Slain! could have been great, and quite frankly, it really should have been. Unfortunately, as critics and fans alike will tell ya, Slain! was anything but, when it launched earlier this year. But that was then, this is now, and thanks to a dedicated developer who listened to feedback, the hard-as-nails 16-bit metal-infused side-scroller has somehow managed to rise from the ashes, reborn as a proper great game.
After going through the list of changes for this relaunched version of Slain!, I’m honestly glad to not have experienced the initial build, as it sounds… well, broken. Everything from the overall difficulty to hitboxes, the tutorial, how it controlled, and even the checkpoint system got bashed by pretty much every single critic/user. At that point, the way I see it, you have two options: count your losses and move on, or take however long required, and fix it.
Fortunately, this is a case of the latter as Slain: Back from Hell brings revamped audio, modified enemy AI, smoother animations and more responsive controls overall. Neat stuff for sure, and there are actually new things too: three additional bosses, a dedicated block button (wait, what?), and how about some extra lore? Yup. It may not have been the smoothest launch in history, but that’s what patches are for, you know?
(Source: Slain: Back From Hell is out now! & Comes With Free Gifting Code)
Slain: Back from Hell is available from Steam and GOG.com, at $12.99.
Update: GOG.com availability added.
