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Hot Brass

Hot Brass is an intriguing game that restricts its ability to keep players engaged. The SWAT fantasy is well transferred into mechanics but the overall look of the game makes it hard to fully enjoy. The missions are designed for multiple approaches but different ways of engaging with the title do not deliver a variety of thrills or failures. The focus on real-time action is probably the biggest drawback because it undermines the importance of planning. While the pressure and tension work well the top-down action title is too confusing at times. Trying for an objective, again and again, becomes frustrating. Hot Brass also makes SWAT operators out to be heroes who instantly fail when they do something wrong during a mission, an idealized abstraction that is uncomfortable given the very real harm to civilians that highly trained policemen have inflicted all over the world.
Hot Brass Game Cover
73%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
story, replayability
73% User Score Based on 283 reviews
Critic Score 75%Based on 1 reviews

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Hot Brass Game Cover

About

Hot Brass is a single player and multiplayer tactical shooter game. It was developed by Walk with Kings and was released on February 26, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Hot Brass is a tactical strategy game where you play as a SWAT team member, tasked with resolving high-stakes situations such as hostage rescues and terrorist threats. With a variety of missions, destructible environments, and a wide range of equipment to choose from, you must use keen awareness, expert tactics, and strategic decision-making to successfully complete each operation. The game offers multiple points of entry and encourages players to utilize their surroundings to gain the upper hand.

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Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
Hot Brass screenshot
+5
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73%
Audience ScoreBased on 283 reviews
gameplay17 positive mentions
story10 negative mentions
  • Engaging tactical gameplay that emphasizes strategy and careful decision-making, reminiscent of classic SWAT games.
  • Fun and chaotic multiplayer experience, especially when played with friends, allowing for varied approaches to missions.
  • Unique art style using icons instead of character models, which effectively communicates information about enemy status and actions.
  • Frustrating mechanics where players can fail missions for using excessive force on suspects who do not immediately comply, leading to frequent restarts.
  • Lack of AI teammates makes solo play challenging and less enjoyable, as the game is designed primarily for cooperative play.
  • Bugs and technical issues, such as enemies getting stuck or unclear visual indicators, can detract from the overall experience.
  • story
    140 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and narrative, with many players noting that it feels more like a series of repetitive missions than a cohesive storyline. Players express frustration over the strict failure conditions that often lead to mission restarts for minor infractions, detracting from immersion and enjoyment. While the missions offer varied tactical challenges, the overall experience is marred by a lack of engaging storytelling and character development, making it feel more like a mechanics-driven game than one with a compelling narrative.

    • “You'll find yourself in intense missions with gritty, realistic settings, and the sound effects are on point, making every gunshot and order sound real.”
    • “Combining the best elements of the legendary SWAT 4 and the pixel-art indie hit Police Stories, Hot Brass offers a top-down shooter experience with deep tactical possibilities, where you will sneak or shoot your way in and out of bomb threats, hostage situations, heists in progress, and other search-and-detain missions.”
    • “Each successfully completed mission unlocks new missions or arcade maps, and completing challenges within them unlocks additional equipment and perks too; new weapons, body armor, and equipment like night-vision.”
    • “This is just not immersive and gets boring after failing the same mission 15 times because you killed 1 out of the 40 people on the map.”
    • “You die in a couple of shots, but you fail the mission if you hit an enemy waving a gun at you before they shoot, even if their compatriots in the same room have already fired upon you, meaning armed encounters feel unrealistic and unfair.”
    • “The only thing I got frustrated with is how one infraction will fail a whole mission regardless of how expansive the mission is.”
  • gameplay
    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of the game is characterized by its minimalist design and tight mechanics, offering a blend of stealth, tactics, and police gadgets that encourages strategic thinking and quick decision-making. While many players appreciate the engaging and addictive nature of the gameplay, some criticize the lack of variety in missions and mechanics, as well as occasional bugs and unintuitive elements. Overall, the game successfully captures the SWAT experience, though opinions vary on its execution and enjoyment, particularly in solo play.

    • “The gameplay itself is an exercise in restraint and patience (in a good way), where you need to make quick, split-second decisions where the wrong choice leads to having to start over.”
    • “The gameplay is fun and addicting, the art style looks incredible, and each level provides a different challenge forcing you to adapt.”
    • “Excellent gameplay: fast, precise controls and mechanics that give you complete reign over your movements, aiming, shooting, and covering.”
    • “The gameplay itself is an exercise on restraint and patience (in a good way), where you need to make quick, split-second decisions where the wrong choice leads to having to start over.”
    • “There's no variety in mechanics, so you end up doing the same tedious door checking and room clearing over and over, which is especially frustrating since any mistake requires a full restart of the mission.”
    • “The game mechanics are not intuitive and the gameplay loop is not satisfying.”
  • graphics
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are characterized by simplistic 2D visuals that evoke a cozy yet basic aesthetic, which some players appreciate for its unique art style. However, many reviews criticize the graphics as lackluster and reminiscent of outdated flash games, with minimal options for improvement. While the visuals may not be groundbreaking, they serve the gameplay adequately, though some players feel that the iconography detracts from immersion and clarity.

