I've been trying to settle on what I like the most about this game, and I think I've settled on that it's honest. It's not often I play a game where I'm extremely confident this is the game that someone wanted to make. Not to go down that path because it ultimately doesn't matter, but after so many AAA's where it's so clear that everything has been focus tested to appeal to many people as possible, I love that Brush Burial: Gutter World is wholly its own, almost defiantly so.. Love it, or don't. Take it or leave it.
To be super clear, I love this game. There just are no other video games like it. Sneak around as a deceptively small devil creature(at least until you use the third person camera to see that they are actually VERY tall, and are just hunched over most of the time), assassinate the target, and get back out. If you've played the Hitman games, Brush Burial is reminiscent of it, but stripped down to its rough, dirty core.
Fennel, your playable Swamp Devil, is not Agent 47. They're fast and highly lethal against isolated targets, who you can and will fold like an omelet with just your tail and your thighs. But smarter tactics are required against groups, especially if any of the enemies in the level are carrying guns. A few stray bullets can and will send you back to the start of the level if you don't keep your eyes and ears peeled for the telltale crack of a rifle or pistol. You also don't fair much better in head-to-head combat against melee groups if you aren't careful.
I will be honest, Brush Burial is honest about everything, include its expectations of you. There are no mid-level saves. Though you can speedrun levels down to less than a minute once you've put the time in(As of this writing, I was able to complete the 'Chug Mart' contract in 0:45 seconds), initial clears will likely take you 15-20 minutes or more, and that's assuming you've put together a game plan to reach your target and get out. There are no signposts, no yellow paint. Go ahead and spend all the time you want blundering through the level to the best of your ability; there's even a medal for killing every hostile enemy in the level, if you're feeling particularly lethal. But there's also a smarter way, a better way: Learn the world and how it ticks.
While you can, indeed, snap the neck of anyone who looks at you funny, you can also talk to most NPCS if you aren't trespassing(which the game will tell you, so you'll know if you're somewhere you shouldn't). Need a key to the blue doors? You can sneak onto the roof, duck the guards relaxing on their break, go down the stairs, and steal one from behind the casher's desk...or you can ask the woman living in the junkyard if you can borrow hers. Need to get upstairs to reach your target at the top of the Megacomplex? Again, there is a brutal way through if that's what you prefer, but you can also buy a woman at the bar a drink, and she'll happily lend you hers. You may not be 'told' where to go, but you are certainly spoiled for ways to 'reach' that goal.
There are four levels, but do NOT let that dissuade you. As I said earlier, there are multiple ways to reach your target and get back out, along with medals for doing so. Along with the Domination medal(for killing every hostile NPC), there are also medals for completing the level without using any weapons, staying hidden, and not killing any friendly NPCs. 'Mastering' a level- getting all three of the previous medals in one go- is the ultimate goal, and it will take practice as you master the intricacies of each level. You can also replay levels to earn their medals all over again, which you can then spend on a, frankly, overwhelming amount of customization opens for Fennel.
That is assuming you are willing to meet what Brush Burial is asking of you. You will have to fumble through the inventory system for a while to fully understand it, including having only two weapons on your person at any given time(though you 'can' cheat and grab a third in your hands, if you don't mind dropping it if you need to use anything else). No mid point saves or checkpoints of any kind- if you spend 20 minutes trying to methodically kill every enemy and then die to the last enemy remaining, you are sent back to the beginning of the level to try again, losing everything you've acquired.
But is that even a bad thing? In older versions of the game, there would be splash screen that explained that there were no mid-levels save, and that ultimately, you are losing nothing but your time if you have the patience for it. "Go forth and die.", it said. And why not? Each time you die, you learn a little more, you know what to do next time. Did a guard shoot you? You know which guard has the gun now, so you'll kill him first. Die after getting that coveted golden key, leading to your target? Well, you know where that key is, and have a method for doing it. All you need to do is try again, and be more careful.
That is what ultimately makes Brush Burial one of a kind. It will push you, surely. It makes no qualms about what it is. It does not hold your hand after the initial tutorial. It gives you a goal: Kill your target and get out. It is up to you to decide how. It is challenging, absolutely, especially when you're learning a level for the first time. But it never felt impossible, either. It isn't Dark Souls, where you're expected to die again and again until you get gud; if anything, the game WANTS you to try again. Restarts almost immediate. The framerate was buttery smooth the entire time. Every enemy, even in groups, has some weakness you can exploit, some factor you can use to tilt the battle in your favor. You just need to try, die, and know.
Yes, you should play this. There's nothing like it. At least, until Bruiseworld.
