“El Paso, Elsewhere is an intense, personal indie shooter that you’ll want to see through to the end.”
Pros
Purposeful old-school aesthetic
Gripping, emotional narrative
Incorporates themes into gameplay
Intense Max Payne-inspired gunplay
Cons
Wonky hit detection
Out of place boss fights
At first, I assumed El Paso, Elsewhere’s deliberately old-school fashion can be off-putting.
For a sport with such a powerful narrative focus, it felt bizarre for cutscenes to play out in a low-polygon fashion the place the characters wouldn’t emote or transfer a lot. It additionally performs similar to Max Payne and different early third-person shooters, slightly than the extra refined video games within the style from latest years like Outriders. The extra I performed, the extra I got here to simply accept that these selections weren’t simply intentional, however the very coronary heart of the challenge.
That’s to not say it’s an ideal expertise; typically, all that purposeful jank does get in the best way of a trendy shootout. Still, El Paso, Elsewhere‘s early 2000s aesthetics are crucial to maintaining the oddball shooter’s otherworldly feeling as gamers descend additional into its essential character’s literal and private hell. What begins as a supernatural, neo-noir tribute to style greats like Max Payne and Blade morphs over time into an intimate story about abuse. Clearly a really private challenge from Strange Scaffold’s Xalavier Nelson Jr., the tough edges of El Paso, Elsewhere are what make it a ravishing, must-play indie.
You maintain going
The preliminary premise of El Paso, Elsewhere is easy sufficient: James Savage is a monster hunter, his ex-girlfriend Draculae is a vampire, and he has to kill her to cease a cataclysmic occasion. Many of the older video games El Paso, Elsewhere shares its aesthetic with won’t have gone a lot additional than that with the premise. But, just like the Max Payne video games, the private struggles of its essential character floor a narrative that you simply’ll need to see throughout, regardless of the sport’s rugged visible fashion.
It’s an emotional story that’s laborious to place down …
El Paso, Elsewhere is a narrative about vampirism in additional methods than one. The additional James descends, the extra the layers of his relationship and historical past with Draculae are pulled again. I discovered extra about how James had abused medication up to now, one thing I, because the participant, needed to pressure him to relapse on at any time when I healed throughout my journey. His relationship with Draculae appears candy, although tragic, at first, just for it to develop into clear that it was a damaging and abusive relationship constructed round chasing a relaxing sense of affection that had lengthy since dissipated. The additional James descends into the 50 flooring beneath the supernatural El Paso motel the sport takes place in, the extra unhinged the expertise will get.
It’s right here the place the low-poly aesthetics shine. Objects are recognizable but in addition blurry and untextured. Levels will shift kind as James makes his approach by means of them, and typically, cutscenes which might be speculated to happen on an elevator between ranges will as a substitute take the type of a motel room or desert. It’s trippy, mind-bending, and typically nonsensical, however that each one places me within the mindscape of James in his excruciating journey.
Strange Scaffold
It’s an emotional story that’s laborious to place down however reveals how private this story is to its developer. Xalavier Nelson Jr. voices James and breaks the fourth wall typically, so a whole lot of the time, the developer is talking on to the participant.
These struggles are highlighted, however there’s additionally an undercurrent of hope and encouragement by means of small issues just like the loss of life message being “you keep going” as a substitute of “you died.” Indie video games that cope with advanced emotional subjects aren’t new, however El Paso, Elsewhere tells its story in a approach that’s by some means each fantastical and humanistic. It saved me enjoying by means of the tip and all of El Paso’s ups and downs.
More than Max Payne
James’ charming descent towards Draculae is break up into ranges that begin out wanting like motel rooms and hallways however get more and more weirder. Typically, these ranges have gamers blasting by means of enemies as they save hostages and typically struggle a robust boss. It’s instantly noticeable at first look that El Paso, Elsewhere is tremendously impressed by Remedy Entertainment’s older Max Payne video games. From pistols to shotguns to Uzis, plethora encompasses a plethora of weapons that may shortly shred aside enemies at their disposal as they drive round and even decelerate time to tug off excellent photographs. El Paso, Elsewhere is a method of third-person shooter that hasn’t been made shortly, however it does discover small methods to replace the gameplay to make it extra pleasurable.
Strange Scaffold
Ranged assaults are comparatively gradual and solely come from a few enemies. It’s uncommon to be ambushed and shortly killed by an enemy prefer it typically is in these older Max Payne video games. The beacons of sunshine that shoot up from every goal additionally imply it’s practically not possible to get misplaced, as most ranges lack roofs.
El Paso, Elsewhere’s gameplay makes me really feel like a badass as I dive right into a room and take out a number of enemies without delay, however James is fairly frail and ammo is scarce, so the tide can shortly flip towards him. It feels extra “floaty” than most up to date third-person shooters, however it displays James’s fragile and weightless psychological state by means of gameplay.
I couldn’t assist however really feel unhealthy for what I used to be doing to James each time I used tablets to heal him, encouraging his addictions in order that I might see the tip of this tragic story. I suppose I wasn’t a lot better than Draculae in that approach.
Going old-school
I at all times admire a sport that finds intelligent methods to intertwine its narrative and gameplay, though the typically intentional friction of this third-person shooter does sometimes trigger issues. The most important points are that James’ hitbox is wonky up shut, and the audio and visible indications that James has been hit weren’t clear after I was working round continuously firing off weapons. That led to unintentional deaths after I was unaware of the injury I took in sure conditions.
Strange Scaffold
You’ll need to fiddle with the digital camera settings earlier than you begin too, because it tends to get caught too typically for the sport’s wall-filled ranges. Thankfully, I might modify how the digital camera’s top was offset, and after I did that to carry it additional down and nearer to James, the gameplay expertise was a lot better. The nearly Soulslike design of the boss fights additionally appears like a mismatch with the Max Payne-style gameplay, and people foes typically get caught in elements of the setting.
These points do present the hazards of embracing old-school design; there’s a purpose the business innovated on and improved issues like animation, hit indication, and digital camera angles. Still, the positives throughout narrative and gameplay far outweigh any of the technical points (or intentional selections) I had with El Paso, Elsewhere.
Once you perceive what the sport’s chilling, intimate story is saying and the way it’s bolstered by gameplay and aesthetics, you’ll have a tough time placing it down. El Paso, Elsewhere is among the most charming indies of the yr. It may make you uncomfortable, however that’s very a lot the purpose.
El Paso, Elsewhere was reviewed on PC.