El Paso, Elsewhere

I don't think I have ever liked a shooter this much. El Paso is an addictive, arcadey, gun blazing Max Payne like with a wayyy better story and atmosphere. I'm not sure what more to say. The script is so good that I hope the feature film rumors are true. This game is really fun.

[h1]"It was a good day."[/h1] A while ago, there used to be a demo. I tried it. I liked it. It had something going on and wore its inspirations on a sleeve. "Can't wait", I thought to myself. Time went on. It came out. But hands got full. Always happens. I made a note to come back. Sometime, not now. Skip to summer o' 26. Hours of game shows pour at once. Imagine trying to keep up with all of them. Steam opened a page with all the announcements. Thanks, Steam. What's that? El Paso, Elsewhere 2? Oh well. [b]The time has come.[/b] El Paso, Elsewhere is awesome. Seriously, the thought of it existing has been lurking somewhere in my mind for a couple of years. Like it was tailored to my preferences - I adore Max Payne, I dig weird visuals and... I don't really like rap? Can't stand it, most of the time. But here's the catch. It f*cking clicked [b]HARD[/b]. Barely remembering playing the demo and trusting my gut entirely, I grabbed El Paso with the album. I don't regret it. The grimey, whisperey flows layered upon dark synth-infused tracks set proper dynamics and make levels memorable. The original score is a great runner up that rarely leaves the player in silence. When it [i]does[/i], though, be sure this silence is gonna be used to its fullest. For the creeps, usually. Ok, so it's one of those "awesome music albums that come with a nice free game". But is the game itself really that nice? Well, yeah. On the surface, it's a Max Payne-inspired third person shooter with bullet time. Except, you shoot vampires. And werewolves. And angels. All to stop your "evil ex" from something. Yeah, at first that was a head-scratcher. But thankfully, the plot thickens and gets engaging enough for me to close the game teary-eyed at some points. Though, maybe I wasn't blinking enough. As you go deeper, you discover more about the protagonist, his past love and the ever-consuming void. A gripping backdrop that keeps you going at times when you start feeling El Paso became too repetitive. Like, one time I got gut-punched by a particular cutscene. These really shake things up a little exactly when it's needed. The visuals are fantastic. Otherwordly, eye-catching, albeit not diverse enough on some stretches of levels. Who could've known that a random motel in Texas can hold 50 floors below? Overall, I loved it. El Paso, Elsewhere is a challenging, entertaining and even profound experience that probably won't leave you indifferent, providing a whole spectrum of emotions - chills, occasional laughs, depression, all sprinkled with bursts of righteous anger. But mostly depression.