What if it’s Max Payne but shoots vampires in Slo-Mo instead?

And honestly, El Paso, Elsewhere, is close to being better than the original.

It is expected to be released in 2023. at the end, El Paso, Elsewhere Strange Scaffold, whose previous games included Hypnospace Outlaw, a Strand-How (?), An alien airport currently run by dogs (such a name, as well as an apt description), and lately Sunshine Shufflewhich got the developer in a bit of trouble with Nintendo for making jokes about children’s gaming (as they do). El Paso, Elsewhere also follows El Paso, a nightmare, a first-person shooter with similar retro vibes. But instead of aiming for the head-mounted perspectives and center-stage guns of yesteryear, El Paso, Elsewhere is a gritty shooter with first-story and gameplay vibes from Max Payne, meaning you can slow down time to a crawl by increasing your reaction time to increase your aim and take out multiple enemies at once. But this time, you’re looking for hideous vampires, not mobs. Although six in one, really.

My review El Paso, Elsewhere I got through the first four chapters of the game and damn, was I sad when it stopped. Not only did it spark my nostalgic love for the first one, Max Payne did so with some really great additions to this formula and a killer hip-hop soundtrack that kept me pumped for the entire ride.

In El Paso, Elsewhere, you battle vampires and other hellish manifestations in a seedy, otherworldly motel. And in doing so, El Paso, Elsewhere improves one of the shortcomings so far of Max Payne and many other shooters that require high bullet performance but take place in otherwise realistic conditions.

Game Design Bullet Time

How fun, Max Payne! One problem I’ve always had was that since your enemies are just mobsters and well-armed people, every gun battle is more or less the same—fun as a loop, lacking variety. Also, the number of bullets you spit out weakens the realistic premise to some degree.

That’s not a problem in El Paso or elsewhere. Since bad guys are bad things that go bump in the night, I’m more than happy to suspend my disbelief at how many bullets it takes to take these things down. It costs Max Paynefantasy a two-way exchange of bullets wafting through a slow-moving atmosphere, but the trade-off is that it makes gunfights much more interesting, with so far a greater variety of enemy types.

The aesthetic change to the paranormal enemies makes an immediate difference. Just instead of having more interesting-looking enemies come at you, Max Payneendless hordes of Buddies with GunsTM break up the monotony. But that’s not all. Max Payne takes place in Party City during the Halloween season.

Gif: Strange Scaffolding / Kotaku

With enemies with different types of attacks, you have to react differently to use up your bullet time in a variety of ways, whether it’s dodging werewolves charging at you, vampire ghosts bursting out from behind crates, or other unworldly things. which shoot large purple orbs at you, giving the game a sense of verticality that isn’t always there, Max Payne. The pace of the game becomes more varied; I’m not just running from room to room trading fire with another nameless dude shooting me with a gun.

Gif: Strange Scaffolding / Kotaku

Of course, Max PayneThe task of destroying the mob by dozens and dozens and dozens (or, in the case of Max Payne, by dozens and dozens, dozens and dozens…) is fun, but it’s a breath of fresh air to start something new.

Also, I never felt overwhelmed. In this review, El Paso, Elsewhere managed to strike a good balance between giving the player the power to slow down time and unload tons of bullets while also making me pay for what I overindulged in, be it bullets, time-stopping powers, or, yes, painkillers. .

Gif: Strange Scaffolding / Kotaku

I found that I would run out of ammo and bullet timer if I wasn’t careful, meaning that even though I had an advantage against the hordes of evil creatures coming my way, I had to be strategic. Do I use bullet time to be more accurate? Or do I use it to understand the environment and determine how big a threat I’m facing? I loved that delicate balance and it kept the game alive beyond the initial “oh, nostalgia!” Let’s slow down time” feeling I immediately felt. Mastering my powers against constant threats was a rush I really wanted to continue once the review ended.

El Paso and Elsewhere are also very faithful to the tone of the story, Max Payne. As you take painkillers to heal yourself, the protagonist ponders his waning sense of sanity as he continues to take drug after drug to survive. Continues the main character’s narrative, reflecting Max Payne’s own speaking and storytelling style. And maybe because it’s about vampires, it’s not as corny as the original Max Payne, who feels somewhat behind. And when you enter new areas, you’re greeted with that awesome bass drum pulse and a big title screen in bold white letters. Control.

Screenshot: Strange Scaffold/Kotaku

While some environments did have me running around a bit,, guessing where I was supposed to go, driving through this preview was really fun,, and I was pretty confused when I got to the end of the preview.

And you know, I can talk all day about how I think the variety of enemies mixes things up nicely, or how the balance of resource management seems good, but I feel like I don’t want to help the console? It’s a feeling I love about the game.

El Paso, Elsewhere Expected later this year in 2023 for PC and Xbox.