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Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer review: a boisterous Hypnospace spin-off that’s an obnoxious gembwl
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Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayerreminded me a lot of my bolognese. It’s a game created for particular tastes, a unique proposition that sort of defies conventional thinking. A big, bold swing that - if you have the palate for it - is absolutely brilliant.
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer ReviewWhy read this review when you can watch a video version of it instead? You can also read it, though. If you want. Sorry.Watch on YouTube
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer Review
Cutscenes are styled, presumably intentionally, like those found in 1997 FPS BLOOD. They have a strange, almost claymation, appearance and are brilliantly cursed.
Zane, like many of us were at his age, is a kid with a very narrow worldview. Levels flip-flop between mundane, everyday spaces like supermarkets or apartment buildings and hidden underground bases filled with weird machines and twisted traps. There is no in-between. You are either fighting Psykos at the Boise Potato Festival or infiltrating their super secret lair. It speaks to a period of youth that will no doubt feel relatable, where your imagination far exceeds the limited experience you’ve accumulated so far. It lends Slayers X an authenticity I wasn’t expecting, a lens that makes the world seem smaller and more intimate. Compact trailer parks. Grey supermarkets. Enormous mansions with featureless interiors. Would Zane, who lives in a run-down flat, know what the interior of a larger house looks like? Is this a depiction of a reality he exists within, or one he’s merely imagined?
None of this is explicitly acknowledged, mind. That’s kind of the beauty of it. Its subtlety. The only exception to this is Melvin, teenage Zane’s manager who also serves as the game’s antagonist. A conniving caricature, it’s quickly established that Melvin has recently started to date Zane’s Mom, a pairing Zane clearly disagrees with. There’s a tinge of concern and sadness behind Melvin’s villainous depiction that I’m sure many will find relatable.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a purposefully unpleasant game to spend time with, but that’s sort of the brilliance of it. I’m unashamed to admit that as a teenager who used to wear a dog lead on his baggy jeans in an effort to look edgy, I found Slayers X to be a hilarious depiction of a very specific part of my life. There’s no ill intent here, just a nostalgic honesty that really resonates.
Finishing the game unlocks three unfinished maps that didn’t make it into the final game. As you explore, Zane provides commentary about their development and the reasons they were cut. It’s a lovely little bonus feature.
And as a throwback retro-inspired shooter, it sings. Weapons feel weighty, enemy variety keeps things challenging, maps are looping and stuffed full of secrets. You’d be fooled into thinking this was a build engine game, such are the lengths the team have gone to replicate the level deformation and visual stylings that madeDuke Nuken 3Dso distinctive. It’s impressive stuff.
I will say though that, as a Hypnospace spin-off, it could potentially leave hardcore fans a little cold. Outside of a few parodies of brands found in Hypnospace (which were, in themselves, surreal parodies of real-world brands, so try to wrap your head around that one) and Zane himself, there’s little to chew on here. I imagine this was an intentional choice to make Slayers X more appealing to those unfamiliar with the game it stems from, but it is a shame to not see a little more of that world I love so deeply represented here in a more substantial form.
I don’t make my bolognese for guests very often, but when I do opinions are often mixed. My partner thinks olives don’t belong in a bolognese, whereas a friend says their inclusion completely changed their life (or, at the very least, the way they now prepare saucy italian dishes). Not for everyone, then. But you can get an authentic bolognese anywhere. Isn’t it worth making one with olives in it just because that suits your specific tastes? And if someone else out there finds it as delicious as you do, isn’t that reason enough for it to exist in the first place?
