Having the double barrels for most of Smoke and Thunder wasn't that fun (also a Smoke and Thunder review)

[Legs So Hot]

Maybe a hot take, but being limited to 4 shots and the pellet spread being inconsistent didn't make for an experience as good as it could've been. Speaking of which:

To start; 2089 was incredible from start to finish. The scenes, theme, and smart gun were all so much fun. All of it fit Pistol Whip to a T so I was really looking forward to what they would do next and got really excited by the reveal of the western theme.

Smoke and Thunder has an amazing start. A contender for my favorite scene in the game. Great opening, fun scene, AMAZING song different from anything we've seen in PW. It set the stage for what was to come but unfortunately falls flat afterwards when you get the double barrels and the soundtrack switches to more Hollywood-esque action movie songs. The songs and scenes are great on their own and "action movie" stuff is rooted in PW, but as a campaign you play in order with a specific theme it's just not executed as good especially compared to 2089.

You also have to play with the double barrels for every scene after the first and I just don't like them. 4 total shots feels limiting (I'm also just not used to it after so long with higher capacity pistols) and plenty of times where I feel the spread of one shot should've killed a group of enemies it just doesn't. It's frustrating. I get that you guys were going for another thing like the Smart Gun but I just feel like I'm at more of a disadvantage compared to the pistols or revolvers.

This could've been a complete turning point for PW, continuing the trend of different styles of songs that the Heartbreaker Trilogy started but with a more direct focus on storytelling. Instead, after the first scene it feels more of the same we've seen from the action pack and 2089. Those are great, and these scenes are great on their own (first one is the best by far though) but after being shown a western theme I expected something totally different like what the what the Heartbreaker songs started or, and I keep bringing this up, the first scene of Smoke and Thunder.

Overall the update is great. Smoke and Thunder is good on its own but not as a campaign with the forced use of the double barrels for most of it and slight betrayal of its theme. I'm definitely going to be playing these scenes in the arcade mode though,

P.S. I love the new arcade and styles mode. The options are so fun to experiment with and bullet hell is every bit as crazy and sweat-inducing as I thought it would be

[Ajukreyzi]

Hey ;)

I get what you mean, but after completing the campaign you can now play every scene there is in arcade mode with any weapons or modifiers you prefer. So basically you have to play each scene just once the intended way and then forever the way you like it.

I love the update.
There's only one thing missing though. I thought when I replay 2089 in Arcade mode it would be possible without the voiceover. I like the rhythm shooting aspect of the game, and especially in the last scene of 2089 there's a lot of talking disrupting the music. In Campaign mode it's cool. But if I'm just in for some arcade I'd prefer just music.

[0Dd1]

Originally posted by Ajukreyzi:

Hey ;)
There's only one thing missing though. I thought when I replay 2089 in Arcade mode it would be possible without the voiceover. I like the rhythm shooting aspect of the game, and especially in the last scene of 2089 there's a lot of talking disrupting the music. In Campaign mode it's cool. But if I'm just in for some arcade I'd prefer just music.

You can set the voice volume in sound settings to 0, that removes all voice.


At topic: Yeah I also think having 4 boomstick vs 1 revolver scenes is somewhat imbalanced. But good thing is there is the Styles system now and we can also play these levels exactly how we like to.

[Beatfox]

I agree, I loved the first map, and really enjoyed the songs overall, but I kept hoping one of the levels would upgrade your weapons a second time to allow more shots. To only give you two shots and implement enemies that require two shots to kill was extremely limiting. While you may be able to play the level with alternative weapons after beating it, the enemy spawning/distribution was designed for the unique power of the boomstick.

[Insanitys Muse]

I definitely echo this - the final scene in particular felt like it would have been perfect for the revolvers. The boomsticks got pretty boring after the second stage with them IMO.

[Ajukreyzi]

Originally posted by Odd Aid:

You can set the voice volume in sound settings to 0, that removes all voice.

Thank you very much, I will check that :)

[Tripas]

Yeah, I will echo the whole "the first level was the best one". I did like the new gameplay mechanic of the shots having a big enough radius that you could take down three enemies with a single shot, but even with that having only two shots per clip felt limiting.

And that comes down to the feeling I kept getting that there aren't nearly enough opportunities to take advantage of that feature, but instead we just kept facing isolated enemies, many of which required multiple shots.

Because I get what they were going for. When you only have a limited amount of shots but they have a big radius you're encouraged to be very precise and deliberate with your shots. You have to figure out where your shots will take as many enemies as possible, because you don't have a lot of those.

But then you stick us in a bunch of corridors where all we keep facing is individual (often shielded) enemies, and then your special guns effectively just become regular pistols, but with a dreadful amount of ammo.

Still, that's just how I personally felt during the campaign. And it's very cool that you let us then play those same levels with whatever loadout we feel like, a feature which I intend to have a lot of fun with. So overall this was a pretty stellar update.

[Cloudheadgames]

I enjoy Scene 2 with dual revolvers. Tons of fun! Arcade mode with Styles mods allows you to make those levels "yours" in very direct ways and I think that's part of the magic of this release. We want you to experiment, bend the rules, and have fun finding things that we can't even account for!

[Mettanine]

My only thought during the entire campaign: "Why haven't you hired Clint Bajakian for the soundtrack?"

What he did for Lucasarts' Outlaws way back when was pure magic. Pistol Whipping to a score like that would have been amazing.

[Wolvaroo]

I definitely agree 4 stages of the boomsticks was too much. I would have liked at least one more with the revolvers and ideally a 3rd new gun on the final stage, but that'd be asking a lot. Overall I really liked the campaign though.

[Mike on a bike4]

Loved the music of the first two/three-ish levels, but I dunno the rest seem to lean in more of the sci fi aspect, which in my opinion we didnt need because we got a campaign for that already. I also agree with the consensus on the boomstick, I was honestly hoping for a level with a mix of the revolver and boomstick, but you cant even do that with styles.