Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean

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Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game with fantasy and anime themes. It was developed by XenoAisam and was released on October 29, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Banzai Escape 2 Subterranean is an anime third-person action shooter and a sequel based after the events of Banzai Escape 2

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean screenshot

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86%

Audience ScoreBased on 315 reviews

story13 positive mentions

grinding18 negative mentions

Free-to-play anime-styled third-person looter shooter with solid and satisfying gunplay and tactical combat.
Good replayability through randomized missions, mission loops, and diverse objectives with challenging boss fights.
Co-op multiplayer (2 players) adds fun, along with extensive character customization and a photo mode.

Significant grind and RNG involved in weapon drops and progression; some weapons and perks locked behind DLC.
Enemy AI can be frustrating with aim-bot-like accuracy, stun/grenade spam, and bullet sponge enemies especially at higher difficulties.
Various rough edges including clunky controls, awkward mission start UI, repetitive maps and missions, poor animations and voice acting, and occasional bugs.

story
118 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
84%
5%
The story is considered straightforward and somewhat minimal, presented mainly through still images and text without in-mission cutscenes, which some find lacking in depth and immersion. While mission variety and replayability add to the gameplay experience, many players feel the narrative is repetitive and grind-heavy, requiring multiple runs of similar objectives that can detract from engagement. However, the game's cooperative play, challenging missions, and underlying lore provide enough context and emotional attachment to keep players interested despite the story's simplicity.
- “A great singleplayer campaign with a good story; now this game, though bare bones at present, has a lot of potential.”
- “The prison escape mission had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, the scale of the battles was unprecedented, another technical marvel.”
- “While story isn't the primary focus, there is lore, and it's enough to keep you engaged. The Imingter sisters and their bond add texture to the campaign, and it's easy to get emotionally attached once you're a few missions in.”
- “The story such as it is is just still images with text.”
- “That's all great, however the game sells weapons as "DLC" (that's basically pay-to-win) and it also seems to want you to waste your time for no good reason, doing the same mission repeatedly in order to unlock the mission that comes next.”
- “Make the 'kill all enemies' quest a lot shorter for the later missions or group them up more or just something different each level because I already gotta do the same level 5 or 6 times to progress. It feels so much longer when I gotta replay the same map and quest over and over; sometimes after like 2 missions you get a defend or shut down generator mission but then back to kill all bad guys.”
gameplay
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
68%
8%
The gameplay is generally praised for being casual, fast-paced, and addictive, with solid core mechanics, interesting perks, and a strategic loop difficulty system. However, it is also noted as repetitive, somewhat clunky, and lacking polish, with some bugs and limited content in its current state. Overall, the gameplay offers a fun experience, especially in small sessions or co-op, but could benefit from more variety and refinement.
- “The feel is more like Mega Man Legends than Call of Duty, though the combat feels surprisingly real in terms of mechanics.”
- “Its good to play a little bit; it's one of those grindy games with gameplay heavily similar to Remnant: From the Ashes. You have weapons and perks that you can use, each perk making your playstyle a bit different. You can dodge bullets, and melee is kinda clanky but it's there.”
- “The game introduces a scalable difficulty mechanic known as the loop system, starting from loop zero (your standard entry experience) all the way to loop 10, each one layering in more aggression, more AI coordination, and more pressure.”
- “Bad mechanics for taking cover and shooting from cover.”
- “To put it in long, the gameplay is passable like I already said, you repeat the exact same mission over and over again until you unlock the next wall of text then you move onto the next difficulty.”
- “It seems like the creators do not have much experience, and while the core gameplay is solid, it seems to be missing a lot of polish.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
The game features charming, anime-inspired graphics that are visually appealing and well-suited to its style, with clean, stylized art direction praised by many. It runs efficiently on low to mid-spec PCs, though some users report optimization issues and limited graphics options for lower-end hardware. While not groundbreaking, the graphics are generally considered a strong point that complements the gameplay experience.
- “The art direction is clean and stylized with charm, staying true to its anime aesthetic without feeling cheap or dated.”
- “The graphic: 9.5/10. I can't give a good example on graphics because I used a low-end PC; however, it's very friendly on low end from very low to medium graphic settings.”
- “Graphics are standard cartoony but 3D - everything has a nice shine to it on full, with bloom lighting and full TAA making everything soft to the eye.”
- “Tho impossible to see checkmark the box when it's very low and low graphic.”
- “-Unoptimised & some missing graphics options for low specs users.”
- “Graphics so dull, I thought I was playing in a PowerPoint presentation.”
grinding
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features heavy grinding, especially in late stages, with repetitive missions and tough enemies that can make progression feel tedious and time-consuming. While some players enjoy the challenge and build variety, many find the loot RNG and repeated gameplay loops tiring, suggesting the need for less repetition and faster pacing. Overall, grinding is a core but polarizing aspect that may affect long-term enjoyment.
- “Playing single player solo without any DLC is a bit tedious; it feels more like grinding to get better weapons, and enemies become pretty hard in the late game.”
- “Too much grinding; it seems to compensate for the short length of the game, which isn't necessarily bad, but it becomes tiring.”
- “Please make it less grindy, playing the same mission over and over for playtime really sucks. I'd rather beat the game quickly and want to come back than dread returning and having to repeat the same garage map multiple times before unlocking new locations.”
optimization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
28%
27%
