Dead End City

Of all the shoot ‘em up sub-genres, the one that doesn’t get talked about enough is the one where you jump into a car and speed through the streets blowing up enemies. I’m talking about games like Spy Hunter from Bally Midway and especially Capcom’s The Speed Rumbler. These were some of my favorite arcade games back in the day, but you don’t see a lot of games like them these days. Perhaps that’s why I was so excited to play Dead End City, a new throwback shooter that shares my love for these car-based action games. This is a game that definitely looks, sounds and plays the part, but is it as good as those classic shoot ‘em ups? That’s what I want to find out in this review of Dead End City from Pixel Licker.

It’s the future and those Mad Max movies have basically come true. Everybody is living in a post-apocalyptic world where the cities have been bombed out and a violent gang known as Scorpio has taken over. After your loved ones were kidnapped, it’s up to a bunch of brave drivers to hop in their chariots and take on five stage’s worth of bikers, gearheads, tankers, pilots, drone operators and every other type of bad guy you can imagine, all on a single credit.

Much like the set-up, the shoot ‘em up gameplay will also be familiar to anybody who grew up playing arcade games in the 1980s. The five stages are basically split up into three distinct parts. The first is pretty much a high-speed riff on Galaga, where there are rows of bad guy and more driving in formation from just off screen to join their gang. These first few waves are every bit as straight-forward as the highway we’re on, which is just one long straight stretch.

After you’ve taken care of seven waves of enemies, you’ll be introduced to the second part of the stage. Here is where we get to see real level designs, as we drive around bombed out buildings, giant boulders and other obstacles littering the playfield. This is where the game feels the most like The Speed Rumbler and other overhead run ‘n gun shooters, as you’ll fight a lot more than just men in battle-ready cars. You’ll have to hunt down enemies hiding behind safety and using the environment to their advantage, all while we’re moving around a much more interesting and intricate stage layout. Although short, these middle sections are Dead End City at its absolute best.

Once you’ve completed that part of the stage, it’s off to a multi-part boss battle. Once again, this is presented on a very long straight stretch, which mean the only thing you need to worry about is dodging bullets. In true old school fashion, every boss is driving a vehicle with a dozen or more different parts to blow up, such as gun turrets on the top or a drill on the sides that will send rocks flying at our car. You don’t have to destroy every part of the boss, because the real target is usually the guy controlling the giant vehicle. Once you beat them, it’s off to the next stage to do more of the same.

Although we start with only one character, there are five different characters to play and unlock, each with their own personalities and cars. This can change how you play the game, as each of the different vehicles has its own type of gun pattern and, more importantly, special attack. For example, Crankcase’s blue chariot has this incredibly effective laser weapon that you can use to zero in on a specific enemy. My favorite character is a crazy one-eyed cat lady named Heddie that actually throws her feline friends at the bad guys. That’s a lot of fun, and surprisingly effective.

From the tall aspect ratio to the pixel graphics, this game definitely looks like it could be a long-lost arcade game from back in the day. This is a developer that understands the genre and knows how to keep players hooked. They make a lot of smart decisions, not only with the gameplay and the level designs, but also with the different modes and stuff you can unlock. This is a game that gives you plenty of incentive to replay the same five stages over and over, and the three distinct parts of the level helps to break up some of the repetition. Even after beating the game, I wanted to go back in and fight the Scorpio gang again, just so I could buy new characters, different looks, harder difficulties and even a sound test.

That said, even with all of those extras to save up for, there’s no question that Dead End City is a short game that most shoot ‘em up fans will be able to complete quickly. The default difficulty isn’t especially hard, so a lot of it will come down to competing for the high score and unlocking the more challenging modes. While I enjoyed fighting wave after wave of bad guys in the Galaga sections, I wish that had been saved for the alternate Highway mode, instead giving us more stages that resembled The Speed Rumbler. I liked those more traditional stages and much preferred swerving around obstacles and running over enemies who made the mistake of being outside of a car. Those middle bits are too short and only hint at much more compelling level designs.

Speaking of which, the five stages aren’t as different as I would have liked. We start out in the wasteland and make our way through mountains, deserts, a railway and, of course, Scorpio’s base. These levels are fine, but some of them blur together after a while. There’s a lot of orange and brown in this game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it left me yearning for different colors and more varied environments. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this is a post-apocalyptic world and brown and orange is just part of the aesthetic, but even those Mad Max movies found ways to incorporate more locations and colors.

When it comes right down to it, this is a tried-and-true shoot ‘em up that will satisfy genre fans and give players a nice warm feeling of nostalgia. It looks the part and handles well, which is a lot of what you’re looking for in this type of game. Dead End City doesn’t exactly shake up the genre, but it’s nice to have a new vehicular shoot ‘em up in the style of The Speed Rumbler. If you grew up loving those types of shooters, then you’re going to have a good time with this.