I have to admit, I am not normally one for isometric bullet hell games. I’m slow and old, and my twitch reactions aren’t what they used to be. I struggled with Returnal but loved Resogun, so I thought I’d give this RPM: Road Punk Mayhem a shot.
The visuals from the opening menu are fantastic, as are the visuals during gameplay. The art style is one of high-end comic books that reeks of energy and fun. It screams high production values not to be expected with a small indie developer.
This level of quality extends into the superb gameplay visuals. With a lot of moving parts on the screen, it’s important to be able to see everything clearly and smoothly. Even though by the nature of the game genre, it’s deliberately confusing, with explosions, missiles, guns, and enemies, once you get used to the mayhem, it’s a visual delight.
High energy and fun graphics pop all over the place as you weave and destroy everything on the screen. You have a choice of three vehicles that have different health, firepower, and types of weapons. When using the weapons, you either repeatedly fire them or hold them for a more powerful version. This more powerful version, however, slows your movement.
Traditionally in these types of games, you also have a bomb. You do here too, but the game emphasizes using the warp mechanic rather than bombing. Holding down the button primes the bomb, and tapping the button has you warp. Priming the bomb takes time, so you need to plan the space you have left with the time to prime it. It’s the warp mechanic that feels awkward though.
When you press the button, time slows down and a ring in which you can warp is shown. The idea is to use this to leap over impregnable walls and obstacles. The execution of time slowing, however, jars with the whole flow of the fast-moving game. Additionally, you need to get used to this mechanic to progress through the game.
The difficulty is hard to gauge considering my experience and age. Honestly, I could only make it to the second boss. I expect the “git gud” brigade will berate me for that! I did find that I got used to patterns and could feel myself getting better at the game, and I progressed more easily the more I played. It’s a shame, however, that you can’t restart the game from the last boss you defeated. Each “Game Over” takes you right back to the start. A little more accessibility here would have gone a long way to help me enjoy getting deeper into the game more.
The music and sound effects of the game’s weapons, explosions, and pick-ups just add to the whole vibrant experience. Details like this add an extra layer that is sorely missed in other games.
So, when you put all this together, you get an exciting dance of avoiding incoming projectiles and barriers while trying to shoot at the same time. Locate pick-ups to extend your run and also collect skulls to increase your score multiplier. After a little while, a boss will appear, which is, as expected, a bullet sponge, but it is satisfying when you take them down.
Finally, the game does have an online leaderboard, and despite how bad I thought I was, I’m currently 56th in the world! Not so bad now, eh?
Summary
For those who like this genre of game, RPM: Road Punk Mayhem is a good little game to experience. Part of the reason is the excellent and exciting gameplay, the other is the outstanding visuals and exciting music. But, (you knew there was going to be a “but”), it’s a shame you can’t experience more of the game and what other enemies and bosses there are to face past the limit of your abilities.
A second offline mode to let the player get deeper into the game would have elevated this game from good to great. As it is though, even for someone who is not a fan of this genre of game, I enjoyed the quality and fun factor of this one.
Developer: Panda Indie Studio
Publisher: EastAsiaSoft
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Release Date: 17th July 2024
