NOT A HERO

With a very high-pace and addictive gameplay, Not A Hero will have you enjoying every single second you play. On top of this, the sarcasm in this game will have you laughing constantly, with a very clever statement about politics.

78%Game Brain Score

humor, gameplay

grinding, stability

85% User Score Based on 1,972 reviews

Critic Score 71%Based on 26 reviews

Platforms

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About

NOT A HERO is a single player tactical shooter game with a comedy theme. It was developed by Roll7 and was released on July 8, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Not A Hero" is a fast-paced, 2D shooter game where players control a professional assassin turned campaign manager for a mayoral candidate from the future. The goal is to clean up the city by eliminating the criminal underworld and winning over voters through intense gunfire and unique character skills. The game features ISO-Slant™ technology and a unique political platform, making for a memorable and action-packed experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,972 reviews

humor539 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

Hilarious and absurd storyline featuring Bunnylord, a purple rabbit running for mayor.
Fast-paced gameplay with a unique cover system and a variety of characters, each with distinct abilities.
Great soundtrack and pixel art style that enhances the overall experience.

Frustrating difficulty spikes, especially in later levels, with no checkpoints leading to repetitive gameplay.
Controls can be clunky and unresponsive, particularly the cover and execution mechanics.
Limited replayability once all objectives are completed, and some characters feel underpowered compared to others.

