Hellscreen

I actually didn’t want to leave a negative review, but since I found out that the game didn’t sell well, which led the developer to eventually abandon the project, I felt I should share my thoughts. First, the innovative aspect of the game is the rearview mirror shooting mechanic, which clearly draws inspiration from reversing a car. But to be honest, it overly challenges players’ operational habits. Combined with the game’s visual style, it feels quite uncomfortable to play. Second, the levels within the maps lack distinct identification. Due to the excessive pursuit of stylization and monotony in many scenes of the same level, average players find it difficult to form a mental map of the routes and locations. Lastly, the rearview mirror in the game has a blur filter applied, which causes nausea after prolonged use. I suggest removing this blur filter from the rearview mirror and allowing players to switch screens. What do I mean? The full version should allow players to use the entire screen to display either the front view or the rear view, switching by pressing Shift. Personally, I think for the game to sell well, it must first feel comfortable for players to move around and look at. Unfortunately, the game in its current state doesn’t achieve that. At its core, the front and rearview mirrors are designed to allow players to see two different visual perspectives fused within the same space—somewhat akin to the thrill of exploring both the real world and the spirit world simultaneously, much like what was done in The Medium. This was a well-intentioned concept from the start.However, in execution, it feels awkward for players to learn. If players are unwilling to learn, there’s nothing you can do. So, it’s crucial to lower the operational barrier and optimize the visual presentation. Even adding a visual options menu would help. Some of the game’s shortcomings, in my opinion, stem from the developer’s pursuit of stylistic expression, which is why I didn’t want to leave a negative review a long time ago. I simply refunded the game and let it sit on my wishlist. But now that the project has truly been abandoned due to poor sales, I felt I had to speak up. Finally, whether the developer continues making games or not, I wish them all the best on their journey ahead. I used a translator to leave this comment, hope this helps.

I'm leaving a thumbs up because i can see the potential of this game after the developer fixes and balances a few things. But i recommend waiting until that happens. I went into this game very excited and i was having fun to begin with because i really enjoy the visual and audio design but the gameplay engagement just isn't there for me. It needs to be cranked up a few notches before i can see any point with engaging in combat because as it stands right now; you can just run passed everything and still progress to the final stage. It needs to lean more towards being an action-fps instead of this weird middle-ground of a shooter mixed with a collect-a-thon. I wanna see more combat engagement in the form of; - Regular mini bosses - Lock-down rooms where you'll need to fight of waves and waves of enemies in order to get an item etc - An "enemies remaining" counter or something to help give the combat a reason - More incentive to use the rear-view mirror which is incredibly cool - An overall overhaul of the enemy difficulty and number - More of a reason to use you COMPLETE arsenal (the shotty is extremely busted rn lol) etc etc There are a couple bugs here and there but nothing i feel is worth mentioning. Hellscreeen still shows lots of promise and i'll be keeping an eye on future updates. I do recommend wishlisting it if it peaks your interest because i think the dev will take on constructive criticism and make this game great one day. More detailed review: https://youtu.be/6X3_LkBTMLM

I was very excited for this game and I adore the art style, but the main gimmick just feels like a pain to work around for not much reward (I get x2 damage by moving forward but only x4 damage by moving forward and shooting behind me while fighting reversed controls). The game is also pretty poorly optimized, it drops frames badly when theres explosions on screen. That being said, the gunplay is still great and feels like an evolved take on classic Doom thanks to the animations and hitscan, the high-contrast colors make it easy to see enemies at any distance, and it's really cool how they incorporate the weapons into the level progression and obstacles.

I recommend for anyone looking for a unique retro shooter experience Pros: - Unique stylised visuals - Guns feel punchy, enemies explode in reaction to shooting them - Design helps promote fast movement and decision making - Developer has a clear love of the retro shooter genre Cons: -Could have more music variety -Rear view mirror, while an interesting concept, felt disorientating mid fight

Great throwback action FPS with a twist to keep things fresh in the rear-view mirror. Love the open ended design of the levels encouraging exploration and the secrets that need the rear-view to find and explore really feed back into the combat and help to use that view to do extra damage. Looking forward to finding all of the soul-cores and seeing what comes next!

I've had my eye on this one ever since I randomly saw it on twitter. I was really drawn to it's unique art style and loved the demo. This game has a lot of promise. Not only the art style stands out but the fast and fluid gameplay is just as compelling. It's a unique experience with the rear mirror mechanic. Highly recommend, give this solid retro inspired shooter a go.

ITS FINALLY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ OPTIMIZED, I REALLY REALLY LOVE THIS GAME IT WAS WORTH WAITING FOR A PERFOMANCE UPDATE