losers........ scroll away. u cant HANDEL how cool this game is....
Hypnospace Outlaw is one of my favorite indie games of all time (Slay the Spire is also up there, these two are the peak for me). When I found out there was a sequel I was hyped. It only took my brain… a little under a year to actually play it XD (I gave Hypnospace another playthrough a few days ago cause I never got 100% or did the Plus content so that helped). But giving me more hypnospace universe (the trennisverse, as I’ve heard) goodness in the form of a game created, in character, by Zane? Fucking Outstanding. I’ve never really been a boomer shooter guy, so this was like… technically my first one played? I had a blast the whole way through, regardless.
Again, never actually played with my own two hands a boomer shooter before, but of course I’ve watched Doom gameplay, I’ve played more modern FPSs. I knew what I was getting myself into, and it felt super easy to maneuver. The weapons were all really fun, and I actually got to feel like each one had its own use, although the Glass Blasta and the Rapid Mutilator were my personal favorites, for power and mobility reasons alike. I loved the map design, which wasn’t constant enemies and perpetual combat like I was expecting. There was a lot of downtime that let me explore, see the details put into everything, and to look for secrets. That was my favorite part of the gameplay for sure, although I’m sure for some people they might not like those slower parts and how hard some of the secrets were to find. I know I struggled a bit on some, but I still liked it. I played on the normal difficulty, which felt like it gave me enough of a challenge and enough time to breathe. It was the perfect mix.
The theming of the game was FUCKING perfect. Hypnospace crushed it with the vibe of early internet forums, and Zane was spot on for a stupid edgy 15 year old of the time. They already mastered the execution, and they got to expand on it further here. The misspellings, the nu metal soundtrack, the graphics, the toilet humor and crude but just innocent enough dialogue, it all gets the vibe exactly correct. Hell, even in real life, with Zane being the irl creator of the game, his twitter, and the way that he advertises his game is perfect. If you don’t know what you’re getting into, you’re gonna think this game is stupid, and I know this cause I’ve seen quite a few people just not understand what the bit is, and the bit is 50% of the enjoyment of the game. I love it, though. Can’t wait for more of this energy in the future.
Growing up in the 2000s with younger parents, the general nu metal genre and anything in that era is what I listened to growing up, so this shit is NOSTALGIC for me. I love every song in the game, I love how dirty and rancid it sounds, they literally already got it perfect in Hypnospace, and Slayers X just gives me even more of what I already love. When you’re not in combat and you’re just walking around, the rock takes a backside for this creepy atmospheric noise which really makes the levels, showing the dingy nature and the (literal) shit. The bonus levels have different soundtracks that get that Doom level sound perfect, which I really appreciated as well.
I LOVE how this game’s cast feels. The in universe explanations for everything really enhances it. Zane is still that same immature child he was years ago, the game is full of his ego, but you can see in his like, dev dialogue, that he has in fact aged and mellowed out, which is really sweet and saddening to see. The same kid who made bullying pages is now a single dad who clearly loves his kid even if he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, and is dealing with a lot of hardships in life. Like the original game, it’s a surface of humor with a really deep inside. You get more of his character by seeing the rest of the cast. Mevin is creepy, obviously evil, definitely not inspired by anyone irl, and Zane’s way of physically lashing out at his struggles. Steffanie literally sounds like there’s 0 effort being put into her lines, and combined with the secret with Adam, the person that helped Zane code the game, showing annoyance yet still helping him shows that this dude is pathetic but… there’s still something in him that makes people want to help him anyways. Mikey is also in on this, putting WAY more effort than anyone would ever need to in this game, but you can tell because of that that there’s just something ABOUT Zane that people can’t help but want to push him forward for some reason. Again, it’s heartwarming and sad, and I love that.
I don’t really know what else to say that I haven’t already said; I love this game. It gives me more of what I loved out of Hypnospace, although hyperspecified to Zane (not complaining)
I DO HAVE TO ADMIT THOUGH, I HAVE A SERIOUS BIAS CAUSE ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS HELPED MAKE IT AND I LOVE TO SEE HER WORK, SHE MADE SOME OF THE LEVELS AND SOME OF THE SOUNDTRACK AND SHE’S SUPER COOL AND AWESOME AND SKILLED SHOUTOUTS TO LINDA YOU’RE THE BEST
I got a little easter egg in the game which is super cool :) It warms my heart to see my name lead into a fuckin saw chamber (that has literally stopped every streamer I’ve ever seen play that level in their tracks, it’s hilarious)
sorry if I’m breaking an nda you can kill me if you need
Anyways, with that aside;
10/10. BADASS GAME MADE BY THE AWESOMEST DUDE AROUND…. HELL BE RICH AND FAMOUS FOR SURE AND GET ALL THE GIRLS (LIKE HE DOESNT ALREADY BWL)