The game's optimization shows impressive effort in model detail reduction and polygon slicing, resulting in smooth performance on mid to high-end systems. However, it struggles significantly on low-end PCs and laptops with integrated graphics, causing low frame rates even on minimal settings. Players suggest the need for further performance updates and advanced graphics options to improve playability on weaker hardware.
- “Optimization is impressive. The developers emphasize saving polygon counts for models by ensuring no faces are inside areas where players can't see. They even slice away parts of models that don't appear, going to extreme lengths for optimization.”
- “In terms of operation and play, the playability is unexpectedly high, and the performance is relatively powerful, especially for a beta game.”
- “Co-op runs smoothly, with lots of customization catering to every taste.”
- “The game is running at only 10-15 fps, which seems to be due to poor optimization for lower spec PCs or laptops with integrated graphics.”
- “Poorly optimized (even on the lowest settings possible it runs at 16 fps for me). The size is small, but currently I can't recommend it for low-end PCs.”
- “Need performance update for low-end PC, or add advanced video settings so I can turn off shadows, etc.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often lighthearted and entertaining, with playful moments like funny weapon effectiveness and character animations contributing to enjoyable gameplay. While some elements can feel chaotic or offbeat, the overall comedic tone adds charm and makes cooperative play especially amusing.
- “Some of the animation is a bit off, but weapon handling, humor, and general gameplay make up for it.”
- “Get good quality play when you can funny knock down your friend and yourself and just lay on the floor with a good laugh.”
- “Cute and funny free game”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
43%
14%
The game offers strong replayability through quasi-randomized levels and varied tasks, keeping gameplay fresh and engaging. Its relatively short level durations and challenging conditions enhance longevity and encourage repeated play, appealing especially to combat enthusiasts. Overall, replay value is rated highly and contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
- “Endless replayability via quasi-randomized level maps and tasks.”
- “The replayability soars when you challenge yourself to adapt and dominate the same map under radically harsher conditions.”
- “There’s a ton of replay value, especially if you enjoy combat for the sake of it.”
- “Make it like Sonic levels, most are 5 minutes and easily replayable, not 7 minutes of the same stuff you did last level.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users find the game's music repetitive and limited, noting that the single background track plays too frequently in menus and the lobby. While the music contributes to the game's energetic feel during action, many suggest adding more varied tracks to enhance atmosphere and overall liveliness. Voice overs are generally seen as weak, and the menu presentation, including music, feels lacking.
- “Guns feel weighty, explosions pop, and the music helps drive the energy.”
- “Oh one more thing to address, at least make a new background music since the game only has one bgm and very few voicelines, so adding this to the game would make it more lively.”
- “More music to make for the game so the lobby can change through music.”
- “Same song over and over again in the menu and lobby; could add more songs.”
- “At least make new background music since the game only has one BGM and very few voice lines; adding this would make the game more lively.”
- “Voice overs are kind of poor and the music isn't too good.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Character development in the game is praised for its appealing anime-style designs that complement the vibrant visuals, successfully fulfilling fans' desires for this aesthetic. However, users feel the game currently focuses more on character design than on deeper development, indicating room for more content and growth in this area.
- “I have always wanted a cutesy anime character design mixed with a shooter; this very much fills that want.”
- “If you're into anime-style character design and vibrant set pieces, this will scratch that itch in spades.”
- “Still need a lot of work to make it better, but overall fun and nice character design.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is notably unstable, with frequent bugs affecting gameplay elements such as clothing customization and causing sudden frame drops. These stability issues detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration despite some positive mission and boss designs.
- “Clothes customization is buggy and doesn't equip certain items as intended.”
- “Game really sucks, buggy and sudden frame drop for no reason.”
- “Decent little free game but very buggy.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's monetization is based on optional cosmetic DLCs that let players try the game freely and choose their level of support, which is a clever approach. However, the overall cost can become quite high if purchasing all content, though it avoids typical microtransactions or pay-to-win elements.
- “The pricing of the DLCs may be a little high if you want to own everything, but the monetization approach is clever, letting players try the game extensively and decide how much to support the developers by purchasing entirely optional cosmetics.”
- “The game does not include microtransactions or elemental effects that some might expect.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere in Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is highly praised for its immersive and well-crafted environment, building on the strengths of its predecessor. However, while the visual and atmospheric elements stand out, the overall experience is somewhat diminished by a lack of narrative depth and innovative gameplay.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by the strong bond between the Imingter sisters, which adds depth to the campaign and fosters a genuine emotional attachment as players progress through the missions.
- “The Imingter sisters and their bond add texture to the campaign, and it's easy to get emotionally attached once you're a few missions in.”

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7h Median play time

5h Average play time

2-8h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is a arcade shooter game with fantasy and anime themes.

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean.

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean was released on October 29, 2021.

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean was developed by XenoAisam.

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Banzai Escape 2: Subterranean is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include RIPOUT, Deadzone: Rogue, Volcanoids, Sker Ritual, Remnant: From the Ashes and others.

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