If you’ve been thinking that it’s been too long since we’ve had a new Max Payne, then you’ll be happy to know that El Paso, Elsewhere agrees with you.
Set… somewhere in El Paso, Texas you’re on the hunt for your ex-girlfriend who just happens to be Draculae, the lord of vampires. They’re set to destroy the world if you don’t get there and fight your way through the 40 stories of a motel and put a stop to her plans. From the get go, the game is making no attempts to hide its Max Payne love, with these gorgeous cinematic shots and a heavy helping of solemn, introspective monologuing from our protagonist. The influences are clear and the execution of it is top notch to the point where if you told me Remedy had made this I’d have believed you.
Playing as James Savage, the game throws you straight into a motel filled with werewolves and other monstrosities like biblically accurate angels; your goal is to run through it saving any civilians you find and killing every monster on your way to the exit. The entire thing has an almost cosmic horror psychedelic feel to it, with a dash of monster mash. The ceiling of the motel exposes this weird void sky, and the environment will shift and change at times revealing new paths to go through. The entire thing is just oozing a very deliberate style all while you’re going guns blazing through hordes of monsters.
If you’ve played the original Max Payne games you’ll find yourself immediately at home here. You’ve got a suite of guns to kill with (along with wooden stakes) and you’ll utilize bullet time to dive around and take precise shots at creatures, or just spray and pray with the uzi because it feels cool. Just like a certain grizzled cop, pills are your main form of recovery and you’ll need them because the game starts to ramp up the monsters it throws at you quickly so smart management of your bullet time and of your insta-kill wooden stakes is key for surviving in this motel.
El Paso, Elsewhere looks to be the spiritual successor to Max Payne that fans of that series have been hankering for. If you’ve got some time, definitely try to check out the demo that’s available during the Steam Next Fest.
