As someone who is a big fan of fast-paced action shooters like Hotline Miami, Wolfenstein and the like, I haven't had something that gave me that kind of experience in a long time, until a couple of days ago when I played Pigface for the first time.
Pigface is an indie game made by a developer who calls himself "titolovesyou" and it's a first-person shooter where you follow a young girl who has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of assassins, put explosives in her head, and forced to complete dangerous and bloody tasks for them. Before I get to the gameplay, I have to point out how well the presentation is done in Pigface. This is a very ugly game, but in a positive way. The environments are dirty and mostly deserted, low quality textures, even a VHS filter is put over the screen, and the background music is mostly just what I want from this game, you are set in a dark world, and you want to feel like that. The voice acting is also surprisingly good for an indie title, since this is still an early access title, and only a small part is available. what you've seen so far is interesting enough to keep your attention and desire to learn more.
Something I would also like to point out is the amount of inspiration taken from Rockstar's Manhunt series. The whole mantra with a mysterious man who tells you through a bug to kill people, a dark world, a VHS filter, and even an enemy gang called Smilers with masks that are very reminiscent of the Smileys group masks from Manhunt. As a fan of this series, I had a big smile on my face looking at all the references to the Manhunt series, and I don't think anyone has managed to fully capture the hopelessly creepy realistic atmosphere of the first Manhunt like this game has. With the fact that I have to emphasize that while playing Pigface I did not get the impression that I was playing a copy of Manhunt, but that I was playing a quality homage to this iconic series.
The game is divided into missions that you will do in different locations, and most of them boil down to killing all enemies and finding certain packages or objects around the map. Each level has an optional task, which will bring you extra earnings if you complete it. The fight itself is great. The game allows you to mix and match melee and firearms, as well as stealth, and the levels are very open, so you have the freedom to solve them however you want. There aren't too many weapons, but each one is different in a certain way, so you're given a solid selection. Before each level, you choose exactly what you take with you, and in your apartment you can buy new weapons, body armor and the like. You can also buy accessories like silencers to make your fight even easier. The enemies themselves aren't overly smart, but they can kill you easily, and health doesn't regenerate on its own, you have to collect morphine shots to heal them. This is also a very bloody game, and in addition to having great ragdoll physics, you can tear off the heads and limbs of enemies, and this aspect is done very well. You also have to be careful, because with each death you lose a certain amount of money, so you shouldn't really go headfirst regardless. If I had to single out something as a flaw, it would be the length of the game. You can finish the current early access in just an hour, and after that you don't have much to do or explore.
In short, if any of the above sounded at least a little bit tempting, I recommend you give Pigface a try. I haven't had this much fun with an indie title in a long time, and at the price of 10 euros, which the game costs, I don't think you will regret it either. Currently, the game is only available on PC via Steam, but I hope that changes soon.
A copy of the game was provided by publisher DreadXP for review purposes
