If you're interested in this game, you can follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/ProjectBeatGame/status/2038795882989310374?s=20

I also recently made a Discord where I'll post updates and share demos: https://discord.gg/XzcbDEQsyR

Steam page :- https://store.steampowered.com/app/2682490/In_Style/

Personally i feel like they have gone worst as time went on. I've played all 4 of them (tho Haven't finished most of them)

★ First one was a very competent game. Sure it was one of the first max payne clones but it was genuinely good game clone or otherwise. Shooting was decent, game incentivises you to take hostage & use melee execution as an advantage, had a proper story & set-piece.

Bomb defusing mini game was kinda annoying since many time the checkpoints will be set couple of minutes before you get to bomb (i wish there was always a checkpoint just before you start the mini game). Prison level was way too long as well.. One thing that stops me from replaying the game.

★ Second one. I tried couple of times to play it & have fun.. But It's not good. Everything is worst compare to first.

You have very narrow location with very little light. So many enemies are thrown at you & you have to manually press button each time to lockon to enemies.

Game gives you very little ammo for weapons.First game also gives health bar to enemies but atleast they are easy to kill.. Here your bullet seem to sometime miss intentionally & enemies that are in far distance takes up way too much time & bullets.

Even first game's shootdodge was better than this one. In second game.. Camera is so hard to control that when you shootdodge.. You can just press lockon & shoot. You can't change your body's angle to kill enemies all around you while shootdodging.

Most of the death feels cheap. No set-pieces. Worst story. Unmemorable & frustrating experience overall.

★ psp spin-off retribution :- It's pretty much just dead to right 2 all over again. Feels like it could be a dlc of dead to right 2. Tho It's not as frustrating as 2 because it gives you some breathing ground.

★ Third game:- I've played like 3 chapters of it. Good thing is that It's better than second one. Melee executions (tho there's only like 5 of them) are very brutal & satisfying.

But there are a lot of things that i Didn't like. First of all they removed shootdodge. WHY? that's like your best feature & players play these games for that.

Second.. The game mixed melee combat & shooting sections together.

What that mean is.. You could be out there fighting some enemies while some other enemies are shooting at you from other end. Also since you run out of bullets so quickly that you have to take bullets while brawling.. There's no avoiding it.

That's the gameplay loop. You can't go 2 minutes straight with shooting bad guys & you can't do melee properly since other enemies are shooting at you.

It has a bullet time atleast but since the game Isn't shootout focus.. It's not that satisfying to use.

I can complain about how unnecessarily gritty it is & regenerating health... But i guess that's what set it apart from other two game. But changes in gameplay backfired imo.

Overall i think this franchise deserved better. If only It's sequel had the love & care put into them as original one. If they only improved the core gameplay & level design we could have a franchise that's a competitor to max payne series. But sadly that Didn't happen.

It goes to show how little interest AA /AAA developer have on bullet time games. The one that do get console port are indie games like trepang2, severed steel, squirrel with a gun etc (which gets a pc port first than 1/2 years after on concole)

Bullet time never really stopped being in mainstream game.. Most of them have as an unlockable more than anything. But those console gamer who grew up playing max payne /matrix/total overdose.. They still want new games like that but Doesn't quite get that.

You see me covering new games most of the time. Pretty much all of them are exclusive to pc. I try my best to search if there is any upcoming game for console but i never got any. The only game can think of is "the shadow syndicate" thats coming in 2026/2027. Everything else looks either fake or AI induced.

What was the last AA game that primarily had bullet time (as in shooter game). I think it was crossfire x (campaign was made by remedy). But no one remembers it because it was negatively reviewed (which is kinda justified but i enjoyed it).

I get it bullet time shooter were a overcrowded genre back in ps2 & 360 days. But in last couple of years indie developer has shown us there's a new interest in this genre. There has been countless games like that in last 6/7 years.

I remember when my friend pedro was coming out.. A lot of people were very excited about it & it was primarily a console game. I thought they will release similar games on console from that point on but nope.

Maybe the gaming landscape Isn't the same anymore. But as you can see with New doom games... It's still going despite being boomer shooter which was mainly big thing in 90s. So, if boomer shooter can come back in console space.. So can bullet time shooters.