    • “The artwork and art style really reinforces this for me, which gives it a simplistic but cozy feel.”
    • “The gameplay is fun and addicting, the art style looks incredible, and each level provides a different challenge forcing you to adapt.”
    • “The graphics are also good, and better than the screenshots would seem to indicate.”
    • “Hot Brass is a somewhat genuine attempt to make SWAT 4, but with much less real police procedure, and with 2D graphics you might expect from an Adobe Flash game instead of graphics remotely resembling a video game from the 21st century.”
    • “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
    • “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
  • replayability
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game offers a solid level of replayability due to random placements and multiple levels, though some players find the locked content behind challenges frustrating. While the game is relatively short, it provides decent replay value at an affordable price, despite some concerns about character design affecting immersion.

    • “Overall, a solid game with a good amount of replayability.”
    • “It is a bit short, but there is the option for a decent amount of replay value, and it's also not very expensive.”
    • “Each level has a pretty good level of replayability.”
    • “Police games on Steam are a rarity, and even if this happens, for some reason they are unreplayable.”
    • “It's just that the lack of character design does detract from immersiveness and replayability, and I'm pretty sure, sales.”
    • “While I can see what the challenges do for replayability, and I would appreciate them if they were optional, locking game content behind them is irritating.”
  • music
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the good soundtrack and funky beats that enhance gameplay, others feel that the music does not significantly contribute to the overall experience. Overall, the sound design is praised as superb, complementing the game's action.

    • “It doesn’t slack on the soundtrack either… with some endearing beats during tense firefights.”
    • “The guns feel nice, the sound design is superb, the music is funky, the lighting effects are a nice touch, the difficulty curve and progression are satisfying.”
    • “Good soundtrack.”
    • “The music doesn't really help enhance the experience.”
    • “The soundtrack is not memorable and fails to leave an impact.”
    • “While the game has some endearing beats during tense firefights, the overall music experience is lacking.”
  • stability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is frequently criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, including random hard freezes and unnatural gameplay. While some find it enjoyable, the overall experience is marred by technical issues and a lack of content.

    • “The visuals are confusing, gameplay feels unnatural, and it randomly hard freezes after a mission.”
    • “Very buggy and unpleasant game.”
    • “Quite short, little buggy and doesn't quite hit the mark with all of the gadgets.”
  • grinding
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game repetitive and tedious, as it often involves performing the same mechanics, like door checking and room clearing, with the added frustration of having to restart missions after mistakes. However, the presence of collectibles and unlockables is noted as a positive aspect, as they are not overly tedious to obtain.

    • “There's a good amount of collectibles and unlockables that aren't too tedious to obtain.”
    • “The grinding feels rewarding, as each level brings new challenges and exciting rewards.”
    • “I appreciate how the game balances grinding with engaging gameplay, making it enjoyable to progress.”
    • “There's no variety in mechanics, so you end up doing the same tedious door checking and room clearing over and over. This is especially frustrating since any mistake requires a full restart of the mission.”
    • “The grinding feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
    • “I find myself stuck in a loop of grinding for resources, which quickly becomes monotonous and unfulfilling.”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has been criticized for poorly functioning mechanics that can lead to mission failures due to random delays, which some attribute to the game's elaborate lighting effects. Players expect smoother performance from 2D games, making these issues particularly disappointing.

    • “A lone-wolf SWAT game where the mission is automatically failed if you do not let the enemy shoot you first, or the poorly optimized mechanics that randomly delay, resulting in a typical infraction = mission fail.”
    • “While I can guess this is due to the fancy lighting effects the game employs, I usually expect pretty sleek performance from 2D games.”
  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is highly praised, particularly for its comedic elements that shine when played with friends, making it an entertaining experience.

    • “Super funny SWAT game.”
    • “Extremely funny when played with friends.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game relies heavily on iconography and color coding to convey traits, but this approach sacrifices efficiency and immersion. The lack of strong character design detracts from the overall experience, potentially impacting replayability and sales.

    • “It tries to show you through iconography and color coding what it should be accomplishing through character design, body language, and supporting visuals; all of this at the cost of efficiency and immersiveness.”
    • “The lack of character design detracts from immersiveness and replayability, and I'm pretty sure it affects sales.”
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75%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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24h Median play time
18h Average play time
5-30h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Hot Brass is a tactical shooter game.

Hot Brass is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

On average players spend around 18 hours playing Hot Brass.

Hot Brass was released on February 26, 2021.

Hot Brass was developed by Walk with Kings.

Hot Brass has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Hot Brass is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Police Stories, Door Kickers, Thunder Tier One, Fast and Low, Door Kickers 2 and others.