Neon Inferno Review
Summary: eon Inferno is a short but valuable experience. The game has enough action and variety in its settings and enemies to keep the players entertained while not overstaying its welcome. It’s a good game for a short weekend with friends and family, especially if you are not a hardcore gamer and don’t mind its shallow economy and progression system.
4
A Short Nostalgic Experience
If you are an old school gamer like me, sometimes you miss a trip to nostalgia bay and look for a game that not only entertains you in new ways, but brings back good old memories as well. Neon Inferno, the latest title from Zenovia Interactive, is one such game.
The game is a side-scrolling arcade-style shooter set in a cyberpunk, futuristic New York. Angelo Morano and Mariana Vitti, the two protagonists, are the assassins of one of the Mafia families in the city. They are tasked with taking care of the enemies of the family, including the New York police force and other rival families. While the game tries really hard to turn the protagonists into relatable and developed characters, the story and characters remain underwhelming and act as just an excuse to experience the gameplay.
On the gameplay side, Neon Inferno has lots of good ideas. Players are equipped with a gun and a laser katana to deal with enemies both in close combat and at range. The katana can also deflect enemy gunfire and activate a bullet time effect while doing that. Dodging and jumping are also effective against some special enemy attacks that are not deflectable. What makes Neon Inferno special is its 2.5D action. Those of you who are old enough to play Dick Tracy on Sega Genesis, remember the cool machinegun feature of the game that was used to deal with enemies on the background of each level. Neon Inferno has similar features and players not only have to deal with enemies coming from the left and right sides of the screen, but also with those hiding in the background. This adds literal depth to the gameplay, especially in some mini-boss fights with two characters in the foreground and background.
What makes Neon Inferno special is its approach to gameplay; trying to be classic and innovative at the same time and succeeding in that. Like most modern games, players can go through the six levels of the game in a non-linear fashion, as they can choose their next contract. At the end of each level, there is a chance to visit the dealer and get new weapons as well. At the same time, the game retains a retro style by adding the option to enable CRT filters.
Perhaps the biggest downside to the game is its previously mentioned short six levels. This could be felt even more if the game is played in couch co-op mode, as two skilled gamers could go through the game even faster. But the enemy and level variety, including multiple vehicle-based levels -such as riding bikes or jet skis- makes a bit up for that. The economy of the game is also underdeveloped. Players are rewarded with money based on their performance at the end of each level, but when they try to buy new weapons, they should pay for them separately if the game is played in co-op and the prices of weapons is too high. While the money is shared, the weapons are not.
Neon Inferno is a short but valuable experience. The game has enough action and variety in its settings and enemies to keep the players entertained while not overstaying its welcome. It’s a good game for a short weekend with friends and family, especially if you are not a hardcore gamer and don’t mind its shallow economy and progression system.
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