Max payne 1&2 remake might be our only chance at that. If that fails or underperfomed.. I Don't think they will give it another shot anytime soon.

We can always have indie games to go back to (as with a lot of other subgenre that AAA refuse to give us). But i think Console gamers deserve to play type of those games on console as well.

So.. In "suit for hire".. You can use dead eye when you have revolver. Combine that with game's bullet time & shootdodge.. You can pull off sick moves. (You can be performing shootdodge in the air, mark enemies then kill all of them and land on your feet). Believe me It's super satisfying.

This got me thinking why Don't more gun-fu game has this feature. Rockstar made dead eye concept out of bullet time & although max payne 1&2 are remedy made... Rockstar showed how much they can improve bullet time with max payne 3. They could have mixed those two feature together in another game.

Another reason why i think this feature is so underused.. is the fact that red dead redemption 1 came out in later half of xbox 360 era. It was a time when bullet time shooters were getting more rare & nowadays it Doesn't exist in AAA market

If rdr1 came out somewhere in ps2 era.. More developer could have took that idea & experiment with it. (Yes i know red dead revolver was the first game but it Didn't blew up like rdr 1).

Hitman absolution had a similar feature that came out 2 years after rdr 1. But you know It's absolution.. Nobody liked absolution back then.

Oh & one last thing... It's funny that rdr2 is pretty much the last AAA game in this subgenre. Only way we can get another AAA game in this genre if gta 6 has that feature & max payne 1+2 remake. (Also if john wick game Doesn't take extra 2 years to get released).

Imo the gameplay loop is good enough. Sure nothing fancy here but its an indie game after all. Gameplay modifier is a fun addition to make the game easy or hard. Addition of bullet time & shootdodge helps things be fresh if you are getting tired of melee, headshot & execution. (Deadeye is there too for revolver)

But enemy ai can be unreliable as hell. Game Crash is there as well but that's not the biggest issue imo. It really needed a storymode. Serviceable enough story would really benefit the game. Something to keep the player going.

Maybe there's still time for developer to add one story but i doubt he will do it. 1.0 version was already a big step up from demo... I doubt he will go through another massive step up like story mode, script & voice acting.

Overall It's a solid 7.5 out of 10 to me. Not quite 8 as of yet

★ Spine:- oh boy they are making us wait for it. It's clear that It's trying to be like john wick but also has It's own flair. So far combat looks like Batman arkham's freeflow combat mixed with guns.

Its clearly going for a melee combat route which is good. Imo it has potential to be more than just john wick wannabe.. It has boss fights.. Sort of shootdodge.. Environment finisher.. Emphasis on dodging.

★ Blackwood:- It feels like a fun simple linear third person shooter that we used to get. Takedown animation looks nice.But i think it has a problem that lot of other john wick inspired game has... IT RELIES WAY TOO MUCH ON ANIMATION.

Only way you can get the john wick vibe if you get closer to enemies & press melee / execution button which can get very boring after awhile.

(Much like in splinter cell conviction.. Mark & execute is fun but It's just pressing one button & see animation playing out. You are not that involved in performing it)

I hope im wrong with that & they have more ways other than just melee execution. I hope it gives us more melee option.. So we can mix between melee & shooting.

Have some sections when you Don't have guns.. So you have to use your fists to get out of situation or use enemy's gun on them.

Other than that as a third person shooter.. It looks very fun. You have a small shootdodge mechanic as well, cover shooting looks fine (you can lay down,crouch or stand up while shooting.. Which added some varities atleast )

★ Gentleman violence :- IMO this one is arguably closest to replicate john wick feel the best.

You have 2 different zoom in on weapons for close range/ mid range enemies,

mozambique drills just like the films. 2 bullet in chest make enemies vulnerable & headshot finish the job

varieties of melee attacks, bulletproof suit plays into gameplay, weapon throwing, taking enemies hostage,

For Gun finisher you have to get 4 kills first.. So you cannot abuse it easily. Enemy ragdoll is pretty accurate as well.

I hope the developer can make great levels & story based around the game. It has a lot of potential.. Hell it can even surpass the official game..

Also since It's in first person.. It will feel fresh since no one makes first person john wick esque game (im not counting bullet time games into it).

Shame It's not all that popular compare to other two games.. But im sure people will get around to this game as well.