hath no need to speak more of greatness.” To put it simply, this game is GTA 5 if it were a 2.5D top-down metroidvania-ish semi-sandbox game with a lower budget…And indie production still made it work.
Set in an absurd dystopian city whose economy is powered by burgers and chicken nuggets, the player, with a variety of classes of characters to choose from, plays as a rebel member climbing up the societal ladder to take over the established government—in brutal hostility or with a democratic vote. Each game puts the player at the bottom level of the city and as they venture up(through the slums, industrial, park, uptown, downtown, and finally mayor village) new threats, allies, and mechanics appear that gradually gives the player more resources to fight the ever increasing threat of security bots, militants, cannibals, and gangsters; all the while the player pickup new weapons, tools, and/or abilities as they upgrade(both metaphorically and literally) their character.
In each floor, the player needs to complete 3 missions on each floor(each with procedurally generated layouts) and 3 floors for each of the levels that determines the general theme for the floors. On the last level, the player then faces the mayor and has to either forcefully commandeer his power by fighting through his guards, or request for an election and attempt to win with the good will that the player has gathered in the run. Sounds simple, because it is, but it is the absurd level of freedom that Matt Dabrowski, the developer, has given to the player that elevates the game beyond a 2.5D GTA 5 clone.
I cannot express how many possible solutions are there to each mission for the player to explore: You can run in and shoot down everyone, you can stealthily hide in a cardboard box and sneak your way to a target, or you can blow up everything with a time bomb while shooting guns in a cardboard box as the gas vents spew poison into the room. This combined with the procedural interactions between NPCs and randomized layout of levels creates a vast ecosystem that the player takes part in, and fully immerses them in a world that feels fresh in each player through. This is also not to mention the 32 different classes that, for the most part, each bring their own playstyle suited for different players. When that is added to the mix, there is simply too much replayable fun to be had in this game.
An excellent demonstration of creativity and ingenuous design of gameplay within the 2.5D restriction.