El Paso, Elsewhere Demo - Raise The Stakes
El Paso, Elsewhere… finally! I wrote about this two years ago – June 2021, when it was expected to release in 2022. If you’re reading this in the future, pay attention to this being written in June 2023. Good things come to ye who waits?
From Strange Scaffold, El Paso, Elsewhere is a third-person shooter that takes a load of inspiration from Max Payne but from a supernatural stance; you hunt werewolves and fallen angels. Think John Woo meets Underworld, and maybe, just maybe, we have a plan.
Alright, so the Max Payne reference isn’t just gameplay but the presentation as well. It’s a definite throwback to the 90s (albeit with crisper visuals), so don’t expect anything groundbreaking. For the record, I think it’s ace. It has a little bit of a Shadowman vibe, too. Ok, this is Max Payne.
El Paso, Elsewhere Demo
With the exception of the missing comic book panels to tell the story, this is like reliving Remedy Entertainment’s early 00s hit all over again. Granted, we’re 20+ years from then, but the mechanics worked, and the story was good. El Paso, Elsewhere builds up Payne’s demons by inserting all sorts of nasties, taking the hero, James Savage, through a living nightmare.
Fortunately, you have guns – a lot of them – and switching to slow-mo and diving while guns are a-blazing is just as fresh as all those years ago. But James has another trick up his sleeve: stakes. Using a stake and pressing Q when close-up will instantly kill an enemy. These aren’t as abundant as ammo, but dive upon some furniture, then lo and behold – stakes!
When the slow-mo runs out, the stakes kick in, and you can easily take out an enemy. For a meal. On a date. Alas, these hordes of evil swarm you, and what was originally a fish-in-a-barrel setup turns hellish when bloody werewolves pounce on you from afar. Sure, diving at them looks cool and all, but you only live once, and you just keep going.
In fear of repeating myself again and again, El Paso, Elsewhere is essentially a love letter to Max Payne, and I’m all for it. The level design is also a throwback, so impatient gamers may get tired of this setup. However, for everyone who played the original, or missed out the first time, download the demo now.
El Paso, Elsewhere is worth the wait, even if it’s a year later.