Heart&Slash Review

Heart&Slash was initially announced via Kickstarter.com. It has been approximately three years since it was first announced through Kickstarter and I have to say that this is the first game that I have seen with hype that actually got released through Kickstarter.

Heart&Slash is a very simple game which involves robots, running and combat. In the intro you see Heart (player) get built with the sub-text reading "100 years after the Robolution". The premise of this title is: there was a robot revolution against man, man failed to defend themselves and ultimately lost the war, however, amongst the evil man killing robots there was one with a heart of circuits for the human race.

Upon starting you run through to a starting area collecting weapons and gear, these can be recycled for more life or upgraded later in the game. For each robot kill you get, you receive bolts, similar to Ratchet and Clank in the sense that each bolt you pick up can be used to upgrade your gear. When you activate the mainframe you are then able to start exploring the facility.

Each facility has different rooms, within which have different robots, some bosses, some two hit kills and some even have the air advantage. It is up to you to slay the enemies as quick as possible however you need to be able to know when you can stand and fight or when you should run away. Yes, in this title that is a viable tactical choice. In each area you will have one, if not two weapon and/or gear drops in which you could use or recycle as a reward for clearing the previous area.


Getting used to the controls can be quite tricky as it is very fast paced and with the controls going so fast you have to process your next eight moves ahead of time so you know exactly how you will be defeating your enemies. The movement with the controller is so precise that it can make it very difficult not to fall down a hole.

I noticed very little, if any bugs throughout the playthrough on PS4 however a patch has been announced in the coming days addressing some reported bugs on the console versions, then after a couple of weeks a larger, more complex patch will be released addressing more subtle bugs and texture faults based on initial feedback.

The developers really seem to be listening to consumer base which is extremely re-assuring. The developer team have been sure to keep in contact through various forums, tweets and blog posts leaving the methods of contact unlocked so we can provide feedback.


The graphics feel very warm and inviting. You can really tell that the developing team put a lot of time into the graphics. Though not a AAA release title everything lined up very well, in the sense that there is nothing that seems out of place. Each room had different features and the room textures seemed to really line up with what the rooms were used for according to the in game room signage.
The music for me is where this title lost points. With the gameplay and graphics exactly what I was expecting and looking forward to, the techno rock really felt like it didn't fit. I would have been happier listening to one or the other and not the attempt at a crossover.


Whilst this game has now been fully released over PS4 and Xbox One, it is yet to be released on PC, MAC and LINUX as the development team would like to implement some extra features, one of which is for compatibility for a variety of hardware so everybody is able to have some fun. I would assume that there would be a console patch to add some of the other features in too. Therefor the team has decided to keep this title in Early Access until August 2016.

Positives:

• Graphics
• Combat
• Precise controls
• Comical tips

Negatives:

• Music score
• Lack of depth into the main character
• No voiced characters

SCORE: 6.5  out of 10

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, (PC, MAC LINUX, not yet released)
Genre: Indie, Action, Adventure, RPG, Arcade
Initial Release: 28th June 2016
Developer: AHEARTFULOFGAMES
Publisher: Badland Games

-Iroro
Aussie Gamers Express