God’s Trigger Review
Title: God’s Trigger
Developer: One More Level
Publisher: Techland Publishing
Website: https://godstriggergame.com/
Genre: Action
Platform: PS4
Audience: Mature 17+ Blood and Gore, Violence, Suggestive Themes, Drug Reference, Strong Language
Release Date: Out Now – 18/04/19
Price: £11.99 – Rapid Reviews UK were very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
“God’s Trigger combines brutishly hyper-stylized, ultraviolent presentation with gameplay requiring creative precision to deliver a relentlessly-paced entertainment experience that’s nothing short of divine.
When an Angel and a Demon team up to kill their way into Heaven and stop the Apocalypse bullets are sure to fly and blood will be spilled. Play solo or in co-op, make split-second decisions, dodge bullets, and use weapons and special abilities to dispatch violence in the most brutal way possible!“
With Hotline Miami dominating the top-down, over-the-top, brutally violent genre in gaming since its introduction in 2012, it was high time a new game tried to get in on the action and take the steely crown. Having started out in 2014, Krakow based developers One More Level have added another game to their catalogue with God’s Trigger. Promising the opportunity to ‘slay enemies with speed and precision in an over-the-top show of blood and explosions’, I was keen to see just how well this one would hold up. Find out here at Rapid Reviews UK!
Providing a backdrop to the action is a storyline based on the apocalypse. Angel and Demon become playable characters, with Harry being a soldier of Heaven and Judy an escapee from Hell. Together, they must combine their expertise to defeat all that stands in their way.
From the moment I loaded the game for the first time, I knew I was about to play something special. The main menu was brimming with attitude, from the cel-shaded, blood-red aesthetics to the pumping rock soundtrack. Diving straight in, the beauty of the artistic design continued to impress with its bold colours and crisp lines. At each new location, I wanted to pause to appreciate the level of polish that this game possesses. God’s Trigger has other plans though, with its fast-paced combat and penchant for quick thinking.
The prologue to the story offers a chance to learn the ropes, with a very typical control scheme similar to many top-down titles. You move with the left stick and use the right to indicate which direction you wish to aim. The two characters are interchangeable by the press of the Circle button, and there is a seamlessness to the transition, which makes it an incredibly beneficial strategy mid-battle. The two characters have their own weapons as standard, assigned to the left and right triggers. Harry was my preferred choice for close-quarters combat with Judy able to use a weapon that is much like a whip to defeat foes from afar. Throughout your journey, you can collect other weapons that can aid you in your quest.
After each level, you are graded based on how long it took to complete, how many times you died and what your max combo was. You then receive XP, which allows each character to level up and unlock abilities. I thought it was particularly intuitive that the characters gain different XP dependent on how much you used them in the level, and this could impact how you approach the next level and the ones that follow.
The abilities are upgraded using points obtained, and this is done using an in-depth system that requires some thought. There are menus and then sub-menus, and each skill has the choice of either speed, range or an XP bonus which can be applied to it. As well as this, there are destructible objects within the environment that can harbour ammunition, ability charges, CP and score multipliers. Hidden chests can also be found throughout the game, and these unlock one of eight perks which can be applied to each character. Deciding which perk to apply to which character for a particular level or combat style was a great way to keep it interesting and move things forward.
Although some well-crafted cutscenes include still images that have been beautifully designed, it is clear that the main focus of this game is in the combat, and rightly so. It offers so many different ways to play, and in some instances, I even enjoyed dying so that I could attempt it in a different way that I could complete a more stylish execution – it is rare I can say this about a game. With so many options, it would have been easy to become overwhelmed or forgetful of what you have at your disposal.
I think the development team have done an incredible job of pacing the game and ensuring that your powers are required regularly enough that they remain at the forefront of your mind. Everything is so smooth and responsive that even during times where things had not gone according to plan, I was able to adapt and adjust quickly to enjoy the combat: slow-motion, speed running and stealth kills came in handy.
The audio, as mentioned above and visual elements of this title support in providing a gaming experience that one would want to come back to time and time again. I loved the art style, both in terms of the landscape design and the characters, but also the enemies you encounter and the animations. It was the small details that particularly impressed me, with thought taken t
God’s Trigger feels like a game developed with no expense spared, and this is no mean feat for a game modestly priced at £11.99. I believe this game represents the best value for money title I have played in 2019. It may not be the longest, with it taking me approximately 6 hours to complete. However, there is enough variation in abilities and perks to make multiple playthroughs an option. I will certainly be giving this game another whirl with mates in local co-op.
On the subject of co-op, the lack of online play was met with great dismay between my mates and me, and this felt like quite an omission for a title that is perfectly poised for multiplayer gaming. This is my only criticism of a title I had incredible fun playing.
A spiritual successor to Hotline Miami, God’s Trigger is a variation on the theme that takes the best of its predecessors and puts a different spin on it. Although alluded to at the beginning of this review, it would be unjust to compare the two titles. They are both outstanding in their own right, and God’s trigger has a feel about it that rivals some of the best AAA titles on the market.
Rapid Reviews UK Rating
You can purchase God’s Trigger on the PSN Store at the following link: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP2911-CUSA08454_00-TRIGGERS00000001
