murder and violence is cool, but have you ever abused a chikd and watched it grow up absolutely broken then get addicted to drugs and live the rest of their lives under the bridge? you can go piss on them while they sleep. true cruelty requires patience. you wish you were this cool.
Other games: we make the violence fun and not offputting! Cruelty Squad: neon pain color bullets to the eyes, this world is hell, now go do drugs and sell organs while striving to kill the anti-death capitalist secret god boss.
@@Sablus also don't forget to sell your dignity by implating body mods that makes you poop from diverse places in your body, progressively disfiguring you further and further into a non human being, that combined with your depressed mental state surely will do you greatly
persona 5's UI: An angsty teen's failed art project where they tried to be "cool." Cruelty Squad's UI: Deliberately garish and offensive from start to finish.
@@expendableround6186 except persona 5's is good and everyone liked it? why put down a game for another game. Besides its ironic when cruelty squad is much more edgy teen trying to be cool.
Me and a buddy got this game together when it was first out in early access. The sharing of our findings and just overall bewildered reaction to the putridness of it all was second to none with any other game we co-experienced. He passed away recently, but cruelty squad left an indelible imprint of how much games like this can create such a visceral memory of good times. Truly a one of a kind gem.
@@Sethar1234 Thanks! He and I had a penchant for scrounging around for the obscurest, weirdest looking games on steam. Just glad to see a game we really liked getting the coverage it deserves.
Games like this illustrate, perhaps the most effectively, that the only real difference between our concept of rock-bottom dystopian futurism and our current social, legal, and economic systems is the aesthetic. A coat of paint.
@@DestroyedArkana yeah, if the axis won things would have been a huge difference, now we gotta deal with the trio of the corrupt hell hole of burgerstani, drunkenpotato farmers and winnie the pooh.
@@commissarvigil4806 well hitler was a moron and most people in his party hated him, he would have been overthrown anyways, and the republic would have been very stable. the cold war would have never happened in this time line, same with japan, the man in the high castle kinda got japan right, in that they are very interested in discovering other cultureal items then modifying them or improving them, like taking an italian dish and turning a taste, in their version of western america its more of like hong kong, where its an economic station to get products produced to the father land, in this sense west america would have ended like hong kong a lot more economicly focused and more developed in terms of high speed rails and infustructure, while east america would have been germany but a republic after hitler gets kicked out a few years later. the worlds currency would still be gold standard and the usa wouldn't go to war for oil and inflating the dollar once they made the dollar the basis, and now the whole world suffers when the USA prints money because they literally control the prime currency. in this other alternative universe, there will be more than just one or two major power but well over 6. and without american interferance south america and middle east would be strong as well
One of my favorite things i discovered in cruelty squad is that, in the suburban house level, you can put the exploded remains of your enemies on a grill and cook them into a surprisingly nourishing health-up. Go cannibalism!
Can you do that even before you get the regenerating meat surgery or whatever they call it? The one Cruelty Squad forces on you if you die too many times.
This game is the visual representation of my mind when i enter the "automatic employee for minimun wage manual labour job" mode When you don't have time for anything, just work, and work and work and every problem with your life and with the world is in the back of your mind, always there
I totally understand that. Especially the text on the billboards: "Punishment, virtue, happiness". When you are in a frenzy or deep anxiety, those long ass corporate slogans literally turn to those simple vocabularies.
I love Cruelty Squad to bits, but I never knew Consumer Softproducts was just one nihilistic artist that had never made a game before This is a masterpiece and that new information makes it 10x more impressive to me
I'd call the aesthetic heavyhanded if it wasn't so effective. It has what I feel a lot of the guilt-trip-laden messages in AAA games are missing- most of us are numb to the cognitive dissonance of killing in a video game because you can always pin your actions on some greater good, character motivations or even just the game developers, but deliberately devaluing and commodifying the lives you take isn't something you can easily shrug off.
idk, the game puts you into such a fucked up world that no life has value. Everyone is scummy and no one matters. These people don't feel like people, I don't get any empathy for them, nor for myself. It's a hellhole of a game, and that's the great part about it. At some point, you might even lack motivation and yet keep pushing because why the hell not?
