Slain: Back from Hell. A heavy metal inspired arcade combat with puzzle elements and gore galore. Stunning visuals and true old school gameplay accompanied by the most metal soundtrack you've ever heard.
Slain was received negatively at launch, and was overhauled and relaunched as Slain: Back from Hell. The updated version received higher review scores.
The gameplay in Slain is fast, it's hard-hitting, and satisfying. The atmosphere is greatly immersing and the music excels at heightening the gameplay experience of every level. Only the number of cheap deaths and cheap projectile-focused enemies, along with the not-very-present replay value holds back an overall very enjoyable experience.
Slain! reveals itself almost immediately as a demo tape with a splashy cover, a composition in progress that carries a spark of potential buried in the mix. It does not live up to the promise of its visuals, instead merely keeping pace with its influences white not daring any attempt to surpass them.
Slain! is in the middle between its beautiful atmosphere and its problematic gameplay, which is unable to fully valorize it. The biggest problem lies in its structure, enjoyable but still wasted if compared to the game's potential.
Despite a promising heavy metal vibe, Slain! is a mess of errors that I fear will not be adequately addressed no matter how many patches are thrown at it.
In the end, Slain! is very much a game that employs style over substance. It gets the look down, and the music fits in nicely. While the platforming is passable, the combat feels half-baked. Combine that with a myriad of bugs both big and small, and the game disappoints all around. While the hope is that the developers get some patches in soon to improve...
