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Niche gaming: Cruelty Squad

Guilty_AI

Member
So i recently finished playing this game called Cruelty Squad, and since no one seemed to be talking about it i decided to make a thread.

Its a FPS set in a cyberpunk/biopunk mash-up world. The game consists of going through multiple open levels where you have the objective of assassinating one or more targets in whatever way you see fit. Before each level you can equip two weapons and set some body augments for different tactics. Think a mix of Deus Ex with Hitman.

Also, the game looks like this:
hWzYvAk.jpg

apPpoQI.jpg
Basically like someone vomited in the screen and then made you take two shots of LSD.

So, why did i think it was worth talking about it? Because the game is hella fun.

Pretty sure everyone has that one janky game they enjoy for one reason or another despite having a lot about it that can be criticized.
What this game does is take the things that make these janky games fun and compile them in what can be called a consistent experience. I'd love to call it "polished" but then we'd be getting into some tricky definitions.

To give an example of what i'm talking about, there was a mission where i had to assassinate a politician in the middle of a mall, surrounded by bullet proof glass and heavy security. On top of that, the room would be immediatly locked shortly after the target is attacked, meaning if i got close to kill him i'd be left with no way out. I'd have to snipe him from afar, but the bullet proof glass rendered sniper rifles ineffective.
What did i do then? You see, toilets in this game release some very deadly vapors when destroyed, and these vapors aren't stopped by pesky things such as walls. Knowing that, i equipped an arm strengthening augment, went to a bathroom in the mall, picked up a toilet, positioned myself, and from afar i sniped a toilet at the bulletproof glass cubicle the target was in, who proceed to explode in gory pieces of meat because deadly vapors in this game disintegrate people for some reason. Mission accomplished.
It was ridiculous, but it was still a perfectly valid strategy that felt satisfying to execute.

And i think this sums up my experience with this game pretty well. It looks like a mess at first, but as you play things start to make sense in weird ways, even the horrid artstyle or the seemlingly nonsensical story start to fall into place.

Some videos about the game that could be interesting:

Trailers:




Review by Yathzee:



Some gameplay by videogamedunkey



Some interesting analysis of the game (contain spoilers)



Now, do i reccomend this game?
Thats a hard question. Honestly, if you watched the trailers and didn't immediately feel some strange attraction to it, this game might not be cattering to you. In the end it a niche game for people with weird tastes, but there are definitely enough of those around to result in 4000 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on steam
 

MayauMiao

Member
The graphics made me think the game was made by someone who uses MS paint to create textures with asset flip models. Its downright ugly.

Not surprising why it gets little to no attention.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
The graphics made me think the game was made by someone who uses MS paint to create textures with asset flip models. Its downright ugly.

Not surprising why it gets little to no attention.
Guy who made it is actually a cartoonist/illustrator, and once you see his art, the game's style sorta starts making sense

tumblr_inline_p97i4vr93A1qz9p2o_1280.png

41231834692_530aeb3ac1_b.jpg





I have to say tho. It might look random, but these looks aren't easy to achieve.
 
Well I just finished Cruelty Squad... I think? I've beaten Trauma Loop at least. Game of the year what the actual living fuck. It's like if you took a bunch of, mostly forgotten, features from all sorts of late 90s shooters: the original couple of Rainbow 6 games, Deus Ex 1, Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Quake's bunnyhopping, a bit of Hitman. Then put it into a blender and set the graphics to puree. Holy fuck it's best game I've played in years and it looks like absolute shit.


 

Guilty_AI

Member
Well I just finished Cruelty Squad... I think? I've beaten Trauma Loop at least.
yeah, i think beating trauma loop can be considered the "real" way to finish the game.

Which reminds me, one thing that i noticed is that the Trauma Loop level is basically an assortion of all annoying and unfair things old games would occasionally pull. From powerful enemies hidden in corners to snipers shooting at you from beyond the drawn distance.
 
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yeah, i think beating trauma loop can be considered the "real" way to finish the game.

Which reminds me, one thing that i noticed is that the Trauma Loop level is basically an assortion of all annoying and unfair things old games would occasionally pull. From powerful enemies hidden in corners to snipers shooting at you from beyond the drawn distance.
I dunno man. I can finish the Xen stages of Half Life 1 or the weird bits near the end of Thief: The Dark Project without too many issues. There's a consistent set of rules there, they're just somewhat obscure and take a bit of trial and error to figure out. Cruelty Squad was operating on no rules I could fucking figure out. I watched Civvie's video after a while of being stuck on Trauma Loop where he said you just have to drop your weapons and bunnyhop to the exit and it fucking worked first try.

Still, fuck me, that was a good fucking game. Making it like an early Rainbow 6 but then making your aiming shit while you're leaning through doors is fucking genius. I still haven't found all the weapons or all the hidden upgrades yet. I haven't even found the flame-thrower since by the time I found the secret ski-lodge I had already mastered using the fucking anal-prolapse grappling hook and had managed to kill all the CEOs by just swinging around the lodge like fucking Tarzan. I didn't even explore the stock market that much, since I found the secret fishing jackpot. The fuck is this game? It's simultaneously the best thing I've played in years and yet I still cannot explain what the fuck it is for the life of me.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I dunno man. I can finish the Xen stages of Half Life 1 or the weird bits near the end of Thief: The Dark Project without too many issues. There's a consistent set of rules there, they're just somewhat obscure and take a bit of trial and error to figure out. Cruelty Squad was operating on no rules I could fucking figure out. I watched Civvie's video after a while of being stuck on Trauma Loop where he said you just have to drop your weapons and bunnyhop to the exit and it fucking worked first try.
Wouldn't be surprised if that was the intended way to beat the level.

I think what made this game so good is that it did operate within certain rules. Its just that those rules are complete nonsensical, and the game doesn't explain them to you. Coupled with the level design and secrets, it makes exploring and experimenting with the game a very fun ride.
 
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Wouldn't be surprised if that was the intended way to beat the level.

I think what made this game so good is that it did operate within certain rules. Its just that those rules are complete nonsensical, and the game doesn't explain them to you. Coupled with the level design and secrets, it makes exploring and experimenting with the game a very fun ride.

Oh don't get me wrong. It's so far my goty. It's so fucking good. The fact that this guy took the Deus Ex augment system but made it so you could switch out 'augments' between missions or whenever you replay them is so great. No one's experience in any level is the same and you can do all sorts of cool shit to completely bypass certain levels with the right gear. That fucking Cruise ship mission, man. That's the game in a nutshell. It's so good, there's so many ways you can eliminate your targets, there's so many different routes and secrets and different options. Or you could just go fishing and play with the stock market. What a fucking game.
 
It's been a while I've been interested in this but I'm too scared to actually try it out lol
It's cheap and it get better the more you play. The visuals are horrific at first but you get used to them after a while and they honestly serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things. If you've ever played a good game from 1998 you'll be right at home after a while. At some point it just clicks and it turns into one of the best games of recent years. Just get the grappendix, rebind 'weapon 3' to to your mousewheel and it turns into the best gaming experience you'll have all year.
 
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stranno

Member
It reminds me the XX79 and XX89 series by pr00t. An stupidly ambitious series of open-world rogue-like FPSs.


By the way, the first trailer theme is the Nibelheim music, right?
 
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