Cruelty squad is like what a young teen sees when staring at society. Incomprehensible, yet somehow completely coherent, and disgustingly ugly. The game captures that feeling so well.
Some games are good, or even great, but conventional enough that you only need to watch one review to know whether you want to buy them or not and there's not much point in watching multiple reviews. Then there's games that are extremely appealing to a niche so you want to watch several reviews to find out which reviewers like it and which don't. Then there's games like Cruelty Squad where the first review you watched convinced you to buy the game but you still keep watching reviews of it because it's so offbeat that all the reviews also end up being offbeat and entertaining.
The soundtrack is actually great, honestly. Its also in the vein of some underground experimental music. I especially love the Office level track, its gorgeous.
I think his critique is more that the music isn't subversive in the same way the ux and level design is. I've listened to bits and pieces and there are parts that "violate the basic rules you're taught in music school" but other parts that just seem kinda... Bleh. Its interesting though.
@@penguinwolf3330 naaaaah that dilutes the meaning of the word edgy or completely destroys the labelling of 'Hatred' as being 'edgy' and boosts it to the realm of 'psychotic' which is not what Cruelty Squad is since its satire. Hatred was not satire.
Having 6 ebay employees and executives stalk and harass owners of a blog about loopholes in ebay policies has ironically, probably got the blog a lot of exposure. If executives are willing to go that far to try and stop the website then it must be really good. What a weird world to live in.
Let's not forget that behind every story that got exposed, there's probably many that weren't. Media, by statistical necessity, only give a biased view of the world. There's probably many voices of dissent that were successfully shut-down but we don't hear about them exactly BECAUSE they were successfully shut-down.
I respect the game's message and intent and am super happy it's getting a lot of love from the creatives I love... but in no way can I ever play it myself for multiple reasons.
Absolutely fair the game deliberately is obtuse and unforgiving intentionally both visually and mechanically. While it helps tell it's messages it's purposely made uninviting and hard in many ways which will lack it's appeal to some people.
For real, I was on the fence up until 6:20, and I'm pretty sure if that was fullscreened I may have thrown up. Like, great job, you managed to successfully induce motion sickness. Why.
@@zUJ7EjVD Great way to put it. While games like this have the unfortunate side effect of attracting toxic elitist gatekeepers, that doesn’t detract from the overall art and message it conveys.
@@thedingleberrybush6076 where do you see these toxic elitists? i have only seen people with extreme hate toward the game calling everyone else who likes it pretentious elitists lmao
I think simplifying the message to just a Hotline Miami like critique of video game violence is doing it too little credit and simplifies it. In my view once you really get into the lore and themes of the game and its later routes you start to notice themes about how life without death devalues life. Cruelty Squad takes place in a universe where dying literally just costs you 500 dollars to be reconstructed and nobody ever really dies permanently with only a couple of notable exceptions because they can just go and get reconstructed for 500 bucks and this is especially the case for the rich. No wonder human life is worth so little when its basically been boiled down to a minor economic setback akin to getting a fucking speeding ticket in this world. Hard to feel bad for killing somebody when you can just come back and see them the next day like nothing happened. It makes even killing rich assholes who have it coming feel futile and irrelevant since you know they are just going to pop out again in a reconstruction machine. With that established now think about people like Peter Thiel who are talking about how they want to make themselves immortal and conquer death and do insane shit like injecting themselves with the blood of the young so they can live forever and these themes start to really resonant. That and the clear influences of people like Georges Bataille in the mythology of the cruelty squad worlds creation myth and I would say Cruelty Squad is the very first PRO-DEATH video game. (In a good life affirming way I mean) To put it another way Cruelty Squad seems to be saying that in a world without any death trying to live a meaningful life is basically impossible and makes the tragedy of human life being taken meaningless. It draws connections between the billionaire pursuance of immortality and capitalisms pursuit of infinite growth with no end. Like honestly the ultimate message of the game really reminds of the main message of the Anime Texhnolyze if you guys have ever watched that. They share some very similar themes anyway in my estimation.