humor
543 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The humor in "Not a Hero" is a mix of absurdity and dark comedy, often hitting the mark with clever dialogue and quirky characters, particularly the protagonist Bunnylord. While many players find the humor genuinely funny and engaging, some criticize it for being overly random or juvenile, leading to a divide in reception. Overall, the game is noted for its entertaining writing and comedic elements, though the humor can become repetitive over time.
- “Not a hero is not a serious game, it's an absurd and funny tale and it does not take itself seriously.”
- “The game is laugh out loud funny.”
- “Absolutely hilarious mission briefings from bunnylord and post mission critiques at the milkshake bar.”
- “Tons of unfunny, madlibs-style, 'haha so random' dialogue.”
- “It's criminally unfunny.”
gameplay
440 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
53%
6%
The gameplay of "Not a Hero" is a mix of fast-paced, comedic run-and-gun action with cover mechanics that can be both engaging and frustrating. While many players appreciate the variety of characters and the humor, some find the gameplay repetitive and marred by clunky mechanics, leading to a mixed reception overall. Despite its flaws, the game offers a satisfying challenge and a unique style that appeals to fans of arcade shooters.
- “Gameplay captures a cinematic feel to shoot-outs as you dive from enemies, dip in and out behind walls, and violently scatter the enemy pixels across the walls in a handful of levels which take the form of skyscrapers and tower blocks.”
- “Not a hero is a very enjoyable 2-1/4-d cover shooter with incredibly tight controls, fantastic humor that even changes parts of the dialogue when you replay a level, superbly satisfying gameplay, and a perfect level of difficulty and replayability similar to Super Meat Boy in which you refine your strategy for a level each time you fail it until you get it perfectly.”
- “The gameplay is fast, interesting and fun.”
- “While it's always nice to see proper British representation, the gameplay gets repetitive fast.”
- “Not a hero is a fun game, although the gameplay is a very mediocre mess, that makes this game only worth checking out on sale.”
- “The gameplay is the biggest issue for most people here, myself included.”
story
337 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
75%
2%
The story of "Not a Hero" is a humorous and absurd tale centered around a purple anthropomorphic bunny named Bunnylord, who aims to become mayor while enlisting various quirky characters to assist in his violent campaign. While the narrative is often described as shallow and serves primarily as a backdrop for gameplay, it features entertaining dialogue and comedic elements that resonate with players, despite some finding the humor hit-or-miss. Overall, the story is engaging enough to enhance the experience, though it lacks depth and can become repetitive.
- “The story is good and funny, really serves the game well.”
- “The game is cute, its adorable in a dark slapstick, nonsense kind of way, with colorful characters and a very fun story.”
- “The story is witty, silly and downright hilarious.”
- “The game's story isn't anything deep at all, but it is funny at times.”
- “The story was not good.”
- “The story/plot is basic and unimportant.”
music
248 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
73%
22%
5%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, particularly for its energetic chiptune soundtrack that complements the fast-paced gameplay and quirky humor. Many players appreciate the unique tracks for each level, describing the soundtrack as "legendary" and a highlight of the overall experience. However, some critiques mention that the repetitive nature of the music can detract from immersion, though it generally remains enjoyable for fans of retro-style soundscapes.
- “The soundtrack is fantastic, loved the graphic style and over-the-top, badass humor.”
- “I dig the game in so many ways - the soundtrack is awesome, the art is fun, and finally getting a mission done 100% after 30 attempts feels quite rewarding.”
- “This game is worth your money, the soundtrack is amazing.”
- “The music is just very very very bad.”
- “Music is mediocre and humor is pretty lame.”
- “The design is cute and the music is on point, but they quickly get buried under the invasive random humor, which becomes obnoxious after merely ten minutes.”
graphics
160 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
52%
2%
The game's graphics are characterized by a vibrant and charming pixel art style that appeals to fans of retro aesthetics, though some players note that the visuals lack sharpness and can be difficult to read during gameplay. While many appreciate the colorful worlds and creative design, there are criticisms regarding the absence of display options and technical issues that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the graphics are seen as a strong point, complementing the game's humor and action, despite some inconsistencies in quality.
- “This game is really cool, from the graphics to the funky soundtrack!!!”
- “A very challenging game with beautiful visuals, indeed.”
- “The graphics are the tried and tested pixel style, and whilst this form is becoming ever more popular, Not a Hero's style just looks a lot cleaner and crisper than most pixel games.”
- “There are no display/graphics options either, and the game opens up in a window by default, so you just have to magically figure out the alt+enter combination for fullscreen, I guess.”
- “Overall, I find the controls inaccurate for this kind of game; your character tends to go further than you intended, and enemies have godlike reflexes. The action is often hard to read because the graphics are really bad (and I'm not against pixels because I've enjoyed lots of indie games), and it's really hard to understand where you can get under cover (covers are part of the background scenery).”
- “Game was promising with its pretty pixel art graphics and silly humor, but I am halfway through and am fairly disappointed with the extremely repetitive gameplay.”
replayability
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
61%
6%
The game "Not a Hero" offers a mixed bag of replayability, with some players enjoying the challenge of speedrunning levels and experimenting with different characters and tactics. While features like multiple endings, unlockable characters, and various challenges provide some incentive to replay, others feel that once the main objectives are completed, the replay value diminishes significantly. Overall, the game is praised for its fun gameplay and humor, but its relatively short length may limit long-term engagement for some players.
- “The replayability is incentivized even more by having 4 possible endings (mayor, prime minister, king, global megalord) with their own end screen and an epilogue exchange with a certain special character.”
- “Not a hero is a very enjoyable 2-1/4-d cover shooter with incredibly tight controls, fantastic humor that even changes parts of the dialogue when you replay a level, superbly satisfying gameplay, and a perfect level of difficulty and replayability similar to Super Meat Boy in which you refine your strategy for a level each time you fail it until you get it perfectly.”
- “This, coupled with a wide selection of unlockable characters (each with their own distinct play style) gives the game some solid replay value.”
- “The only issues I had with Not a Hero is that the keyboard controls felt a bit awkward at times and the game does not offer much replayability, hence there is low replay value.”
- “Not a lot of replayability after all the challenges are done though.”
- “A serious lack of replayability.”
grinding
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
10%
80%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to a challenging progression system and time-based challenges that require frequent restarts. While some appreciate the absence of traditional grinding, others feel that the need to complete objectives can still lead to a monotonous experience. The game is described as having enjoyable elements, but the grind can detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “The no grinding aspect makes it a fun break if you are used to grinding games.”
- “This is tedious game design, especially given how the game is kind of difficult.”
- “Time-based challenges are ridiculously tedious because it's so easy to fail, and you have to restart from the beginning over and over again.”
- “Without that, the game quickly becomes mind-numbingly tedious.”
character development
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
15%
14%
Character development in the game is minimal, primarily conveyed through a diner scene after each level that provides some context for the characters, though many players feel disconnected from them. While the character designs are praised for their creativity and functionality in gameplay, the overall narrative lacks depth, leaving players questioning the significance of the characters. The game effectively encourages diverse play styles through its character designs, but fails to fully capitalize on its wacky premise.
- “The character designs and function do a good job at encouraging different play styles.”
- “Otherwise you'd be like, 'who are these assassins and Bunnylord and why should I care about them?' Pretty clever way of going about character development.”
- “The diner scene after every level is actual character development.”
- “Otherwise you'd be like, 'Who the hell are these assassins and Bunnylord and why should I care about them?' Pretty clever way of going about character development.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game's stability is frequently criticized, with numerous reports of glitches, crashes, and unpolished mechanics that hinder gameplay, particularly in achieving certain objectives. Notably, a significant level is reported to be uncompletable without specific workarounds, which adds to player frustration. While some users find the game enjoyable, the overall consensus points to a need for improved stability and bug fixes.
- “Not a Hero is a very fun game that is almost bug-free with a decent learning curve.”
- “There are a good handful of glitches, and the enemy-spawn variety as well as the random weapon drops when you kill enemies can make trying to accomplish the hardest achievements more of a chore than intended, as well as other unpolished aspects like random crashes and the secret levels not having a lot to show for them.”
- “The execution mechanics are buggy at times and may drive you insane when trying to complete side objectives.”
- “It's a fun game; however, the eighth level (out of 21) is glitched so that it can't be completed or progressed past normally. It is technically possible to get past it if at the end of the level you have a grenade power-up with you that you can use in place of the incorrectly positioned scripted explosion that glitches the level.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The optimization of "Not a Hero" has been widely criticized, with users reporting poor performance and a lack of customizable controls, as key rebinding is not supported and the default settings are deemed inadequate. Additionally, the absence of video settings further detracts from the overall experience, contributing to a sense of frustration among players.
- “Not a hero is a fun game at times, but the game suffers from poor optimization and repetitive gameplay.”
- “The game is so badly optimized you can't even rebind your keys, and the default controls are awful. There are no video settings at all; the only settings for controls are to configure an Xbox controller.”
- “Not a hero is a fun game at times, but the game suffers from poor optimization and repetitive gameplay.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional experience of the game to be intense, particularly feeling heart-wrenching disappointment upon dying after significant progress, such as defeating the initial boss. This struggle fosters a sense of growth and resilience as players learn from their mistakes.
- “It is heart-wrenching to die after passing the initial boss fight portion, but you learn from your mistakes.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere and voice acting in the game are highly praised, effectively maintaining player engagement even as the story and humor begin to lose their freshness midway through.
- “The atmosphere and voice acting are strong enough to keep you engaged, probably for an entire playthrough.”