Key Takeaways
1. Intense Sensory Experience: Cruelty Squad features striking visuals and sound effects that may overwhelm players, including a warning for those with photosensitive epilepsy.
2. Familiar Gameplay: Players assume the role of an assassin for a corporate entity, with gameplay reminiscent of Hitman and Deus Ex.
3. Open-Ended Levels: The game offers vast, open environments encouraging exploration, interaction with NPCs, and multiple strategies to complete missions.
4. Replay Value: Successful missions reward players with currency for body modifications and weapons, enhancing gameplay diversity and replayability.
5. Deep Themes: The game combines tactical gameplay with themes of depression, creating a unique and engaging experience.
There isn’t really a way to accurately describe Cruelty Squad. It’s a violent and bold attack on your senses, from the eye-strain-inducing visuals to the reverb-soaked soundtrack and intentionally shrill sound effects. As a game, it seems to do everything to discourage you from playing it. It even comes with a warning label advising people with photosensitive epilepsy to stay away.
Discovering the Depths
However, in spite of its loud rejection of conventions, there is an unexpectedly rich and enjoyable game underneath. You take on the role of a sorrowful assassin hired by a dubious corporate organization, and the core gameplay loop will feel quite familiar to fans of titles like Hitman and Deus Ex.
Engaging Gameplay Mechanics
Once you choose your loadout, you delve into vast open-ended levels, interacting with NPCs, determining routes, and exploring the best strategies to complete your objectives. There are several paths to uncover during a mission, many ways to reach your targets, and the enormous scale of the levels offers significant replay value.
A successful assassination or extraction will grant you currency to spend on body modifications – which give you abilities like extended jumps and improved body armor. Any weapon you find during a mission is added to your collection and can be selected in your loadout before embarking on a mission.
Unique Experience
Cruelty Squad feels like a strange fever dream intertwined with not-so-subtle commentary on depression and features extremely engaging, tactical gameplay that feels gratifying to execute. The game is currently 70% off on Steam until March 8th.