DeVuego ES_COR

It’s definitely not for everyone and those that love the older style of arcade game will get the most out of it. It’s not gatekeeping anything other than the most highly skilled rewards away, but it allows even “noobs” a chance at fighting their way to a half decent ending which makes it feel more rewarding even if it isn’t really.

So there are noticeable dips in the experience, and the game remains a little jagged in technical terms (Capone still looks like a half-melted waxwork of himself). Ness and the world he inhabits resemble history less than ever here, too; the episode would work just as well with a cast of entirely fictional characters. The story nonetheless remains intriguing, and we’re keen to see how things develop. A Crowd of Monsters’ ferocious determination to set the game apart in terms of style also, again, benefits the experience greatly. The mostly black-and-white presentation still looks cool, and one section that breaks from form for overtones of horror is tense and memorable. The decisions we made in the post-credits sequence were quickly regretted, and we’re eager to see what consequences, if any, follow. Let’s hope it’s not another seven months before we can find out, eh?

Randal’s Monday is a love letter to all the things you grew up with and love to this day but it doesn’t manage to hold up to the standards set by what it’s emulating. If you want humour with your nostalgia then there are better choices, and if you want a hardcore point and click then there are also better choices. It’s not bad, but it’s not a replacement for modernised point and clicks that have improved on the archaic design of the games we grew up with.