Platforms:
Xbox One, ,
Released:
February 27, 2018
Publisher:
Crema
Developer:
Crema
What do you get when you cross an undead mummy, a foul-mouthed cowboy and a first-person shooter? You get Immortal Redneck, a roguelike FPS developed by CremaGames. You play as the titular redneck, with the goal of exploring and reaching the top of three great pyramids. You do so by exploring rooms, finding staircases, kicking butt and taking names!
Immortal Redneck doesn’t offer much in the way of story, but it’s a simple and enjoyable concept. You are a redneck who swears like a sailor, wields various firearms and always comments on the situation; who is exploring pyramids, defeating enemies and gaining the favour of the gods along the way. As you progress through the pyramids, you encounter powerful bosses that you must defeat to get to the next section of the pyramid. If the merchant has been unlocked, it is then possible to purchase an item that will let you start after that boss.
The gameplay in Immortal Redneck takes place within procedurally-generated temples containing various traps and enemies. The player must find a staircase on each floor to advance further into the pyramid. Each room contains a task to be completed before the exits to the room open, such as defeating a certain number of enemies, completing a time trial or finding a chest. The player enters the pyramid with a set loadout (depending on which of the gods’ favours the player decides to use) and can pick up new weapons or scrolls containing additional effects through chests and enemy drops. Upon death or completing the pyramid, the player returns to a hub and can purchase skills and new loadouts with coins they have collected, before re-entering the pyramid and forfeiting the rest of their coins.
As the whole game is set in first-person, there are highlights and low points. The environments are colourful, intricate and suit the Egyptian-tomb theme of the game well, featuring lava pits, spike traps and tricky first-person platforming. It’s both fun and tense to make blind leaps across rooms to reach a treasure or that last enemy you need to defeat, but it is also frustrating to fail simply due to tricky controls and the precise positioning needed in platforming.
“Immortal Redneck is great at swarming you with enemies out of nowhere, adding to the panic factor and the fun of the game.”
Combat can also be fun and frustrating. It’s exciting to take down enemies with weapons such as tesla coil, dynamite, or even an exploding potato launcher. You do come up against some interesting and tricky enemies as well, including the most adorable little cobras with legs, Anubis jackals, sarcophagi that launch tiny mummies, and ghostly heads that teleport away from you. Immortal Redneck is great at swarming you with enemies out of nowhere, adding to the panic factor and the fun of the game. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking out a swarm of enemies with a good ol’ fashioned shotgun!
Positive:
- Quirky enemy and environment designs
- Exhilarating first person platforming
- A wide arsenal of interesting and powerful weapons
Negative:
- The controls and aiming can be a little touchy
- Repetitive gameplay can frustrate players if they’re having difficulty progressing
- A lot of the challenge is based on RNG, leaving everything to luck
Immortal Redneck was released for PC on Steam last year, and is now available on consoles as of February 27th, 2018. If you’re a fan of first-person shooters, exploration and Egyptian temples, this is the game for you! This small indie game provides hours and hours of fun, and even more hours of relief when you finally make it through the pyramids. So, what are you waiting for? Pick up Immortal Redneck and start exploring!
About the Author
Jake Franklin
Jake Franklin: psych nerd, proud geek, mother of Rowlets. When I'm not studying, I'm playing and writing about video games.
