Headbangers In Holiday Hell | PS4

Santa slays in this throwback to the indie 'Hotline Miami' formula. Featuring the holiday's jolliest heavy metal hating elf himself, Santa Clause, and a rival metal band known as Reign Fury it's Satanic Panic all over again. Against Santa's efforts to mute metal Reign Fury's lead guitarist embarks on a bloody rescue mission where infiltration, escape, and hostage rescue are the goals in mind. A mission where Santa, and his army are the targets of this disgruntled band member's rebellious retribution. Utilizing weapons, in-house distractions, and the quick in & out workings of a holiday hitman the unlikely hero of this heavy metal tale rampages through a series of roguelike stages filled with mobs, and bosses as he manages health and ammo. 

Headbangers in Holiday Hell, is most definitely an homage to the 'Hotline Miami' series of yesteryear. Though it harbors it's own unique holiday versus heavy metal theme with a roguelike stage by stage series of missions it is fundamentally the same. Including mobs, hostage rescues, and boss fights this tough as nails fight for the right to party is quite the undertaking. Only made doable by the on hand arsenal, and upgrades which bank on currency collected in each playthrough attempt to maintain.

As one of Reign Fury's band member you take it upon yourself to rescue your band mates, and groupies who are being held hostage in the various housing compounds guarded by Santa's elves. Breaking down doors with via melee attacks to gain access to chained hostages for the freeing, and dishing out bloody justice via bullets you must wisely move from entrance to exit without losing all of your health. Tools at your disposal include a main gun, and an overdrive weapon. Weapons that have limited ammo, and fuel to use. 

Alongside the main ways of dealing death are the distractions included on the premises. This includes TVs that can be turned on, and refrigerators that can be opened. Most every feature of each stage is destructible, and good in aiding in the culling of the miniscule mobsters. You can even do finishers that will reward you when executed with extra ammo, health, and power-ups that play into room by room approach. The latter of which has Matrix like slowdowns, instakills, and heart refills. Putting all this to use to rescue the designated number of hostages, and getting to the outside exit intact is your number one priority. With a tally in tow for efforts rendered. Including a kill count, save count, and time finished statistic.

A full playthrough in "Headbangers in Holiday Hell" features rescue missions followed by a mob clearing mission, and finally a face-off against one of three bosses including a final fight with the main antagonist Satan Clause. There is no set way in which you must complete any of it outside of the given objectives, and move to the exit. You can enter where you like, use whatever weapons you like, and take advantage of the ammo and crates that will allow you to improve upon your on hand weapon selection as you progress. 

Additionally there is an alternative upgrade menu at the main menu listing in which permanent upgrades to weapons, overdrive weapons, and boosts are a bonus for securing the dropped currency in each failed playthrough. Gifting you things like more health, more ammo capacity, more ammo drops, and weapon unlocks that will become available in-game via the paid crates that you can buy out while completing your objectives. Weapons can also be upgraded statistically to boost their stats. Making them more powerful, and useful. 

The Verdict ...

The gameplay loop in "Headbangers in Holiday Hell" is built for replay. That being said it is definitely on par with the difficulty of the inspired 'Hotline Miami' content. Completing a full playthrough is a trying task that is only made more doable with the upgrade offerings, and repeated attempts. Outside of that it's wholly reliant upon player skill, and player approach. There is certainly strategy to be applied, and lingering too long will see the angry mobs of Santa's little helpers come after you like the Spanish after a witch during a witch hunt. 

In accordance to themes it's funny to see the Pagan versus Pagan aspect of this bitter rivalry. Santa himself is no saint and heavy metal bands, as good as their music may be, are no more saintly. It is truly the epitome of Satanic Panic shown through the lens of a more accurate truth. That truth being that not all good is actually good, but that often times it is just as evil as that which it throws the first stones at. And that may be reading into it all a bit deep, but that's the takeaway for me. With everything weighed I can definitely give this indie an enthusiastic recommendation. A badass budget buy from developer Vikerlane, publisher Hammer & Ravens, and Ratalaika Games for Holiday season 2022!!!