The story of Prison City is that you play as a former cop named Hal Bruzer. Hal is called back to Detroit by his former mentor called The Chief. Hal is tasked with taking down the techno-terrorists that have besieged the city. Prison City is a run and gun shooter that pays homage to a lot of games and movies of the 80’s and 90’s. Being a fan of games like Contra and Batman, I had high hopes for the game. Though the game does borrow elements from the games mentioned, it falls a bit short. What I mean by this is that the game is a run and gun shooter, but the weapon you’re given is basically a boomerang with about a medium range.
With enemies being able to move faster than you, be more agile than you, and have a much larger range of firepower than you, it makes the game feel more difficult than it needs to be. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, just that it has a steep difficulty curve. There are several different levels that you can choose to play in any order. Each level has really good environmental backgrounds and set pieces that make each level feel unique and fun. From snowy mountains to downtown streets, there isn’t a shortage of neat things to see as you traverse each stage, as long as you can manage to not get taken out around every corner.
Graphically, the game pays homage to the 8-bit games that came before it but with a modern spin. The animations and scrolling effects that the game offers are something that can only be achieved on more modern hardware than the NES is capable of producing. Being played on the PlayStation 4, this is not an impossible task for it to achieve. As a result, there isn’t a performance issue to speak of, with the exception of the load between the game over and the loading of the stage. I feel like this could be due to the animation and scrolling effects that the game is able to achieve over older hardware.
The techno tunes this game features are hard-hitting and action-packed. You can tell that the music is more modern but made to sound a bit like it would fit the era the game is modelled after. Each stage features a different tune that fits the stage like a glove. They aren’t repetitive, they are catchy, and help suck you into the run and gun mayhem! The sound effects and voices found in the game do sound a bit digitized/muffled sounding. I don’t know that this was a good idea because it doesn’t have the same modern feel as the rest of the audio in the game.
In conclusion, this game is an unforgiving and in some cases brutal throwback to retro run and gun shooters. Despite the above-mentioned issues and critiques, I think this game is going to scratch a much-needed retro itch for retro heads looking for a fix. If you’re looking for a hard-hitting, techno-charged game that packs one hell of a punch to the retro gut, then this is a must-buy!
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co
