Do you like Max Payne? Do you like Alan Wake? Do you like Blade? Then oh baby, it’s a triple with El Paso, Elsewhere, by developer Strange Scaffold. The game is a third-person follow-up to last year’s El Paso, Nightmare, which sets the stage for this game (and which I will be playing shortly as well!). Taking on the role of James Savage, a formerly sober, ex-love to Dracula’s daughter, Draculae, you must now prevent her from enacting a ritual that will essentially destroy the world, and is slowly unraveling the fabric of time and space.
As with many throwback genre games as of late, the game takes on a retro look. These days, 8-bit is so 2015, and late 1998 to early 2002 graphics are the name of the game, and El Paso, Elsewhere does an excellent job in getting that charm right. Not only that, as it is seemingly a love letter to Remedy Software’s titles, you will get the gritty, sometimes hilariously self-aware, noir-styled dialogue. It is etched in atmosphere, theming, and fun, and if you enjoy this type of story, this offers a paranormal take on the genre. I mentioned Alan Wake earlier, as although the gameplay itself frames itself on Max Payne before it, there are radios and film projectors in the environment where you can hear ads from random car dealerships and a police procedural radio serial. New environments lovingly slam the title on your screen in big, bold, white lettering, and it is great to see a dramatic title such as “INFERNO” smashed into your eyeballs. To round it out, even quitting the game from the main menu prompts hilarious noir dialogue that will continue to monologue to you, even as you finish a game session. Oh yeah, and one of the secrets is a golden toilet shooting out fireworks. Perfection.
The gameplay will be adored by fans of Max Payne, 007: Everything or Nothing, and those early 2000s third person shooters prior to the era of Resident Evil 4, Gears of War, etc. You will be blasting vampire mummies, werewolves, and other such creatures on your suicidal quest. James has a rechargeable energy bar to slow down time to get easier critical shots, dive, roll back and forward, and use wooden stakes to one-shot enemies at close range. Just like in Max Payne, you have painkillers to pop to restore your health, which is noted in a meta way as inevitably leading to your doom. Weapons include dual pistols, the shotgun (the premiere undead killer of course, a tommy gun that is noted as out of place outside a museum, and an Uzi to name just a few). My favorite line of all is when James mentions that he would be worried about diving through all of these windows, if he was going to live long enough to need knee surgery.
A final, and very monumental note to make is the music. This soundtrack is incredible, and mixes it up between energetic rap, and atmospheric techno sounding pieces that would not sound out of place in something like this year’s earlier title I reviewed, Sprawl, or even Deus Ex. Artist Lake Savage, a.k.a. RJ Lake, is responsible for these epic tracks, and I will personally be listening to Ghostin’ the Mainframe for weeks to come.
El Paso, Elsewhere is an affordable game that punches above its weight class with its lovingly rendered homage to the genre, fun gameplay, engaging atmosphere and story, and excellent soundtrack. Even though this is a duology, here is hoping for a future El Paso, Nowhere. Definitely check it out, especially to start out the spooky season near Halloween.
Score: 9.5/10
You can now play El Paso, Elsewhere for PC via Steam. For more information, visit: https://www.strangescaffold.com/
Related: Reviews by Matt O’Toole
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
More Stories
GUNDAM BREAKER 4 Pre-Orders Now Available before August Release
Netmarble Launches Solo Leveling: ARISE Globally for PC and Mobile
City-Building Roguelike Card Game TECHNOTOPIA PlayTest Launched by Alawar