It’s always promising and encouraging when a creative game falls on my lap. All our favorite genres have been done to death, often in the same ways, so it’s really cool to see a fresh spin on something familiar. Developed by Mopeful Games, comes “Fashion Police Squad.” Originally released on PC last year, it’s finally made its way onto consoles, this first-person shooter is a little bit different though. The artwork is done in a very simple yet charming 2D pixel art, but it’s played in a 3D environment, which makes for something really visually interesting to the eye. While the overall gameplay is nothing to write home about, it’s fairly limited and can get a bit tedious, fortunately it knows not to overstay its welcome, with a rather short experience.
The story is very surface level and silly, as a fashion police officer you must go around the city to stop this horrific crime wave of bad fashion style. While doing so you will use your arsenal of weapons to make the city look good. You’ll be stopping civilians in their tracks by using your paint shotgun to splash some color into their life, or using your sewing machine gun to quickly re-tailor their suits so they aren’t as baggy. The overall vibe is pretty lighthearted and is in-on the silliness with you. There’s a lot of referential memes all over the place as easter eggs, often hidden in advertisements such as billboards.
The more I played the more I began to realize “Fashion Police Squad” plays a lot like the original “Doom” titles of the 90s, just with much better designed pixel art. You have access to five weapons throughout the game, there’s the two mentioned earlier, but there is also a water cannon, a fabric grenade, and sock gnomes that latch onto your enemies and are up to no good. My biggest complaint would be that this variety of weapons is still a small variety. The game does a good job at making you switch it up, due to some enemies requiring a specific gun to be taken down, but with so few to choose from, tedium started to settle in near the end of the game. You do also have a leather belt to grapple around the map, which is a very welcoming feature, but isn’t enough to maybe keep the average player from sticking around.
To counter that, “Fashion Police Squad” is a brief experience. Most gamers that stick through it, will probably finish it around the four-hour mark. There are a total of 13 levels, and some fun boss fights thrown in. For the trophy hunters out there, there are collectibles to discover throughout the maps, it’s also easy to level select once you’ve completed the latest level. Aside from that, there may not be much replayability for you. There’s a lot of referential fun to be had here though, the gameplay, while it can get stale, is still fun, and there is a pretty good pop inspired soundtrack. This is easily one of those “here for a fun time, not for a long time” little experiences that break the general mold of standard first person shooters, that is worth checking out. For a price tag of twenty bucks (assuming you don’t wait for a sale), I’d say it’s not a bad little investment to experience what it’s like to be in the shoes of a fashion police officer.
7/10
For more information, visit: https://nomorerobots.io/fashion-police-squad/
Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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