A High-Octane Anime-Fueled FPS
Now well into my 50’s, I was of course in pole position to review a new high octane, fast paced first person shooter on Xbox. Who better to try and keep up than a man with fading eyesight and reflexes that are nothing more than a fading memory?
Well, Mullet MadJack from Hammer95 and Epopeia Games, promises to bring the flavour of the 80’s and 90’s to our modern palettes. And yes, for a brief period in the 80’s I did rock a mullet, but since this was pre-social media, no evidence exists. Launching straight into Game Pass, the game has been available on Steam since May 2024, and has washed up on the Xbox’s shores finally. So, grab your mullet and let’s see what’s in store, shall we?
Retro-Futuristic Frenzy
The story of the game is as bonkers as it comes, frankly. We play as the titular Mullet MadJack, tasked with rescuing the influencer princess. Standing in the way of that happening are a ton of levels full of robots and hazards, and if we fail any floor, back to the beginning we go. And yes, that does suck when it happens!
Other than that, there isn’t much of a story, sadly. But thankfully there are other things that tie in to the narrative; things that I will discuss later, so all hope is not lost.
Neon Nights and Pixelated Violence
Mullet MadJack looks and sounds like a game from the 90’s, with more neon that you can shake a stick at, more pixels on display than you can shake a pixelated stick at, and a proper retro vibe running throughout. The levels are quite linear, and pretty much involve running from A to B, and while they are very restrictive in scope, largely corridor based, the action all moves at a good fast pace.
The enemies that need to be dispatched are all very much cut from the same mould, and look pretty similar as we go through the levels. However, this is barely noticeable as the sheer pace of the game is enough to make your eyes bleed, and so it doesn’t matter what you are killing, mostly as you barely have time to blink.
Sound of the game is also pretty good, with all the relevant bangs and booms for a shooting game present and correct. It’s in here where the story is presented in a kind of retro anime style with decent cut scenes to watch, and so there are no particular problems in the presentation department.
Dopamine Driven Destruction
Onto the gameplay and the basics see it runs as a bog standard FPS, to be honest, but there is in fact a twist in the tail. See, in the future, it appears that the assimilation of social media into our lives is finally complete, and the streamers of the future are so dependent on the dopamine hit of likes that without them, they literally die. Yes, as we run through our mission, we must keep our dopamine high by killing enemies. Without it, our lifespan without kills is time limited. Yes, if you don’t kill something in time, you will die, and thus begin the run again.
This adds a serious amount of stress to your life, as there is a big red counter on the screen that forces you to run around like a headless chicken as you attempt to keep your dopamine high.
Gunplay Gripes and Movement Mastery
Sadly, all is not well with the actual gameplay, as the shooting action in Mullet MadJack, while fast and frantic, is wildly inaccurate, and I for one have struggled to hit an enemy unless I’m treading on their bunions. The gunplay feels pretty random, and while there are multiple weapons to find and equip, such as a katana for instance, the whole feel of the game seems to be that of relying on the speed and the pressure to make you overlook the faults.
Rushing through, you can also execute enemy robots if you find a special item, or you can use the environment to kill your foes. Of course, you also need to develop a kind of flow with the game, in order to keep our mullet clad hero alive.
Reaching the end of a floor allows the opportunity to choose a powerup from a choice of three things, and in this way MadJack can be made stronger, ensuring he is better able to face the challenge of the next floor. But, and this is a big but, I’ve struggled to click with it. In my mind, there is a lack of soul, a lack of feel to the game. This then impacts from the enemies having no heft, and with the imprecise aiming, it is all too easy to waste all your bullets and then die while reloading as you haven’t made a kill in time.
A Fast, Furious, and Flawed Cyberpunk Shooter
In conclusion, there is a lot of action on display here in Mullet MadJack, and there is also quite a lot of content included, what with things like an Endless Mode. But the issue is the lack of soul. It is fast, it is furious, but it unfortunately also feels meaningless.
For a quick blast, Mullet MadJack is fine. But I’m struggling with a long term future.
Your Links
Mullet MadJack: 90s Anime FPS Mayhem Comes to Game Pass, Xbox and Play Anywhere! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/mullet-madjack-90s-anime-fps-mayhem-comes-to-game-pass-xbox-and-play-anywhere/
Download Mullet MadJack from the Xbox Store (on Game Pass if you like) – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/mullet-madjack/9PG8TV30NN9H
