Mullet Mad Jack. Have you heard about it? I didn’t till I saw it on Steam sale somewhere around mid-May. It didn’t cost much, so I picked it up, intrigued by the promise of unique gameplay and art style. I wasn’t disappointed.
Mullet Mad Jack is a FPS cranked to 11. You’re playing as Mullet Mad Jack, who has mullet and is mad, obviously, and he is Moderator in the dystopian world of future where only AI robots are allowed to work and people have to consume commercials and content. In this world, Moderators are sort of mercenary-hitmen who hunt down robillionaires (robots who are billionaires, obviously) for content. The trick is, Moderator has a very limited time of life, ten seconds, to be precise, and has to entertain the audience to transform their likes into the dopamine fueling his body. Fail to entertain and you’re dead.
So, Mullet Mad Jack is pulled by Peace Corp while he drives his mullet-mobile (my joke, not an official name of the car), a local entertainment company that sells hyper violence to its viewers, and tasked with rescuing influencer-chick with 2 billion subscribers (very important detail) in exchange for cool red sneakers. The influencer-chick is taken hostage by some top-level robillionaire and it’s up to Jack to set her free before something bad is going to happen. All while bringing monetary value and content to the viewers, of course.
The plot is crazy, right? Well, the gameplay is even crazier. As I said, you have only 10 seconds to live and the only way to extend the timer is to kill robots as fast as possible in the most picturesque way possible like kicking them into the environmental hazards, shooting in the heads and crotches, or getting close and personal and using occasional knife, cleaver, crowbar, or manga book. All while dodging their bullets, navigating the bright labyrinth of the mega building, and trying not to fall to death or be chopped into pieces by lasers or drown in lava or toxic waste.
The speeds this game reaches are just more than fast. You don’t have to think, your brain shouldn’t try to analyze what’s going on the screen at all. Instead, you have to let your instincts and reaction take over because this is the only way to get this right. The encounters are short and hyper-violent, sometimes the amount of explosions and blood on the screen makes it hard to see and navigate, but nevertheless you have to push forward because if you stop you’re going to lose. Ten seconds is a short amount of time, but when you get hit by the enemies, it gets even shorter, so standing still is a very bad idea. You have to find the right flow to the game, to understand your weapon and your capabilities, otherwise you’re going to have a bad time. And let me tell you something, on the later stages getting swarmed by the enemies if you’re not careful or fast is enough is very easy. And when you get swarmed, trust me, you’re going to see the end-game screen much faster than ten seconds. Yep, the game can get overwhelming at times.
But let’s start from the start. There are nine episodes in total where you progress from floor 0 to 100 (or from 0 to 90… I don’t know, forgot to pay attention). Each episode is ten floors you have to beat. Every tenth floor is either a boss battle or some serious plot revelation. Usually, it is something pretty unique, at times fun, or sometimes even straight epic and cool (cinematics in Mullet Mad Jack are just awesome).
Simple so far, right? Well, it gets a little more complicated from here. Every episode is started with a pistol and with every floor beaten, you have an option to choose one of three cards. You can choose either weapon, or skill, or buff, or an upgrade. The choices are endless, and with every episode you have an opportunity to have a completely unique build with different weapons and skills that actually change the pace of the game. You love Katanas? You have at least three to choose from, and also you can get a few skills that’ll complement your close and personal playstyle. You like pouring lead? UZI is your choice, just don’t forget to reload it on time. Damage is all you want? Maybe shotgun or rail-gun will do the trick. And don’t forget to choose explosive barrels here and there, and slow-motion whenever you’re left with three seconds to live. As I said, combinations are endless and you can just experiment with the builds all you want (as long as you’re lucky enough to get all the cards you want or need).
In total, within one episode you can get ten cards. After the episode is beaten, you lose everything and start the next episode from the start. Okay? Now, when you die, you also lose everything and start the episode you failed from the start. Either way, you’re starting with nothing, whether you progress or not. How is it fair? Well, to be fair, after you successfully beat episodes you have an option to get a permanent upgrade like ability to re-roll the cards, keep one of the cards you choose during the game, or upgrade your weapons (there are three levels).
Very important skill is to keep one card, since you have an option to choose to keep the weapon you’re the best with. For example, my favorite weapon is a shotgun. Out of all other weapons, it fits my play-style the best. In particular, level three upgrades where you don’t have to reload it anymore and if you do, you just get double, triple, or quadruple shots. It doesn’t work like that in real life at all, but in the game that’s cool. This thing obliterates everything in my way like it wasn’t there. And bosses, oh man, bosses have no chance against this shotgun. You just load the max shot and you take out the majority of bosses in five-six shots. At least when I played on Normal and Challenge difficulties, it was the case.
Oh, and since I’ve mentioned difficulties, I have to say that the developer approached the difficulty the way I like it. You have a wide range of difficulties, starting from the easiest one where there’s no timer at all (I didn’t play it yet, but I guess I have no choice if I want to say that I beat the game 100%), right to the permadeath difficulty where every mistake is a game over and you have to start from the start. As I’ve already mentioned, I beat so far Normal and Challenge difficulties. Basically, training and the way the game was meant to play by the developers. In order to beat the game 100% (at least on Steam), I have to also beat it on the easiest and Hard difficulties, and let me tell you something. Hard difficulty is something completely different. You have less time to live, you get no time from simply killing enemies, but you get time from crotch shots and headshots, and you got to get creative. I’m not sure I’m good enough to do it, but I’ll try, anyway (Permadeath, though, yeah, Permadeath is out of the question, I’m not that hardcore).
And of course, when you beat the game, that’s not the end of it. There’s an endless mode where you can play the game as long as you want, with no pause or distractions from conquering the floors and turning Mullet Mad Jack into an absolute killing machine. I played it a little too and I can say it is really addicting. You just can’t stop once you started, especially when you get your hands on the weapon you wanted and everything’s coming together. The idea is really simple, and the mode is nothing new, but take into account those cards, the roguelike elements, and the pure unfiltered action where you already know the layout of the floor on subconscious level to go on the instincts without wasting time looking for the right doors or where to go. It also gets interesting later, once you’ve reach 10th floor, the timer is no longer 10 seconds, but 9. And with every next 10 floors you reach, you get minus one second. My personal record was floor 32 or 33 before I died. Very addictive. It’s also beautiful, like a work of grotesque vanguard art in the shining neon lights and 80s aesthetics.
I think that’s it. I don’t want to spoil too much for those who want to play, since the game is really short, and the plot is actually funny and cool, and has a few great moments that made me smile like an idiot. The aesthetics are just perfect. The music, the graphics, all just gives the retro-wave vibe with mullets, square shades, tough, silent type main hero (you can actually change that with one of the upgrades that makes Jack spit one-liners non stop; won’t lie, I chose it every time I could choose it even if it meant find myself in disadvantage), and retro-futuristic cyberpunk. Just the best of the best.
Actually, I would’ve loved to see game like that as a more traditional shooter/RPG. Something like Cyberpunk 2077, but true to the old-school notion of cyberpunk, 80s/90s aesthetics, and graphics like it is now. Mullets could stay, too. I think it has a lot of potential. The game, I mean… even though all the mullets designs you see at the end of each level… there’s something mesmerizing about them.