Today at EGX I got to play Easy Trigger Games’ upcoming title Huntdown. It is a 2d arcade style shoot ’em up that wears its influences on its sleeve. Absolutely nailing that 80’s VHS aesthetic, it has elements of films and games like The Warriors, Robocop VS Terminator & Metal Slug to name but a few. In Huntdown You play as either one of two bounty hunters out to take down gangs and you achieve this by blasting your way through one end of the level to the other with as more guns than you can point a…er, gun at. You can only carry one main weapon at a time and when the ammo runs out you switch back to your pistol which has infinite ammo, but this isn’t really an issue as the guns in the game are plentiful and you will often find yourself spoilt for choice. Do you swap your sub-machine gun for a shotgun, or will you pick up that big hefty machine gun that resembles the smart gun from Aliens?
The guns are very satisfying to use
The action in Huntdown is fast paced and the enemies are many, blasting you from all over the place, it really does bring back that old school difficulty level of similar games back in the Megadrive/SNES era. There are many gangs to hunt down in Huntdown (guffaw!) but in the demo, I got to play there were 2 gangs on offer; The Hoodlum Dolls and The Misconducts. The former are your typical 80’s VHS punk gang bangers with their spiky leather and big colorful mohawks. The latter takes the form of a crazed ice hockey team, this is where the similarities with The Warriors comes into play, as each gang has its own style and personality. Every gang also has a boss which is the bounty you are there to collect, The Hoodlum Dolls boss was a giant fat dude that lobbed explosive barrels at me. Unfortunately I never got to see the boss of The Misconducts because I died before I could get to him, I did, however, catch a glimpse of him as he escaped in a flying car. As mentioned above the graphics a nostalgic throwback to the old school 16-bit games I loved as a child but running at a tasty 60fps.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with Huntdown, I played it co-op with a lady who was showing off the game. We made a good team of bounty hunters covering each others back and reviving each other before we were eventually overwhelmed. The co-op is limited to local play unfortunately, I would have loved to play this with friends online but I will have just as much fun with a mate on the couch. Local co-op doesn’t split the screen either which is a welcome bonus. So far there is no solid release date so watch this space to find out when this gem of an old school shooter will be available.
Huntdown will be available for Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch & PC
