Thoughts on Chapter 3 from the update

[Eternal Echo]

It's pretty good! If you liked MEATGRINDER so far, then Chapter 3 is more of that. Which is always nice; more MEATGRINDER can only be a good thing. Mind you, It is as short and sweet as the other chapters—shorter, actually—and it doesn't change a whole lot.

Not that I was expecting it to, and I feel it wouldn't be fair on Vampire Squid to expect that. A game like MEATGRINDER is already a massive undertaking for any indie dev so to get this update at all was a glorious surprise. I know it was promised and announced ages ago but I've played more indie games with "To Be Continued?" nonsense than I can count so I'm used to being betrayed.

The first level was by far the most surprising and unique and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I was worried that this flat box arena would just be your usual and average FPS mashathon, and the slow start to the level certainly didn't leave a good first impression, but it really ramps up quickly. It follows on from the final level of Chapter 2 with freight crates dropping from the sky in neat rows and with enemies on top of them. At first, they're so slow that you just walk in circles as you wait for the next enemies to drop into your lap, but it picks up speed and soon you're hookshotting all over the place to get out of the way of falling crates and not getting overwhelmed by enemies, all the while water rises to make the ground a hazard. I feel like this level would be absolutely perfect for an Infinite Mode level. The level ends in a way I didn't expect but also raises story questions that I know won't get answered.

The rest of the levels are basically the same as those from the first two chapters, albeit with planes instead of trucks, and all of those levels are functionally identical; first you're making sure not to be on a plane that's about to crash into a lighthouse, then you're making sure to not be on a plane that's about to be hit by a volcano eruption, then you're making sure to not be on a plane that's about to hit a falling building in a city. I definitely feel like the City level is the weakest of the new levels; something about it feels like it would've been better suited to trucks than planes, or to a game that had more of a sense of scale than the linear lane you were hopping across.

Also, I feel like the game was performing poorly from the Lighthouse, Volcano, and City levels; the frame rate seemed to be dropping a lot.

The final level combines the trucks you've come to know and love, the trains you've come to know and love, and the planes you've come to know and love in one big highway extravaganza, which would sound like a decent denouement if the game A) didn't say we were getting another update, and B) had any kind of story whatsoever. Not that I'm expecting any kind of story at this stage; I know MEATGRINDER is a roller coaster ride of an FPS and I'm just here for the attractions and set pieces.

I think this final level could've been improved with more locational hazards that demanded we change from one mode of transport to another. The game sort of does this by making vehicles few and far between so you have to change from a truck to a train to a plane as the need arises but I do wish there was more.

All in all, I'm just happy to have more MEATGRINDER to play. I hope you're doing well, Vampire Squid, and that you're looking after yourselves and drinking plenty of water. I hope you enjoyed making MEATGRINDER and sharing it with us; I know this is quite a long post about things to complain about but I will always love this game.

You lads deserve a nice, lovely rest and also a massive truck full of money and devs to work alongside you.

[Vampire Squid]

Thank you very much, it was a pleasure. Glad you liked it