Imagine you’ve taken John Wick and thrown him into the universe of Cyberpunk 2077 (that’s not too hard if you know what I mean). Now you’ve armed him with phenomenal weapons and put him up against cutthroat forces while exploring a world that’s a brutal reminder of where we might all end up one day in the future.
That’s essentially SlavicPunk: Oldtimer. This dystopian, isometric shooter sees you assume control of Yanus, a grizzled PI with a penchant for combat and a vast array of one-liners at his disposal. With a deadly arsenal of modular weapons, you’ll utilise Yanus’ expert combat abilities to explore what has been dubbed an ‘inherently Slavic take on the cyberpunk world’.
This new shooter comes from Red Square Games, and despite being available on PC for more than a year, it’s only just coming to Xbox and PlayStation – hence the SlavicPunk: Oldtimer review.
Looks Great, Feels Better
I was fortunate enough to get an early-access copy of SlavicPunk on PlayStation 5, and despite it not being from the perspective that I usually enjoy games, I was eager enough to dive straight in. Within the first hour of the game, I became a convert, falling in love with the game’s art style and isometric angle.
Like many dystopian titles, SlavicPunk will have you feeling fairly depressed about the squalid, impoverished setting you’re exploring, but that mood will be eradicated when you’re in the thick of a desperate gunfight with enemies approaching you from all angles.
It becomes a classic twin-stick shooter, and your eyes flick across the screen as you use every weapon, movement mechanic, and power-up to stay alive. It’s challenging, even on the lowest difficulty level, it’s brutal, and it’s damned good fun.
Everything from the freedom to kill everyone to the hard-hitting, synthy cyberpunk soundtrack (which is available as a separate purchase on some platforms) kept me switched on.
Action-Packed Adventure
SlavicPunk: Oldtimer has a relatively immersive story wrapped up at its core. While the voice acting was sketchy at best (Yanus is a stand-out character among a somewhat amateur crowd), the steps of the story are engaging enough to keep you guessing about what might come next.
It’s a mostly linear title with a few wider areas to explore, but you’ll benefit from digging through every corner of the world presented to you. As this is a multi-faceted title, you’re free to deal with enemies how you see fit. If you want to go in guns blazing, that’s fine – but if you want to use a knife and create a more stealthy adventure, that’s also okay.
As this is a cyberpunk-styled title, there are a few ‘techie’ interactions. Users can slow down time and utilise a ‘battlehacking’ mechanic to disrupt enemies on the fly. It’s a useful feature that is pivotal in some circumstances, and it makes for a dynamic pacing that gives you a little breathing space in a dire fight.
It’s only a few hours long from end to end, but there’s plenty packed into that window. It also boasts remarkable replayability, as I found that fights rarely went the same way twice. It’s also one of the few games that I’ve been motivated to play on multiple difficulty settings, just to see how advanced the challenge became.
Spoiler alert: It gets pretty damn tough.
With the way this game unravelled before me, I ended up hoping for some form of expansion or follow-up title to emerge in the future. I’d happily explore more of the universe created by Red Square, and the introductory chapter isn’t priced too high to get started.
Verdict: Buy
SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is an easy-to-learn isometric shooter with plenty of meat when it comes to multi-faceted combat scenarios. It doesn’t hit hard in the voice acting department and it’s quite short, but it offers a punchy adventure that could serve as a perfect introduction to a wider cyberpunk universe.
SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is available now on PC, Xbox Series XS, and PlayStation 5
For more Insider Gaming reviews, check out our thoughts on the Arizona Sunshine Remake.
