Neon Chrome

Thoughts

Neon Chrome is nondescript in a lot of ways — a twin-stick shooter (one of a squillion floating around), a rogue-lite, a cyberpunk game with an awfully generic name. It does have personality though, even if it takes a little while to come out. I'm a fan of the rogue-lite system; giving persistent upgrades to a permadeath climate makes the whole thing more palatable and ultimately more addictive (your mileage, of course, may vary). This game uses the Rogue Legacy template of choose character from a few randomly selected options -> go through the levels, collecting cash -> die -> upgrade -> try again. It works well, but it's admittedly not well balanced — I'm not particularly good in terms of reflexes and accuracy and most of my stats were nowhere near the max levels upon completion. 

The titular Neon Chrome is a Judge Dredd Megacity One styled apartment block/military facility/research facility/general place of evildoing that houses a million people. If you're looking for sci-fi lore and anything in-depth in terms of cyberpunk writing you won't find it here - the story is paper-thin and of absolutely no consequence. There is however a quite well realised atmosphere, with gaudy colours and cold, sterile metallic environments coupled with retro-futuristic music (which is unfortunately repeated too often during the runtime, a few more tracks would have helped). You'll trek through a few different environments, going up 25 floors to topple the Overseer, collecting new weapons and abilities that can be used in future runs. 

It's a simple and addictive format. The shooting is quite meaty and responsive, the weapon variety solid and the enemy types easily recognisable. It's a bit of a graphical mess, especially on a big TV, but is generally well designed enough visually to get through without issue. You can probably tell if you'll dig this game just from what I've written here, it doesn't throw many surprises into the mix and doesn't overstay its welcome in terms of runtime. It's a decent entry into the indie section of the genres it dips its toes into. 

Plus/Minus

+ Simple and addictive rogue-lite formula

+ Shooting is enjoyable and there's enough variety in here

+ Art style and music is reasonably cool

- Graphics are pretty poor and it's very messy on a bigger TV

- Balance issues with upgrades

- Probably shouldn't have bothered with the story based on what's here 

- Feels very 'light' as a whole in terms of length, complexity, objectives etc

Overall

If you're keen on a breezy rogue-lite/twin-stick shooter hybrid this will work for you. Worth a go at lower price points. The addictive nature of the gameplay loop is probably its strongest point — great game to pick up and play in shorter bursts until you get through it. As an overall product it's just above average, but if it works for the individual you can probably tack an extra point onto the score. 

5.5/10

Technical Stuff: Played on a PS4. Copy was free on Playstation Plus. One playthrough + a few extra runs - approximately 6.5 hours spent.