Mustache In Hell | PS5

Waking up one day only to find himself in the hereafter John Mustache comes face to skull with the Grim Reaper. The big bad bone daddy himself. Seems Death has a proposition for the yet to be truly dead protagonist, and that deal entails recovering cubes that were stolen by Charon. Each cube being guarded by an afterlife adversary, and mobs of mythological minions. All contained within gated, and maze-like areas filled with puzzles, and enough items to see John through to the end. This includes everything from guns, and explosives to health items and extra lives. 

In order John is guided to go through named and themed gated areas in Hell's lobby wherein there are rooms for battle, and final bosses anxiously awaiting at every turn. Each area of importance is gated off by it's own set of gates that require their own keys for access. Finding the keys opens up these areas, and pits John against mobs of minions that are all included in a displayed enemy life bar. 

Using a twin shooter method of gunplay, limited use guns and explosives, and a dash mechanic on cooldown John must mind his lives, and his health bar as he takes out the enemies that are swarming him. All while avoiding hazards that are included in the chaos. Eventually opening up the path to the final boss through switches, so that John can best it, and acquire the cube.

After defeating each boss John is sent sailing back to the lobby room of Hell where Death, and the acquired cubes lie in wait. With each new run the objectives remain the same, but the life stock is replenished giving you enough to make it through if you avoid taking too much damage. Supposing you do lose all lives you'll simply go back to Hell's lobby, and the cubes you've acquired along the way will still be there. There's no real penalty for reaching a GAME OVER. Nevertheless the challenge is still very much there.

The Presentation ...

Mustache In Hell is an isometric top down twin stick shooter with hand drawn characters, and pixel constructed backgrounds. The character assets all seem to be hand drawn, and have a crude composition compared to the level designs. Textually, and chat-wise the conversations are also somewhat crudely done. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is haunting in it's own way, and fitting of the Ancient Greek inspired hellscape that John finds himself in.

The Verdict ...

The gimmicky gameplay in "Mustache In Hell" isn't without it's downsides. Avoiding damage is often harder than it should be due to the odd hitboxes of the enemies and John. I think the hand drawn nature of the character and creature designs complicate the combat in this way, especially with the larger minions included in some of the mobs. 

Beyond the combat the objectives are simple. Leaving the only true challenge being that of avoiding damage in both the mob and boss situations. That being said the game has an interesting story concept, and could have made for something more grand in scale had the developer's budget been bigger. It would have been nice to have a more intricate puzzle system within the mazes, and more complex combat with more traditional sprites. 

The price you pay for this release is on point despite it's flaws. It's a decent game for trophies, and is alright for at least one playthrough. Don't expect something spectacular though.