Not a Hero: Super Snazzy Edition

Not a Hero focuses on the Bunny lord, a large purple, humanoid bunny whose sole purpose in life is to win the election for Mayor while cleaning up crime and to be beloved by all. To do this, Bunny lord has hired a group of ever so dangerous and colourful characters to kill a ton of bad guys and take out three deadly gang leaders ranging from a Russian mob boss, a gold studded pimp and a deadly female samurai with an eye patch. It doesn’t help that the Bunny Lord is corrupt as hell and his squad of antihero’s are hilariously crazy but at least they’re doing their bit for the community. Or are they?

It’s a simple concept that sees a pixilated 2D world where our player controls one of the 9 anti-heroes in various missions. There is a great deal of comedic elements here from visual puns, to verbal exchanges from our protagonists which is odd, surreal and crude yet brilliant humorous. It’s a bizarre satire on politics and takes elements of UK stereotypes to make them enjoyable such as a cockney South London lad called Steve who has a beer belly and calls you a muppet when you don’t reload. Then there’s Sam, a welsh gun slinger who says mint a lot, shoots fast and her downside is that she is Welsh. This not only adds to the diverse set of characteristics but also implements some interesting balancing components for the game and how you’ll play certain missions.

There are other factors to the comedy from ghost children, grenade juggling clowns and dead foxes on the mission prep screen to its awkwardly weird conversations from the bunny lord, whom often talks about international cat day. There’s very little to like about the comedy and its pretty spot on most of the time. You’ll only dislike it if you’re a bit too sensitive to a satire approach on stereotypes or don’t like naughty language.

Gameplay is extremely fast and energetic will some wondrously over the top antics on display. We are given an array of mechanical features such as using cover, special attacks and sliding which helps develop a strong platformer and shooter gameplay hybrid. It’s important to cover as you’ll die quickly if you don’t and I mean quickly. Kind of a little too quick if you ask me as the game can be extremely difficult at times, pushing out a load of enemies in one go at the worst of times but also without any checkpoints in the level, longer missions will at times become a tedious affair of trial and error. This is a tough game and forward thinking and tactics are required to succeed.

Players will engage in various missions that usually means blowing up stuff, killing people or stealing various items. There are events such as boss battles, chases and big shootouts to break up the flow and to keep you on your toes. With a number of challenges as well in each level adds a re-playability factor and gets players more engaged. It’s good to know that the aesthetics of side objectives change to keep things fresh when replaying. They’re little changes granted but enough to keep you from being bored of collecting the same joke item over and over. But completing these bonus objectives help unlock more hilarious characters with their own perks, weapons and speed of movement which can alter the way you traverse certain levels. This is the best aspect of level design and character interactions, as many characters can take different paths in certain levels, changing the course of play.

Players can pick up a range of special weapons such as nail bombs, turrets and a suicidal Cat bomb that sets off an epic explosion. Along with different ammo types, which help in a manner of ways, often to help achieve certain bonus objectives or ensure the heavier enemies are dealt with quickly. Acting as well as something visually simulating to watch the death and destruction but the power ups is helpful to the more strategic player.

As mentioned the game is trial and error based, learning how to overcome or plan your attack with each play through. Replaying levels will gradually make players more aware of certain factors like enemy movements, locations of power ups and weapons. Also with the knowledge you gain, you can choose a different character in order to benefit you. I will admit that some levels maybe a little too long and with no checkpoints there are times the game will prove slightly annoying. It was also a shame you can’t carry more than one power up or ammo type as picking up a new power up will entirely replace the one you had already. This could be for the aspect of challenge and strategy but for a game that’s pretty crazy and upbeat, it seems a massive restriction to only allow one power up at a time.

On a final note, this Super Snazzy Edition has a few additional levels where you play as the Bunny Lord himself, set with the task to cover up your involvement with the murders of hundreds of bad guys and crime bosses. It’s a great addition to the game, fast, explosive and filled with nifty humour.

Even with these flaws Not a Hero is definitely the most fun you could have with a 2D shooter that’s out now. It’s simply brilliant with its colourful imagery, fast paced action, comedic writing and over the top violence.

+ Fast and energetic gameplay
+ Very funny
+ Great replay value

- Annoying difficultly spikes
- Tedious trail and error format in longer levels

An Xbox One code for Not a Hero: Super Snazzy Edition was provided by Team 17 for the purpose of this review