What links Magnum PI, Ron Swanson, Ned Flanders, Ron Burgundy and Hercule Poirot? The answer is… a dashing ‘tash! Yes, the humble face lace has given all these characters their iconic look and it’s fair to say QUByte Interactive have also been inspired by the facial fur for their latest title. Mustache in Hell – is one of those cheaper than a pint style indie games, that doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel but instead delivers a short sharp burst of fun.
A twin stick shooter at its core, where you and your glorious moustache must battle hordes of demons, ghost and ghouls, all while collecting loot and an ever-growing arsenal of weapons – that will ultimately help you defeat an array of different bosses. It’s a bit of a one trick pony title, as you blast everything that moves across its five levels while doing a bit of exploring to find a secret or two as well. Oddly there is a bit of a tongue in cheek tale behind this endless “face furniture” loving blaster, as you play as John Mustache (yeah that’s his real name) a tough-as-nails cop, who just happens awake in the underworld one night. Not 100% alive or 100% dead, you quickly find out you’re next on the Reaper’s list, but you strike an unexpected deal with the Grim Reaper to regain control of your life. A deal that involves killing lots and LOTS of demons, golems, gorgons, giant spiders and sea monsters to find and return five magic cube things that the Reaper has “lost”.
Gameplay sees you move through a few connecting corridors and areas that link the main arena rooms (where you do all your killing). Room goals range from killing everything, to hunting down a single set enemy while others infinitely spawn to stop you. Make it to the end of the level and it’s boss time, which more often that not boils down to you having to throw enough lead into them, until their health bar reads zero. Overall, the difficulty is OK… though the last level really ups the game with lots of traps and more than a few tanky enemies – which does feel like a bit of a cheap move on the devs side if I am being honest.
Visually the game looks OK with a nice retro inspired chunky art style, making it easy to see what to blast and what to pick up; whereas sound is a bit hit and miss, as the soundtrack does a good job, but is too often drowned out by the constant cries of enemies dying or the mind-numbing thud of your pistol firing. Mustache in Hell is a nice and simple dungeon crawler, with a fun-if-grindy gameplay loop, that doesn’t aim to change the world… but that’s not the point of these price of a pint titles. They serve as little palate cleanser and easy to play bursts of gaming, when you don’t have hours to spare, and this soup strainer inspired title does just that.
An Xbox review copy of Mustache in Hell was provided by QUByte Interactive’s PR team, and it’s available now on Xbox, PC, Switch and PlayStation for around £4.
The Verdict
Stuart Cullen
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