Many people might not be into this kind of thing, but it is definitely my cup of melted cheese. I found myself liking this game despite the number of flaws it has, as it delivers enough for a 8/10 in my book.

The atmosphere, absolutely my favorite part of the game. Noir-style, black-and-white theme makes for a vibe that many compare to Cuphead. Due to the amount of dialogue and how far it leans into the gritty atmosphere, I found it continuously harder to compare it and start viewing it as unique. It was never meant to be serious, despite how obvious and tacky it can get, it never took away from the quality that was provided.

Leading to the dialogue, it is as straightforward as it gets. Nothing meant to be strong in writing, but as fitting as possible to the atmosphere and vibe the game provides. Every character did stick out well, and the voice actors did a stellar job with the lines, expectations weren't really high in this field but they were never meant to be. I've seen many reviews (Do I really need to point out the IGN review?) claim that it gets old really quickly, but I definitely didn't feel that way. This is mostly because I got immersed, but it does help that the writing tries to make it seem nonchalant instead of getting hung up on it. Nothing really serious, but I've no reason to complain as it fits the right parameters for the atmosphere.

Both the dialogue and atmosphere lead to an incredible worldbuilding experience. The levels feel unique, one about theatres and another about a blimp and the like! The world map and level selector is the most comparable thing to Cuphead, and frankly it felt as if there wasn't a real reason to have them except for some sections where multiple levels open up, as once you're done with a stage it goes to being locked again. While I understand that some levels change completely, being unable to revisit levels when some things were missed does get frustrating especially when I was trying to get everything and missing it on my first try. At the very least there could be a level selector, but as of now there isn't any and the closest I could get to that is manually saving in each level. The level selector could have been a list, and the background just shows the car travelling to each position, and it would have saved time in that regard. Each stage has varying length, and some levels feel as if they genuinely take forever, but despite that I found myself appreciating and really taking a liking to each level.

Going deeper into the stages, I thought they were missing stats. Like in Doom, when holding/pressing tab you can see how many secrets or enemies remain, I'd have made great use of a counter for secrets or schematics just so that I would have an easier time knowing what I missed and what was left instead of a guessing game or going through a forum hoping someone documented everything. Levels do not feel the most replayable due to both lack of stats and lack of backtracking except for some select stages. This doesn't change how much I adore the effort put into the details of each level, and getting mesmerized by many sections that prove to me the map builders knew exactly what they were doing.

Something about the weapons clicked well, not without some complaints. The weapon upgrades didn't feel too strong an improvement, but I am all for it as it didn't disrupt the balance and definitely helped me get stronger when battling hordes of mice. While I found myself using certain weapons more than others, and some weapons didn't feel the most worth to use, I was a big fan of the Tommy Gun that the game gives as it felt right to use. I'm a big fan of both the Cannon and the Double Barrel, and the way they were used did feel absolutely right, but due to scarce ammo I found myself barely using them. All the weapons I unlocked after the Double Barrel were barely used since they didn't feel as useful due to their unique traits, and without them it wouldn't have really changed much but the variety is welcome and the Jar Head was a really cool unlock, but that's moreso a love for the level itself than the weapon. All in all, big fan of the weapons, but they could have been used better throughout the game.

The difficulty in the game feels nice for casual players, but it does feel too easy. I have an issue with how easy the game gets, as I picked the hardest difficulty and it just felt like I was playing normal. Usually in boomer shooters when I pick the hardest difficulty the game does everything it can to make me eat ♥♥♥♥ but this time around it still felt like I was just playing normal difficulty. I do hope in the future an even harder difficulty is added, to hit that boom shoot itch I've got.

The game has many flaws, and it felt better given in early access for improvements and feedback like how many other boomer shooters do it like Selaco, but I am definitely satisfied. My expectations have been met, and they weren't low at all, so I have enjoyed my experience with this game and I'm, excited for the upcoming planned DLC! If you are a boomer shooter fan, there's no reason to avoid this game.