[Review] The Hong Kong Massacre - Nintendo Switch

Developed By: VRESKI
Published By: Untold Tales
Categories: Twinstick Shooter
Release Date: 12.26.20

Lets get this out of the way immediately. The Hong Kong Massacre is an absolutely stunning looking game. It has a strong, striking look to it. The lighting and shading is phenomenal. A fitting, hyped up soundtrack fills the game as well, truly getting you in the mood and setting the feel the game want. However, this doesn’t mean anything at all if the game isn’t very fun.

Unfortunately, The Hong Kong Massacre is not a particularly fun game. It has it’s moments of brilliance, but often feels like the fun factor wasn’t the first thing on the developer’s minds. We have a twin stick shooter here, you have your guns and a stage full of targets. Kill them all to win. You run out of ammo and it’s up to you to find more. This is done by picking up the guns of the ones you’ve slain. Starting with just pistols, you’ll find shotguns, SMGs, rifles, etc… I am on board so far. Each stage has a set of challenges, you complete them and you can then get the rewards to exchange for new default guns or upgrades. Doing these challenges are usually being accurate, doing a stage quickly, or not using a mechanic the game almost feels like it demands at times, the slow down move.

This isn’t an easy game, even on the lowest difficulty. Maybe it’s a control issue, maybe it’s a user issue, but I never felt like the aiming was smooth or responsive enough. You always feel slow and unresponsive, while enemies will shoot you on sight with pinpoint accuracy. One hit kills. You die and you start the entire stage over. Stages are short at the very least. You can roll or dive out of the way of bullets, but you’re left vulnerable the moment you land. Now, all together this wouldn’t seem too bad, but bullets are very hard to see, either being small or blending in. You won’t see what shot you half the time.

Call me a casual, but I just did not enjoy myself majority of the time. Can I say just giving the option of taking more than one hit to make up for some of the flaws would change my opinion of the game.