Putting the word mullet into the title of your game is an excellent way to make me stand up and take notice. Not because I try to be ahead of the curve on the latest recurring hairstyles, but because I love 80’s wrestling. MULLET MADJACK is the 80’s wrestling of video games. Larger than life, bursting with charisma and in your face from minute one.
STORY
Developer Hammer95 may have been primarily focused on the gameplay, but that doesn’t mean they completely ignored the narrative. The setup is kept rather simple, allowing it to steer you from level to level without ever interrupting the flow. Set in 2095, robot billionaires reign supreme, feeding a superbeing AI with dopamine, which is described as the lifeblood of humans. Viewers of this deranged game show aid this cause by dispatching more robots to help.
Meanwhile our mulleted protagonist Jack not only aims to wreck shop on the robot army, but also save the princess at the top of the tower. Yes, a princess in a tower – that old chestnut. One of the things I liked most about the game, was the humour it injected at every turn. The ‘princess’ is an influencer, and the constant dopamine requirement is a completely accurate, and scathing commentary on the state of today’s youth.
GAMEPLAY
This is where MULLET MADJACK really shines. Capturing the spirit of old-school shooters, the gameplay is all based around speed and fluidity. On the default difficulty, you begin each floor with 10 seconds on the clock and only a small amount of health. Each kill buys you back a few seconds, so you have no option but continue pushing forward as quickly as possible.
You’ll have various different guns and melee weapons at your disposal, allowing you to tailor your approach. However, I found the most useful attack to be the game to be the slide kick. In open combat, these kicks are only strong enough to stagger your enemy back, but there are so many environmental objects that recoiling them back into one results in an instant death. You can also volley enemies into health vending machines, which allows you to regenerate some life while tearing through the opposition.
The game is also ever evolving. Each procedurally generated floor ends with a choice of three upgrades. These vary from new weapons, to various buffs like the first shot after a reload dealing double damage, slow motion, the next boss having 10% less health and much more.
Each chapter tasks you with wading through ten floors worth of enemies, culminating with a boss. Die and you start back at floor one of that particular chapter, minus any upgrades you obtained during your run. It’s a challenging game and you will no doubt die pretty frequently. But I found a lot of fun in getting better each run and figuring out which upgrades worked best for me. If you are really struggling you can lower the difficulty, with easy mode upping your start time to fifteen seconds. There is also an option for no timer if you don’t like being against the clock, but don’t think this is a walk in the park either, as your health is still very limited.
PRESENTATION
Visually MULLET MADJACK presents itself in an anime style. The game operates in a 3D space, despite the enemies actually being 2D cut-outs. Regardless though, it manages to nail the gore factor, with blood spilling after every kill. The vibrant, futuristic design of the world works really well alongside the fast-paced action and arcade music. Speaking of the soundtrack, it features 29 exclusive tracks by Fernando Pepe and Mateus Polati, with a guest appearance by IcarusLives2.
EVOLUTION
The game never becomes stale or predictable. This is due to many reasons. The high octane nature of the gameplay, the procedural generation, but also the way Hammer95 evolves the mechanics. Initially you are very much ‘boots on the ground’ but as things progress you’ll be jumping to avoid acid, sliding, wall-running and more. Each new wrinkle is introduced at regular intervals, so it never feels overwhelming.
VALUE
While the game can be completed in 2-3 hours if you are a complete ninja. You are more than likely going to have to improve your skills to overcome some of the encounters throughout the game. This adds longevity, as does the constant desire to improve and pull off the perfect run. MULLET MADJACK isn’t a game where you finish it, uninstall and move on. If you are skilled enough to roll the credits you’ll likely find yourself hopping straight back in for another fix. When you factor in all that, against a £16.95 price tag, the game is an absolute steal!
VERDICT
MULLET MADJACK is a stylish, funny and addictive shooter that brings loads of fresh ideas to the table. When you get into a rhythm, I can honestly say that few FPS games have felt this good. I am stubbornly against using mouse and keyboard for gaming, but here, knowing I could up my headshot ratio? I broke my rule. That’s how special this title is.
-Craig