Major Mayhem Review - Ninjas are Bad, as are Chickens

If you're like me you've probably never had the thought that it would be fun to shoot chickens with plasma cannons. Well, that's until a couple weeks ago when I realized that shooting chickens with bullets leaves so much work. Plasma cannons speed up the KFCification by one stop shop deep frying them to perfection. It wasn't until I played [adult swim games] new game Major Mayhem that I finally learned of this new kitchen revolution. I've now seen the light and I'm never going back.

Major Mayhem is a 2.5d on rails shooter. The game plays out with the protagonist (Major Mayhem) moving from one scene to the next where he needs to eliminate all the enemies, be them ninjas or other nefarious types, before he can proceed. In most scenes Major Mayhem will take guard behind a rock or crates for cover and will only emerge when directed to shoot. The trick is to watch for when an enemy shoots red bullets, these are the only bullets that will damage him. Shooting, the primary attack in the game, is done by a simple touch of the screen. For each enemy you hit you are awarded coins which can be used to by consumable power-ups, new guns, or various outfit changes. If you don't want to wait to earn you coins you can also buy them in packs available in the store. For $.99 you can also purchase the double coin pack which earns you double the amount of coins forever (a purchase I highly recommend from the beginning). Powerups range from continues to effectiveness boosters, but all are consumable. There is a huge array of guns available for purchase ranging from a simple handgun to plasma cannons and rocket launchers. There is no one best gun so you'll need to buy a few different types for various situations. With the amount of customization and ability to purchase all elements with a single currency, there is a lot of gameplay to be had.

The purchase system is one of the fairest systems out today. Unlike many freemium games that split into two different currencies Major Mayhem uses a single gold coin currency for all transactions. That means if you're patient enough you can play through and purchase everything Major Mayhem has to offer without a single purchase of real cash. The trick to this of course, is that coins to add up very fast and it's going to take a lot of time if you don't either purchase coins yourself, or enable the double coins earned perk (recommended).

The overall experience with graphics and sound are what we've come to expect from an [adult swim games] game. The art style is 3d and cell shaded (or at least looks cell shaded). The game plays out like an animated cartoon with the explosions huge, characters ridiculous, and sounds over the top. This is clearly one of the most well polished graphics and sound free experiences that has found release thus far. From the ninjas to the armored guards Major Mayhem keeps the violent nature of the game toned down with its undertones of obscurity.

Major Mayhem is definitely a contender for best free game of the year. It easily competes with paid games in the $1.99 to $2.99 category in terms of content and gameplay yet demands absolutely nothing to be completed. I recommend purchases (ok last time, especially the double coins mod) to support ethical business decisions like this one showing developers that this is how we'd like games to operate. The end result is a high accesible, very fun experience that is suitable for audiences young and old regardless of gamer status.