Party Hard is a synthpop driven pixel murder spree that manages to combine the slower paced stealth and trap mechanics of games like Gunpoint or Mark of the Ninja with the high energy pixel on pixel violence of its most obvious muse, Hotline Miami.
A typical pool party: Murder, Mayhem, and Ninjas (bottom right corner).
Developer: Pinokl Games
Price: $12.89
Platform: PC, Android, iOS
MonsterVine was supplied with a code for Review
The game opens up with an establishing cutscene and narration via interview of the grizzle voiced Detective West by a man named Darius. The plot as it were, serves in a mainly functionary role, some decent voice acting and predictable twists to string the levels together and give them the dressings of a crime story. In a game like Party Hard, however, a barebones plot isn’t much of a loss.
The main draw of the game and where it really shines is its simple yet thoughtful gameplay. You’re a serial killer and your only job is to kill everyone at the party; the catch is you can’t be seen. You play the classic slasher villain, sneaking after partygoers who stray from the crowd and hiding their bodies when possible. You can use a number of traps per level, from hazardous live wires to tossing people into the jaws of waiting sharks. You also get to use a number of items, such as bombs or poison which are either littered around the level or given to you by a shady guy in a trench coat. However, if you are spotted killing someone, another partygoer will run and call the cops.
The cops are your main enemy in any given level. If they catch you they take you to jail and you have to start the level over regardless of how many partygoers are left. Early on you can usually outrun a cop by avoiding him until he remembers he’s ‘too old for this shit’. However, each cop called gets faster and will chase you longer. So by cop number three or four you’ll always be caught unless you are lucky enough to find the single use change of clothes item. The best policy is to avoid being targeted by cops by blending into the party after a murder by either getting far away or using the dedicated dance button (which is also useful to disperse crowds, apparently you don‘t got the moves). This will occasionally result in them arresting the wrong person, which is extremely satisfying.
In the far off Dystopian future of 1997, cops prowl the mean streets in their high tech future cars with tiny little wings.
On top of the cops, there are a few other enemies that show up later in the game, adding complexity to your killing spree. The main enemy you’ll find are what I christened ’Buff Guys’, who I think are supposed to be bouncers or perhaps private security. Buff Guys have the magic ability to somehow divine you are a serial killer and proceed to kick your ass into next Tuesday if they catch you, ending your level attempt in the same way being arrested does. After the third level in the game, a number of Buff Guys spawn in most levels making them the only default enemies (as even cops don’t show up until a body is found or murder witnessed). The other two types of enemies are situational, SWAT and FBI. The SWAT Teams show up after you use the bomb item in any given level and function similarly to Buff Guys. They leave after a while and will often kill or stun a number of partygoers. FBI are much rarer and will only show up if you kill two cops with reusable traps (as cops are immune to stabbings). The Feds are the most dangerous enemy by far, they constantly patrol once they show up, are faster than any other enemy, like cops can only be killed by traps, and have the same magic ‘serial killer’ sense Buff Guys have.
While the fun cat and mouse stealth mechanics would make Party Hard fairly enjoyable on their own, what really brings it together as a cohesive whole is the aesthetics of the game. The pixel art world of Party Hard is visual smorgasbord of dark humor and sight gags, while the music is a high energy blend of 80’s style synthpop. Each level has a wide variety of interesting victim types and background flushes, along with occasional appearances of the downright goofy (such as ninjas or aliens).
Or Zombies….
The bonus levels embrace this undercurrent of goofiness with levels ranging from a Cyberpunk Subway Party to Cthulhu’s Woodstock. When you blend all these elements together, gameplay, music, humor, and visuals you end up with an addictive and fun game. Although the whole premise is the mass murder of innocent people. This of course doesn’t mean Party Hard is without its frustrations or flaws.
Every time a cop landed on the sawmill in this level he would glitch out, allowing me to murder rather freely.
As I mentioned earlier, the plot is about as barebones as you can get. Though that is a much lesser issue than the fact that some levels run into problems due to the lack of variety in how you solve them. Once you have played one Party Hard level you pretty much get the same thing in more difficult packages, which can lead to making one feel they have to cheese the game to get past a particularly tricky level. You’ll find yourself exploiting gameplay loopholes and the occasional glitch just to get those last few partygoers on occasion, which unfortunately grind the pace and fun to a halt. This happens rarely enough that I think it’s a highly forgivable issue, but still one born in one of the few real issues the game has.
The Final Word
Overall, Party Hard is a fun little stealth game with a great soundtrack and fun visuals that just ever so slightly misses the mark of true greatness.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
