Followers of unconventional narrative-driven video games could also be acquainted with Hypnospace Outlaw, a cool mission from a number of years in the past that aimed to simulate an alternate tackle the social atmosphere of the late ’90s web. Although Hypnospace Outlaw will likely be receiving a correct sequel with the upcoming Dreamsettler, Tendershoot determined to present ready gamers a extra unconventional spin-off launch that takes issues in a a lot totally different course. Dubbed Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer, this classic-style boomer shooter launched on PC and Xbox in 2023 and kind of bears some narrative connections to Hypnospace Outlaw. It’s a good recreation in its personal proper, and regardless that it didn’t handle to ‘wow’ us, we’d nonetheless counsel you give it a glance.
The story of Slayers X is quite fascinating, as there are basically two ranges to it. On the primary, you could have the premise: that is the in-universe recreation that Zane Lofton from Hypnospace Outlaw referenced. He basically designed this with the assistance of a buddy, so the expertise you’re in the end getting with Slayers X is one thing an immature, attractive teenager would make if he was given free rein to specific himself. This results in the second narrative stage, the ‘in-game’ plot. You play the position of “Huge Z”, an X-Slayer in-training who’s pressured into motion when the monstrous Psyko Sindikate assaults his city, kills each his mother and mentor, and kidnaps one in all his fellow X-Slayers. He thus units out on a quest for revenge, blowing up a complete lot of baddies alongside the way in which as he fights to free his buddy.
![Slayers X Review - Screenshot 2 of 4](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147898/900x.jpg)
There’s an absurdly irreverent and juvenile type of humor continuously on show right here that (initially anyway) could be fairly charming. The sheer ridiculousness of your protagonist calling his foes “turd holes” or shouting “Your dad is silly” as he blasts them right into a tremendous purple mist provides rather a lot to the expertise at first, however this type of comedy will get outdated fairly quick. After that time, it begins to have the identical vitality as your mid-30s coworker who brags between smoke breaks about how he nonetheless ‘will get away with’ being invited by teenagers to the native highschool promenade. In small doses, gross-out, infantile humor could be humorous, however there comes a degree the place it feels prefer it’s purely going for shock worth and begins being plain gross.
Divisive gags apart, Slayers X nonetheless has the bones of a stable, if unspectacular, boomer shooter. You roam by a short marketing campaign that duties you with exploring self-contained, maze-like ranges which are suffering from enemies, well being and ammo pickups, and secret rooms to find. Alongside the way in which, you must handle dwindling assets, successfully use cowl, and ensure you’re utilizing the best device for the job.
All of the anticipated staples of a various gun arsenal are current and accounted for, and also you’ll must determine on the fly whether or not the scenario requires the only goal energy of the Glass Blasta (shotgun) or one thing extra like the gang management capabilities of the Sludge Launcher (grenade launcher). There’s a good lineup of weapons on supply right here, neatly strolling that line of constructing you’re feeling like you could have loads of choices with none weapon overlapping an excessive amount of into one other’s area of interest.
![Slayers X Review - Screenshot 3 of 4](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147900/900x.jpg)
Ranges are satisfying to discover and motion feels sufficiently tight, however maybe the best shortcoming of Slayers X is that it simply seems like one other bog-standard shooter. Apart from the irreverent early-2000s humor, Slayers X lacks that all-important ‘X issue’ to assist it stand out from the pack. Trend Police Squad had the advantage of its distinctive and flamboyant premise. Ion Fury has the excellence of being a real new title constructed on the well-known Construct Engine. Quake is without doubt one of the best video games ever made and was instrumental in setting the usual of what a 3D shooter may very well be. What does Slayers X have? Poop jokes. If all you’re on the lookout for is an pleasant new boomer shooter on your Change, Slayers X isn’t essentially a unhealthy selection—the difficulty is just that there’s no scarcity of video games you can play as a substitute that do the identical issues, however higher.
And although this can be a little bit of a nitpick, Slayers X feels prefer it’s additionally sorely in want of some gyro controls to assist out with aiming. This drawback isn’t distinctive to this recreation, however the journey on the Change Pleasure-Con sticks merely doesn’t really feel enough for a recreation that calls for this stage of precision and fast reactions. Enjoying in docked mode with a Professional Controller is a greater expertise, however this assumes that gamers have a Professional Controller, and even then, movement controls would supply a superior expertise. To reiterate our earlier level, different style entries have finished this higher on Change by together with movement controls, and their omission right here makes Slayers X really feel that a lot lesser of an expertise.
![Slayers X Review - Screenshot 4 of 4](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/147890/900x.jpg)
Fortuitously, the visuals are as much as par—Slayers X seems like a real artifact from the period. Although we’d’ve preferred to see somewhat extra biome variety (a budget flats and sewers are likely to mix collectively after some time), it’s nonetheless good to see the charming juxtaposition between the easy 3D environments and the detailed 2D sprites. Every thing runs at a clean body fee and particular point out must be made in regards to the handful of FMV cutscenes, too; they’ve a charmingly low-res and low-cost manufacturing high quality to them which feels genuine with out being overly tacky.
Conclusion
Slayers X is an pleasant however fundamental entry within the boomer shooter style that manages to fulfill with out excelling in anyone space. The degrees are enjoyable to discover, the gunplay feels good, and the gags could be amusing in small doses. Even so, little issues just like the more and more grating humorousness and lack of gyro controls drag this one down a bit, whereas the core gameplay feels just a bit too vanilla. We’d give Slayers X a advice, however with the caveat that you must in all probability first play by a number of different old-school shooters earlier than getting round to this one. It is fairly first rate, however this isn’t a top-shelf instance of the style.