700 years from now, Agent Silverman is a renowned Exorcist on the case of a missing person. His investigation leads him to a small ghost town called "Town of Machine". Uncover unspeakable horrors and fight the grotesque monstrosities that lurk in this forsaken place.
The game features solid controls and satisfying gunplay, making combat engaging and rewarding.
There is a good variety of weapons and items, along with secrets to discover, enhancing exploration and replayability.
The unique art style and diverse environments contribute to an immersive experience, appealing to fans of top-down shooters.
The difficulty spikes significantly towards the end, particularly with the final boss, which can feel frustrating and unfair.
Companion AI is often ineffective, leading to them running into danger and becoming more of a hindrance than a help.
The game suffers from poor UI design and lack of guidance, making navigation and inventory management cumbersome.
story
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
72%
9%
The game's story is criticized for being a weak aspect, with many reviewers noting that it prioritizes gameplay over narrative depth. While some appreciate the lore and connections to the developer's previous work, others find the dialogue cringeworthy and the quests nonsensical, leading to frustration, especially due to the lack of quest markers. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the action rather than a compelling narrative experience.
“You have some freedom of movement on your journey, some secrets to uncover, and lots of items that you can combine together to create more powerful healing potions or ammo types as you fulfill nonsensical quests with world-class writing on top of it - I recommend a beer or two before you start reading the dialogues.”
“Nice story, I like how the lore blends with other games.”
“The gameplay basically consists of fighting your way through areas, scouring for loot to keep your supply of health, ammo, armor, etc. topped up, finding keys or other methods to open up access to areas you couldn't go into before, combining items to make better items, craft ammunition, upgrade your guns, etc., and progressing through a story that has you unraveling the mysteries of the Town of Machine, and mowing down all the monsters, demons, and demon-possessed humans that get in your way.”
“As a pretty big fan of the developer's previous game 'Unloved', 'Town of Machine' is honestly a pretty big disappointment for me - even more so knowing it takes place in 'Unloved's' universe with its stronger focus on story, lore, and a more handcrafted campaign experience.”
“The ending to the story is a weak cliffhanger ending, but that is to be expected with side stories like these.”
“A lot of what I have problems with could be fixed: things like no quest markers hurt the game, especially when you have to get one item to progress that is really hidden compared to everything else.”
graphics
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
37%
13%
The game's graphics receive mixed reviews, with some praising the crisp art style, diverse environments, and appealing aesthetic that blends elements from various genres. However, others criticize the visuals as inconsistent, with some describing them as reminiscent of outdated graphics, leading to a disconnect between the game's mechanics and its visual presentation. Overall, while the use of Unreal Engine allows for some nice graphical options, opinions vary significantly on the quality and execution of the visuals.
“The shooting feels good, the art style is crisp and satisfying, and the environments are diverse and interesting.”
“Very nice and appealing aesthetic with a mix of synthwave, Silent Hill, and some adorable character designs.”
“Game visuals are so bad... dragged it straight to the junkyard.”
“It's sort of a Doom meets a Metroidvania meets Resident Evil, all presented in a top-down three-quarters view, with a PS1-era sprites-on-3D aesthetic, without the wiggly, jerky PS1 fixed-point polygons.”
“The graphics use a mix of 2D sprites for the characters in a fully 3D environment.”
gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
72%
17%
The gameplay is primarily focused on fast-paced shooter combat, emphasizing action over narrative, which may not appeal to all players. While the isometric shooter features engaging mechanics like loot collection, crafting, and a new game plus mode, it struggles with cohesion as it attempts to blend various genres. The interconnected map design and level aesthetics are praised, but some reviewers feel the game would benefit from a slower, survival horror approach.
“The style is solid, the gameplay is neat.”
“The gameplay basically consists of fighting your way through areas, scouring for loot to keep your supply of health, ammo, armor, etc topped up - finding keys or other methods to open up access to areas you couldn't go into before - combining items to make better items, craft ammunition, upgrade your guns, etc - and progressing through a story that has you unraveling the mysteries of the town of machine, and mowing down all the monsters, demons, and demon-possessed humans that get in your way.”
“If you enjoy shooter combat served raw, you will enjoy this; otherwise beware that this game leans much more on gameplay than story.”
“Don't get me wrong, because it's a fun isometric shooter that has a very appealing aesthetic and some excellent level design, but the game and its mechanics feel completely at odds with themselves as it tries to be a mix of the Alien Breed reboot, Doom, and Resident Evil - on paper that sounds pretty great, but it just doesn't gel together as well as I would have hoped.”
“There are some great things this game does, especially the new game plus mode and the fully interconnected map design, but I feel it would have been much better if it was a more slower-paced survival horror type of game; it has the mechanics and level design to support that style of play.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is praised for being underrated and lacking aggressive monetization tactics, such as advertising, which often plague other titles. Initially perceived as a potential cash grab due to its unusual name, players found it to be a worthwhile experience after engaging with it.
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development is highlighted by a visually appealing aesthetic that combines elements of synthwave and Silent Hill, complemented by charming character designs. This unique blend enhances the overall experience, making the characters memorable and engaging.
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is criticized for poor performance, with users reporting 100% GPU usage even on medium settings, leading to frequent hitches and stuttering during gameplay.
“Performance is lacking; it uses 100% of my GPU even on medium settings and hitches occasionally.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game has received mixed feedback, with some users highlighting its quality while others find it lacking. Overall, the sound design complements the gameplay but may not stand out as a memorable feature.
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is described as oppressive and tense, enhanced by swarming demonic enemies and retro FPS-style weaponry. This combination creates a thrilling survival experience reminiscent of classic titles, while incorporating elements like inventory management and crafting to deepen the immersion.
“It's a fun and tense top-down action/survival shooter that combines elements of the dev's previous titles such as Unloved and Dimension Drifter: swarming, demonic enemies, retro-FPS quality guns, and an oppressive atmosphere, with Resident Evil-style inventory management, ammunition crafting, and finding key items to proceed.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers a solid level of replayability, as each playthrough presents new challenges and surprises, keeping players engaged and on their toes. The initial experience focuses on discovery, allowing players to learn and adapt to various traps and obstacles.
“The game has a fair amount of replayability: your first playthrough will be more of a discovery, advancing slowly so you can figure out the traps - you never really know what the game will throw at you, so you are always on your toes.”