Maniac Reviews

sick

fun as g

gta LIKE GAME...VERY FUN

perfect game to relax

Fun. Easy. Enjoyable.

A paramedic was about to help a corpse. But the murderous girl that killed the man looked cool, so the paramedic joined her.

could be a masterpiece if the devs spent enough time to... y'know, finish it.

The lack of a map feature is a huge drawback. However the game is reasonably priced and a fun little no brain required to play distraction.

Fun, but not a lot. Pretty Easy. Enjoyable while you wait for that download to end. 5/10.

Ever since Vampire Survivors came out, Survivors likes/Survivors Like has become a new sub genre, just like how that happened when Dark Souls came out. Some Survivors Likes are great, some are meh, some are bad (Side note-I wish Survivors-Like would become an actual steam tag/genre tag at this point, hopefully we'll get there soon) Everything from Halls of Torment taking the phenomenal formula of VS to mix it with Diablo 1 and 2 or that Blizzard era, to Soulstone Survivors taking VS's notes with the likes of things like Hexen or Heretic and Crafting Survivors took VS with Minecraft (It's obvious I'm not reviewing those other games,I'm purely saying that Vampire Survivors is much like Dark Souls, The Binding Of Isaac, or Shovel Knight, as in one game is viral/big enough to either change gaming's landscape within a genre or in turn create an entire sub genre, in this case it's the latter) This time around however, is something a never thought I'd expect This harkens back to the ORIGINAL GTA Games, meaning the era of GTA 1, GTA London, GTA 2 and even the slightly more modern classics like Chinatown Wars and GTA Advance These were all chaotic, top down, and VERY MUCH more arcade like. They still had mission structures and basic gists of campaigns, but that wasn't until 2, and then it was more finalized in 3 But why mention all that about all these other games without mentioning Maniac at all? Because Maniac is GTA 1 or 2's top down arcade chaos with Vampire Survivor's bullet heaven/be the bullet hell "mentality" and "infrastructure" so to speak You won't be playing as Imelda Belapse fighting off wave after wave of floating medusa heads or mummies or lizardmen here, but just like in GTA, as you murder innocents and cause explosions at every corner with rocket launchers, smgs, and shotguns, the heat just gets hotter and hotter At first glance, this sounds basic sure and seems like a fun "diet" approach to things, right? But where I think this game actually gets its BIGGEST inspiration is the likes of Postal 1 and or Postal Redux. Now, grim satire on mental illness and tragic events won't be found here (and no, it doesn't recreate any in Maniac either) But keep in mind, everything is randomly generated for the MOST PART, but every map has a few select areas that are the same, such as an airport, construction site, and some specific weapon placements These special weapons/special areas/spawns are more akin to how Postal 1 and Redux designed their maps The procedural generation and rogue like elements come into place when it comes to what cars, armed resistance,and NPCs you'll find/run into and what items NPCS may drop as well as what upgrades you cang et when you level up, THAT is the key subtle difference here In short, just like how Isaac has familiar rooms or room layouts you may see after playing it long enough, you'll never get the EXACT SAME combination during a run or the variables will be different every single time, not unless you either A-Get EXTREMELY LUCKY, and we are talking one in millions or more, or B-You use a seeded run Top this off with an equally zany art style that is like if Postal was in a weird trippy Gamecube era alternate reality that was cell shaded (the art style almost reminds me of a higher end/2.5D newgrounds game or one of those flash games that REALLY pushed flash to the edge of its limits) and we have a recipe for virtual disaster, but real life chaotic fun Plus, different characters that are just as absurd as Postal Dude in their own right and equally just as campy, morbid, and edgy/bizarre black humor is sprinkled in regarding player characters and NPCs, maybe not as crass or gross humor focused, but the chaos and edge is still there Older women in pink dresses carrying baby carriages literally can yell "Don't be so rude!" before you splatter her and her baby carrige into red on the pavement (thankfully it doesn't go TOO FAR with this kinda stuff, edgy enough you know what you're doing, but not to where it would make you uncomfortable) To mobsters calling you a "funny guy" if you shoot their car and trying to put a dent in your chaotic rampage before you gun them down To literally being able to take down kids as you gun down a school bus and eventually, amidst all the chaos, eventually you'll get attack helicopters, heavy military, and even ALIENS to try to kill you before you end a run with the city in ruins (Again, the thing with kids doesn't go TOO FAR or over the line, it's more like how Dying Light had kid enemies or how Pico's School/Kindergarten handles kid NPCs. It is in a sense, more cathartic grim humor compared to say, something like how Harvester did it initially or other controversial flash games based on tragedies, no I am NOT mentioning the game titles even, if you know you know) And to top this absurdity off and dial it up to 20, you play as everything from a psychotic clown, to an astronaut who's off his rocker, to a drunken Santa Claus, just to name a few of the many fucked up and ridiculous misfits you'll find This is one chaotic virtual evil cake where I would genuinely get giddy if someone modded in a DC Joker Model and voice pack or other characters like that. and the fact that the game allows for custom maps by other players and map editing, run replays (to my knowledge) and a handful of secrets on each map to find makes this a chaotic and wild ride that quickly gets covered in chaos, mayhem and disaster A perfect game for when you are pissed off or need to vent some anger or frustration, and it wears its frenzied and madness inducing influences on its shoulders proudly Here's to more updates and characters for this wonderful gem of a video game, and I hope this gets up there with the other recent great survivors likes that have been making their rounds. Quite frankly, at only $5, this is a fucking JACKPOT "ARE YOU CRAZY!? WHAT THE HELLS WRONG WITH YOU!?" in the world of the video game Maniac, a LOT is wrong with EVERYONE, and being normal is overrated, NOW GO CAUSE SOME MAYHEM!