You can paint the town red in our latest title, Fashion Police Squad, by developer Mopeful Games and publisher No More Robots. In this town, crime never sleeps but it loves to wear khakis. This is a first-person pixelated shooter. You might even feel some nostalgia for older titles like Duke Nukem or Doom, minus the blood and gore – replacing it with fashion galore.
The levels are well-designed that guide you through stages, often looping you back to closed off locations. Progress can be hindered by obstacles, platforming, and ribbons. You need to find the corresponding scissors, marked by the same color as the ribbon. There are a variety of mobs that you need to tackle with the right equipment. The low tier suits need to have some more color in their dress. Other mobs have oversized suit jackets. Some mobs are mobile with others blast you with smoke. They all provide a layer to challenge you, because one weapon type does not necessary affect all the mobs in the same way. The one exception is your fashionable glove, which you can use to slap some fashion sense into these people.
One of my favorite moments in the first two stages was using my belt as a grappling hook and making my way downtown like spiderman. In the same spirit, the crack of the belt sounds just like the Indianna Jones whip. It took some time to get used to that feature, because you need to time it exactly right. You also need to put yourself in the best situation to shift momentum so you can land on platforms/patios and reach the next flagpole. The floor is lava, so you know it is a heated situation. When you fall, you respawn at a checkpoint.
There is a linear story that comes out through the dialogue between the characters. You are a fashion beat cop taking orders from HQ/Dispatch and are making moves to tame the wild spread of lethargy in the city. People are losing energy fast and it is coming out in their clothes. Entire swathes of the city are even foggy and grey, as though the life has been sucked out of it. You need to clear these billboards to restore life to the scene. Feels good to take down signs about work and taxes. But where is all of this fashion insanity coming from? There is some sort of conspiracy going on, and a mystery figure known to us as Deep Coat is leading us down the rabbit hole.
The dialogue is quirky, it is funny, and it is punny. It is never short of being fabulous. When you start up the game, you can get a taste of the humor right away by looking at the difficulty artwork. Even the mobs get a monotone ah haaa that just emphasizes their 9 to 5 existence. I think it is a great contrast when you liberate people from their mundane routines. The sound effects are great, too, like when you start slapping fashion sense back into people.
Overall, I think being a Fashion Police Officer is a good time. It wasn’t my first career path, but I met some good people, changed the scenery, and slapped some sense into some grumpy corporate folks. While I am not in love with the story, I do think the characters are well-written have their own voices as you read the dialogue. I like the artwork. The whole aesthetic pulls you in as you’re running and gunning. A fair rating for this title should be a 9.5 out of 10. I think you will enjoy it.
Fashion Police Squad is available via Steam and Epic Games Store.
Related: Reviews by John Pruitt
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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