Review: The Hong Kong Massacre (PlayStation 4)

Rating: 7.6
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · Published January 22, 2019 · Updated January 22, 2019

The Hong Kong Massacre places you at the center of a hard-boiled revenge story, filled with brutal, cinematic shootouts and vivid underworld locations.

Pros:

Gritty graphics.
5.87GB Download size.
Aim sensitivity slider.
Online Leaderboards.
Top-down twin sticks 3D shooter gameplay.
Platinum trophy.
The Hong Kong Massacre plays like Hotline Miami with a dash of Max Payne/Stranglehold.
Actions- Slow down time and dive. Obviously shoot, reload and pick up guns.
Shoot through windows and doors causing awesome looking carnage.
Each level has 3 stars that are tied to set objectives.
Stars earned are used for buying/upgrading guns.
Best time completion is shown on each level.
Gory kills completely with slow-mo final kills.
Four guns- (Start with a pistol) then its SMG, Rifle, and Shotgun. You can upgrade them and increase mag size, Shoot speed, Reload time etc.
Controls are fine.
Can slide over car bonnets and it looks cool.
The Hong Kong Massacre has an arcade feel.
Quite an easy trophy list.
Dark downbeat soundtrack.
All about memorizing the level layout and perfecting your run.
Great speedrunning game.

Cons:

The Hong Kong Massacre uses a lot of red fonts and to be honest, it can hurt your eyes and the smaller parts of the text are hard to read.
Can be hard to see bullets in game.
Screen tearing.
Not the fastest loading times and it is not instant restart.
Hard to tell whats what due to the view, Windows are not always clear and you are never sure if a wall is a wall or something else.
Only four guns.
The view is very close making seeing ahead hard.
No settings for gore or view etc.

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
8/10

Sound - 8/10
7/10

Accessability - 7/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
8/10

Fun Factor - 8/10

7.6/10

Summary

The Hong Kong Massacre will be compared to Hotline Miami pure and simple. It is like a modern 3D take on the game. It does add its own flair though by introducing some John Woo ass shit. You can slide over car bonnets, Dive out of the way and slow down time. Combine the two and you have yourself the Stranglehold sequel we all so badly want. Gameplay wise its a game all about cleaning out the bad guys and finishing the level as quickly as possible. Earning stars may see you needing to expand that ethos to pacifism or collecting x amount of guns but the general playstyle remains. Now the view is very close making it hard to survey the land/rooms ahead of you. Bullets are a very light color and can be hard to see. You get hit once and its game over. Every death results in a level restart, This is fine except the loading time is not instant and for this mechanic to truly work it needs faster loading times. Take that aside and the fact it only has four guns, The game is actually a lot of fun. Planning routes, watching slow-mo gory kills and sliding and jumping around all feels good. Would love a replay mode to watch it all back but eh whatever. In short, The Hong Kong Massacre has a few issues in places but nails the gameplay. It is a rough start but improves over time.