Dead End City Review PS5 - Very Much Alive, But You Will Die

For me, Dead End City has been one of Eastasiasoft’s toughest releases this year. Yes, we’re on the tail end of February. I guarantee that if I look up other reviews shortly after this is released, there’ll be an abundance of ‘it’s too easy’ comments. Still, I can only comment on my skill level.

This is a vertical scrolling shmup developed by Pixel Licker where you have to battle against a gang of wasteland punks. It’s the year… whatever – it’s a post-apocalyptic future, so think Mad Max in a cityscape covered in dust, and you’re just about there.

The gang in Dead End City are the utter bastards, Scorpio. They’ve snatched your loved ones and taken them back to their stronghold where you’re going to bust them out by gunnin’ ’em to bits ‘n pieces. That’s pretty much all there is to the story and all you need, too.

Dead End City Review PS5

There are two main modes to begin with – Arcade and Score Attack. Let me save you from wandering down the page unnecessarily, as I’m sure you know what the latter is. The bottom line is it’s a way to max out your points and then post on the online leaderboards. The only caveat with this is that you have to unlock all the stages in arcade mode, which isn’t easy.

Easy is a fly-away word here as the difficulty settings are normal or hard – again, you have to unlock the second setting. Not that you would want to begin on hard. Then, select your one character, as the others are only unlocked through progression (noticing a pattern, are we?), and then it’s time to begin.

The early waves in Dead End City are like any other shmup, but as these are land-based vehicles, they tend to congregate in one area, so it is quite easy to work out their habits, even if they look mental circling you in oversized off-roaders. In some of the early stages of each zone, you get a cooling-off period where you can gun them down like in Space Invaders, and then once warmed up, they’ll drive at you.

There’s Sand In My Crack

These vehicles get everywhere, and while Dead End City isn’t exactly a bullet hell experience, it’s a hairy one, so expect a lot of moving around. With my old, tired eyes, I found it difficult to focus on what was happening most of the time, as when you shoot an enemy, it drops bullets. Gut instinct is to avoid them, though when you’re underpowered, it becomes evident of the power-up systems.

Now, this is where it gets tough. Your fuel tank represents health, and you rely on drops from enemies to keep going. Should you run out, the car (or chariot) coasts to a halt at the last minute, irrespective of whether it touches a fuel can. That’s ok – surely you get another try? Nope. To start with, it’s only one life.

Now, this is where it gets tougher. As you’ll see from the menu screen, there’s a whole roster of characters, but read the unlock criteria, and you’ll note you need to beat each boss without taking any damage. On my part? No chance. Sure, you can get coins that can go towards power-ups and all; it’s just quite an elusive trek.

Visually, Dead End City looks the part, and as stated before, it’s reminiscent of 80s/90s arcade games such as Spy Hunter or perhaps SWIV. Ish. The animatics are cool, though a little abstract compared to actual gameplay. 

Dead End City Review Summary

Because of the challenge to unlock new things and get your name on the scoreboards, Dead End City has more longevity than your typical indie shmup. It hinges on getting past the first hurdle of trickier-than-average gameplay.