Review: Madshot [PC]

Developed by Overflow and published by HOOK, this Cthulian shooter blends roguelite with platforming in a maddening way. Reminding me of The Darkest Dungeon, Dead Cells, and Slay the Spire, I’ve been watching this title for a while. So load your pistols and pack your relics as we dive into Madshot.

The Lore of Lunacy

Tragedy has stricken us as we morn the loss of our love. Driven mad by anguish and hatred, we cut a deal with a void spawn akin to the one who set us on this path to despair. Donning a mask imbued with power and wielding twin revolvers that crackle with eldritch energy, we begin our accent. From the outskirts to the slums and beyond, we climb, shoot, and slice our way to face off against the Great Dreamer himself.

Little can be said for the official story of Madshot, but from the context clues in the game we can uncover a tale steeped in revenge, and soaked in bloodshed. So, only time will tell if there is more to this tragic tale of woe.

Machinations of Madness

Starting up Madshot has you run through a quick tutorial level that introduces you to the game-play mechanics. Aim with the mouse and click to shoot, dodge roll through enemies and mantle on to platforms. You can even pick up random items in the level and throw them for high damage. I expected to play with a controller but surprisingly it opts out for a mouse and keyboard setup, and this setup is very intuitive.

Every stage of the game has a portal, and as you defeat enemies the portal will begin to unlock. Beyond the first level is a sprawling series of stages that you can choose from, each showing what reward or hazard you might encounter by traveling to that stage. You are given a limited amount of scout points which allows you to divine an unknown stage, allowing you to better choose your path.

There are rooms that increase your max health, shops to spend the money that you pick up along the way, and rooms that contain Aether. Aether is spent to equip and upgrade transmutations, small progressional upgrades that you earn at the beginning of a run. Beyond money, health, and Aether, the three most useful stages involve Alterations, Enhancements, and Sidearms.

Alterations are the passive buffs that you give your character to power them up. It can range from poisoning the enemy to allowing your attacks to pass through walls or additional jumps midair. Enhancements are simple, they power up alterations. Sidearms are secondary weapons that allow for varying kinds of combat, like an eye that shoots a slow charging Mega laser or a boomerang Style windmill of blades.

As much as I love playing this game, there are a few problems. Chiefly in later levels the tankiness of enemies seems too far outpace the damage output that you have. And if you have a side arm, you have to switch to a different key in order to pick up an item on the ground. One mini-boss also seems downright unkillable if you happen upon it. Although that may just be my lack of skill showing.

One final note would be the recent Halloween Update. Given the nature of the subject matter, Halloween themed additions fight well in Madshot. There were additional mini-boss fights, weapons, as well as earnable powerups with masks and challenges to earn Aether. Also the mansion at the beginning of the game and many levels also got the spooky treatment.

Concluding thoughts

This game is fun. It has a low barrier-to-entry with a high skill ceiling. And that is remarkably hard to find balance in with some roguelite games. I didn’t expect the mouse and keyboard control settings to be as intuitive as they are. Outside of a few minor issues that can be buffed out with a patch or two, Madshot easily can stand on its own. Therefore, any updates as far as content is concerned is only going to elevate this title farther.

Madshot is in Early Access, and has an update roadmap leading into 2023.

Steam key was provided by Overflow.