[ENG] God's Trigger - Review

(I think I don't have to tell this but - review contains my feelings and thoughts about the game, and after reading this - reader should decide if the game sounds cool or not really)

(Minor spoilers ahead, any major will be marked)

God's Trigger was produced by One More Level and released by Techland in the early 2018, it's an incredibly dynamic top-down shooter. There aren't many games like that out there or if there are, most of them fly under the radar. From the top of my head I can think of only 3 top-down shooters - Hotline Miami, RUINER and titular God's Trigger. The genre isn't really visited by AAA developers so it stays in world of Indie Games. Game was released on PCs, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and features both solo as well as co-op mode of playing (This review is based solely on playing the game by myself). Now, let's see what this title is all about...

(Gotta admit - cut-scenes in this game are made in a nice style)

Main characters of God's Trigger are an Angel Harry and a She-Devil Jude and... None of them on first glance resemble anything unusual, they both look like normal humans. We follow their story as they hunt down the infamous Four Riders of the Apocalypse and try to stop... Well - Apocalypse, before it happens and wipes out humanity down on Earth. But just like Harry and Jude, Riders don't look like nothing extraordinary - they camouflage as regular humans... Well, if you can call a drug-lord a regular human that is. 

(You will see this screen after each level - here you can see abilities, their upgrades, perks - we will talk about all of this!)

(Quick Note: You die on one hit, but enemies [for most part and except for bosses] also die in one hit so it's often high-risk high-reward playstyle)

You can change between main characters on the run, they both have their basic weapons - Harry has short-ranged, wide sword and Judy has long-ranged thin hook. Personally I much more liked Harry's weapon (but maybe because I was a total retard when using Judy's hook). Just as weapons, both characters have unique 'dodge' skills - Harry has a short dash that can break through weak walls and Judy has a short teleport that is capable of passing through certain obstacles. Each character has a separate XP meter (which means simply - if you killed more enemies in the level with Harry than with Judy, Harry will get much more XP). Leveling up - next to unlocking new skills - unlock a hidden bonuses on your dodge and basic weapon (For example - at a certain level, Harry's dash can literally blast the doors open and his sword can reflect bullets back at enemies).

There are many ways how to level up characters faster... Well, okay - many is a strong word, but there are certainly ways to level faster - from keeping your combo higher and higher (by simply killing enemies quickly enough) to stealth kills and executions. Yes, you heard me correctly - stealth kills. If you approach an enemy from behind, you can silently take him out but in effect you won't be able to pick up his weapons. About executions... Knock someone down when opening a door and press a prompt to execute him - you will get a lot more XP than from normal kill plus time will slow for a very brief moment.

As you level up the characters, you unlock various combat skills to help you in the heat of a battle or allow much more tactical gameplay. At the start, both characters already have one skills - Harry has a short-timed Invisibility and Judy has a Mind Control. Obviously you can't spam these skills like a grasshopper on caffeine - you have a meter next to character portrait. You simply fill it up by killing enemies and then you can use it for special skill or... 'auto-aim' - whenever you find or pick up a usable weapon (like a gun or throwing knife) you can mark enemies. When enemies are marked, your aim automatically sets at them when you shoot, but in return it eats a bit of your meter.

Boss Fights! - There are very few of them, and each one is truly unique, gives different challenge (although on one I almost lost my nerves and I consider myself a really calm person, but that's not the point) and... Why is everyone such a snitch here? Like - you beat the living hell outta boss, tell him that you demand information and they just tell you what you want like that - even though they kind of know they will 'die' one way or another. Except this small detail, I really loved boss designs and how they put your skills to the test.

(One of collectible types - one of several Helljoy Magazines... Well, at least it's cover)

The story is divided into few chapters each consisting of few levels - they are quite short and dynamic as you can finish the entire story in 5-6 hours but... It's not about the length, it's about the repetitiveness - after a level you are graded based on - How quickly you finished the level, how many times you have died, what was your longest combo and if you found all collectibles (although I think this is a bonus factor, like - the least important one). Depending on it all you are ranked from E to S which kind of encourages you to learn the levels and swish through them like a beast (I won't even mention an Arcade Mode here, available right from the start).

And since I already mentioned collectibles - we may talk briefly about them here as well - throughout the levels you can find Helljoy Magazines (for the bright ones - yes, this is a parody of a Playboy Magazine - and in Helljoy you can find practically the same things as in Playboy so...), Lost Souls that give you a nice chunk of XP when found and freed, Perks - these are probably the best, you can unlock hidden perks by finding them on levels and only one perk can be active on each character but... Resistance to explosions, ability to survive a shot, longer combo time etc. - I dunno, these seem pretty good in my opinion. There are also 'one-time' weapons scattered on the levels - enemies don't wield them, but they are strong as hell - Holy Grenades or Poison Darts are just two of several weapons in the game and... If you use them thoughtfully, they can be your savior in the most difficult level areas.

(Just look at these blood splatters - so red, so juicy, so satisfying!)

A short word about visual and sound design of God's Trigger - visuals are quite decent, although many things are... Sometimes hard to see due to lighting and things to use tend to blend with things to pick up, but... Except from that it's nice, although blood splatters... These are simply beautiful, it's probably one of the things in the game that is just satisfying - to slash through your foe in one precise hit and see blood splatter in deep red right in front of you (It's even better when you kill many enemies with one hit!). Levels are... Well, some are truly unique and aesthetics of levels change between chapters, but due to not so many levels they aren't that unique - not to be mean though, I only got bored once or maybe twice, except that level concepts are going on par with overall graphics. Sound design is pretty sick in my opinion, strong guitar riffs that accompany you through your journey of hunting down the Riders (as well as during fights with them) are so powerful that even when you die time after time, they pump your blood to keep going!

Although the game isn't bad, it has a fair share of issues too - from optimization - game likes to drop FPS from time to time and sometimes works just poorly (Okay, but maybe it was a issue with my PC, but considering the minimal requirements I shouldn't have problems running this thing clearly), bugs and glitches (Like... There are no bugless and glitchless games) - I had to restart a level good few times because I got stuck in what I called 'between life and death' - I was technically dead, but I could still move in an enclosed area and the last living enemy was still trying to bash me down and... I think this game is sometimes a tad bit more unfair than Hotline Miami but... Maybe it was just me trying to do everything too fast, but when I feel it's more viable to hide behind a door and wait for enemies to be slaughtered one by one rather than fluidly maneuvering between them and killing them one by one... It's weird.

Maybe it's not that big of a issue, but sometimes it's hard to tell what is a wall and what is... Well a simple object that you can still be killed through and mouse movement even on highest sensitivity feels kind of clunky and slow, but... Except everything above, the game is really decent...

God's Trigger is quite a decent take on Hotline Miami style of top-down shooter and a bit unusual biblical tale of Apocalypse, it seemed to be critically acclaimed by many people and I can really see why... Though I wouldn't give this game a really high grade, not because it's bad or anything - it's not perfect, but it's not total bullshit. People put their heart into a game and that can be easily seen, but the amount of bugs, errors and... Quite frankly stupid design choices can be a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, I encourage that everyone gives this game a try, especially since you can get it for literal cents (and even if not... Full price is 15€, it's still much less than a full AAA title or even some other Indie games) - it's short, it's dynamic, it's full of blood plus there's a chance you'll really like it and will try to crank up your scores to the max!

So go ahead and stop the Apocalypse with the help of a handsome Angel and a seductive she-devil!

Kind Regards,

Wing.