The Hong Kong Massacre

Review

In 1991, two police officers shut down one of the Two-Headed Dragon Triad’s drug labs. It was the biggest drug bust in Hong Kong history. Soon after, the triad put a price on both police officers’ heads. One of them was killed, and the other found himself critically injured in hospital. It took all his remaining strength to escape his hospital room before the triad assassins managed to get to him. It’s now exactly one year and five days, and he is back for revenge in The Hong Kong Massacre.



The Hong Kong Massacre is a fast-paced top-down shooter where you play an ex-police officer who hunts down the top four lieutenants and the boss of the Two-Headed Dragon triad, leaving bodies and bloodshed in his wake to fulfil his revenge.  

The game consists of 5 stages (in this case days) and each of them has 7 levels to complete, which includes a boss fight. Your goal is to kill all enemies within the level, which sounds very simple, but in fact is quite challenging, especially if one bullet hits your character; then it’s simply game over and you’ll have to restart the level. There are also three main challenges per level: 1. complete the level under a specific time, 2. complete the level without using the slow-motion ability, and 3. complete the level only hitting enemies (which is extremely hard to do). In any case, if you manage to do so, you’ll be rewarded with a star for each of the challenges you successfully complete. You ‘ll be able to use these stars to upgrade one of your four weapons before each mission.

Cutscenes will occur every 2 to 4 levels and will tell the game story, which is pretty good, I might add.

As you start the game, you’ll only have access to a pistol, but as you progress and earn stars, you’ll be able to unlock a shotgun, SMG and rifles. All weapons have an additional four upgrades to unlock, so keep completing the main challenges per level to upgrade your weapons; you’ll need it, let me tell you.

The gameplay is super-fast and fun. As I mentioned above, if you are hit once, you’re dead. To help you go through the level untouched, you can use the slow-motion ability and dodge bullets as well as diving left, right and centre. However, if you use the slow-motion you’ll forfeit one of the stars, which is bummer, to be honest; it’s hectic going through the level without using it. The AI is actually pretty good and the enemy moving patterns changes frequently, which makes this game really good in terms of re-playability.

In regards to the enemies, there are only a few throughout the game. Yes, you have the gunman, the shotgun, SMG and rifle dudes, but personally, I wanted to see more. Perhaps a mad Chinese cook who throws cleaver knives at you, for example.

The levels are well-designed, and the graphics are great. It’s fluid, fast-paced and super fun to play.  The soundtrack rocks and in all the game is very addictive.  Mind you, you’ll die a lot and it can be a bit frustrating at times.


Positives

+ Great graphics
+ Well-designed levels
+ Fast-paced, super fun and addictive gameplay
+ Good slow-motion ability
+ Achievements

Negatives

- No trading cards as yet
- Can be frustrating at times

Review Summary

It’s fast, plenty of bloodsheds and super fun. It’s The Hong Kong Massacre!

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Zeepond Rating: 8/10

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