Neon Inferno Review – Classic Chaos Reignited

Review of Neon Inferno

Retro games often appear on digital stores, glorifying a bygone era. While many simply copy the systems and mechanics that defined their childhood, Xenovia Interactive relies on its influence from Neon Hell create a fresh yet familiar arcade shooter. Will it hit the target or misfire?

The action takes place in New York in 2055. Corruption has consumed the state, causing crime to spiral out of control. As the crooked NYPD and Yakuza fight for dominance, the Family, a coalition of the fallen Italian Mafia and other crime syndicates, hopes to seize control. To do this, you take on the role of one of two participants, Angelo or Mariana, who administer brutal justice and restore order to the war-torn streets. While the story itself isn't groundbreaking, the presentation and presentation are strong, helping to maintain suspense. Colorful, stylish cutscenes add meaning to every encounter, enhancing your journey through each impeccably designed level.

Lock and Load

Your goal is simple: destroy everyone in your path on your way to the impressive boss. But numerous dangers block your progress, turning each stage into an intense, high-stakes battle. Just like classic run and gun games, bullets fly in all directions, so you need to be nimble to avoid damage. Since there is no way to replenish health, this leads to exciting segments where you rely on quick reflexes and precise movements to survive each encounter. Checkpoints are well placed to provide a high level of difficulty, requiring you to complete several areas before your progress is locked in. While the game has that retro complexity, it also retains the same spirit of learning patterns and reacting. However, with three available difficulty levels, you can customize the gameplay to suit your skill level.

While Neon Inferno incorporates staple elements of the genre with its hell segments, it also borrows clever elements from other retro shooters like Wild Guns, in which enemies attack from the background. This forces you to defend yourself against threats both external and external. The debris serves as temporary cover, providing short-term protection from background fire, but these barriers are destructible, forcing you to constantly move and maintain an incredibly frantic pace throughout the fight.

Who's next?

The variety of enemies adds to the experience, requiring you to adapt your approach. Some fire green bullets that can be deflected with a well-timed blade strike, causing significant damage. Holding a melee attack while attempting this maneuver triggers bullet timing, allowing you to fire projectiles in a direction to take out anyone on screen. This is a great feature that gives you more options for your survival. Other shots require you to jump out of the way or duck to avoid being hit. When enemies attack from the left, right, above and even from behind, it makes the shooter truly exciting.

Bosses are created by masters and consist of several stages, overcoming which requires skill and dexterity. Encounters have a nice sense of progression towards the end, which helps make each battle feel important. While the fights may seem challenging at first, learning the moves and counters will lead to satisfying moments where you can take down imposing enemies with ease.

While shooting and running around the landscape is central to the game, Zenovia Interactive also changes up the gameplay with vehicle segments that require you to shoot approaching enemies while racing along the highway. The stages progress with surprises, which help add a sense of real adventure. Talented developers aren't just copying shooters from the golden era; they build on these fundamentals to create something that is both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.

splash of money

After completing the mission, you receive a rating and money that can be spent on goods in the store. You can purchase new weapons, and while they are effective, they have a limited amount of ammo, meaning you must use them sparingly. This adds more variety and is a great way to personalize your adventure by experimenting with the options available. With a challenging arcade mode and two-player co-op available, there are plenty of reasons to take to the devastated streets of New York.

The overall presentation is incredible, with the neon-lit streets perfectly capturing the futuristic, war-torn city. CRT scan lines further ingrain the game's retro influences, while modern elements enhance the design. Dynamic weather and lighting effects permeate the environment, adding a beautiful level of detail to each area. Each character is impressively realized, with an anime-inspired aesthetic that evokes the spirit of Akira. Combined with a stylish synth soundtrack, catchy melodies and intuitive sound effects, the game delivers a flawless audiovisual experience.

Neon Inferno is a brilliant shooter that not only captures the essence of its influences, but expands on them to create a wonderful retro adventure. Its deep mechanics lead to intense firefights with bullets flying from all directions, testing your reflexes as you dodge and strike back. Combined with stunning graphics, this is an incredible experience that fans of the genre simply cannot miss.

***PlayStation 5 code provided by publisher for verification***