Mullet Madjack review

Over the last few years we’ve had plenty of new entries in the fairly niche genre of the Boomer Shooter. As a lover of those early PC gun games I often find myself drawn to these old school offerings, thanks to their high octane gameplay and lovely pixel art. With more and more boomer shooters releasing though, it’s no longer enough to make an FPS inspired by the classics if you want to stand out in the crowd. Well that’s not a problem that Mullet Madjack needs to worry about, thanks to its intense speed run style stages and roguelike elements.

In the not too distant future, humanity no longer has the attention span to watch entertainment for more than ten seconds at a time without a hit of dopamine. This world is also run by super rich AI known as Robillionaires, who are as corrupt and evil as you’d expect. Our hero Mullet Madjack is one of those willing to put their life on the line to try and take these evil overlords down in order to rescue a princess, but will only be able to do it by keeping people watching him stream his slaughter. With ten seconds on the clock in each stage, our manly hero will have to brutally kill robots to keep viewers interested and top up his timer by a few seconds.

As you can probably imagine this setup leads to some particularly fast paced gameplay, and thanks to some incredibly well designed stages the flow through them is just fantastic. You’ll shoot plenty of varied robotic enemies as you make your way through each floor of Mullet Madjack, but your dash kick is perhaps even more important than your firearms. Although most enemies aren’t puny enough to kill instantly with this speedy melee attack, by using it to knock foes back into fans, windows, and doors you’ll not only dispatch them with ease but also earn extra seconds on your timer. Very little feels better than bouncing between baddies and causing a whole lot of death as you do, and that’s exactly what Mullet Madjack is about.

Despite how many murder options you have in Mullet Madjack, it’s still very easy to run out of time and fail with only seconds on the clock. Thankfully, between floors you’re given access to upgrades that should make your life easier, from more powerful and effective weapons to ways to earn bonus seconds and manage your time more effectively. I almost always ended up choosing to make environmental kills worth more seconds and grabbing the ability to slow down time for my last three seconds of the timer for the ultimate comeback, but there are loads of options to choose from for those seeking more firepower.

The stages you play and upgrades you’re offered are randomised each time you play, because Mullet Madjack is also secretly a roguelike. Instead of having to restart the whole game when you die though, you’re sent to the start of the chapter you’re currently playing. The game is split into ten chapters which are each made up of ten floors followed by a boss fight (where the time limit is removed) and each of them sort of feels like a self contained mini roguelike that make up the main game. It’s an interesting structure, and one that works really well thanks to the extra mechanics each chapter adds.

You’ll get used to the game being made of corridors and baddies in the first chapter, then when you move onto the next there will be pits of acid to dodge alongside them. Before you know it you’ll be wall running your way through outdoor sections and diving through laser grids, all with a selection of new enemies and perks alongside them. The variety of new stuff when combined with the fast pace make it impossible to grow bored of Mullet Madjack, and even harder to put down.

Mullet Madjack has a whole lot going for it, and that’s before you even get into how gorgeous it looks. Not content with being just another boomer shooter, the vibrant visuals of this anime-inspired FPS are eye catching and unique. The up close special kills you can do with melee weapons you find lying around are especially awesome, as long as you don’t mind a bit of robot brutality.

There aren’t a whole lot of complaints I have about Mullet Madjack, but there are a couple. A little often you’ll notice the same bits of a level appear over and over again, especially on earlier stages. It can also feel too punishing to lose a run when you run out of time, as well, especially when all you’ve done to deserve this failure is kick an enemy at slightly the wrong angle. There are at least plenty of difficulty options if you are struggling, though, including a particularly accessible one that removes the time limit entirely.

Mullet Madjack is a breakneck boomer shooter with a whole lot of charm. The speed-run style gameplay is compelling and clever, the Roguelike elements make it replayable even when you fail, and the new mechanics in each chapter keep things fresh. It can feel a little frustrating to lose so quickly when things get too hectic, but if you can keep up with the pace you’ll have a cracking time shooting endless corridors of robots.