I'd say this game has purposefully no message. It's not pro-death or anti-capitalist because it simply can't be. By making it as nihilistic as possible, the author is basically saying: in modern day neoliberalism, every resistence is futile and this whole game is sterile. It doesn't matter what I'm critizing, you people won't care and neither will I. We have lost already, this work of art, if it can be labeled as such, is nothing, less then nothing. It's this absolute disdain for even acknowledging the problem that seems to drive Cruelty Squad. It's utterly deranged and absurd; its meaning doesn't matter, not in this world, not in this lifetime.
There's a genre of music known as utopian virtual, a descendant of vaporwave noted for its use of tacky 90s synth sounds often used in stuff like corporate training products to give those sounds a beautiful new context. Frankly, when listening to this game's music, my first thought is "dystopian virtual"
in the paradise (suburban neighborhood) level there's a full recreation of the compound osama bin laden was found in, just pointing that out edit: (also at 12:32 you say there's a canibalism button and while there is it's only for the lowest difficulty that you can only reach when you die a couple times)
@@rheawelsh4142 @@rheawelsh4142 You have to die several times in a row, as earlier in the game that sends you into debt - as each respawn *before* getting to cannibal mode costs 500$.
Glad you went into the art style AS an art style instead of just calling it intentionally ugly. I cant imagine how that guy feels developing over the years only to undercut with "haha ugly game"
I can bet to you that he is hardly affected by those kind of critque at his stage of career: A veteran and skilled artist is already used to rejection.
I mean no, the game IS ugly. The intended reaction of the art style IS to make you uncomfortable. What's wrong is when an audience is automatically trained to take "ugly/uncomfortable" as synonymous with "bad/not worth it" and not explore it as a deliberate choice in itself.
@@dixego And this reaction is where we get into why most people hate modern art and artists almost as much as those artists hate most people. I would blame no one for not wanting to play Cruelty Squad because of its aesthetic because christ, it's just so hard to look at sometimes, and not everyone wants to look at *more* ugliness in their day or with their entertainment. But there's always this mindset that a bunch of hipstery irony poisoned types come up with that people are somehow "wrong" for not wanting to somehow subject themselves to more pain in their lives - even if it's just visual pain. They're not wrong to want to avoid an eyesore artstyle. If there's any wrongness here, it's how fucked up someone has to be to think that people avoiding pain are in the wrong for doing so. Do you even see how messed up you have to be to get to that mindset?
@@MidlifeCrisisJoe No one would care about Cruelty Squad if it didn't look like vomit. Amusingly, it being ugly isn't just pretentious horseshit funded by some taxpayer art grant, it's a compelling selling point. Even modern art must have value when you have to sell copies to plebs. If you downscaled the 150k wall banana into a $150 Walmart product, absolutely no one would buy it, revealing it for what it is. Cruelty Squad sells and that proves that it's actual art. Can't dodge taxes with your Steam library so every sold copy is an individual who found meaning in it. Novelty. They felt something. A twinge of the first time they had Stolichnaya perhaps, but meaning and value was had all the same.
where most games tell you violence is bad to your face, Cruelty Squad leans in uncomfortably close and says "Come on, shoot those people, do it. Do it, it'll be fun" in the same tone your boss at wal-mart uses to tell you to bring shopping carts in from the parking lot
An interesting thing to me is that the arsenal of this game seems to be mostly made up of prototype guns which were tested, but never made it to standard issue. The AN-94, G11, IWS 2000, ACR, MCR… All designed to become weapons of the future for armies all over the world, but abandoned because they were too unreliable, too complex or - usually - too expensive to put into mass-production. I feel like this fits the aesthetic of Cruelty Squad quite well - you shoot industrial competitors and dissidents with guns rejected by militaries because they didn’t fit their capitalistic requirements.
the exception is the zippy 3000, based off the zip 30, the zippy 3000 is the worst gun in the game as its entirely a 1/3 chance to even fire and might even just hurt you
Great video, great game. Hard disagree about the soundtrack- I find myself straight-up listening to the office and apartment tracks from the OST. There is a nice range of "crazy" and "desolate" that fits each level's tone
The soundtrack is an unironical banger. Just like the art direction, it takes talent to craft a truly off-putting OST. He definitely knows what parts to tweak to make it just the perfect blend of bizarre but also straight flames, dawg 🔥 the Combat Cocktail song comes to mind
To be fair, the music in cruelty squad seems like it's purposely made to sound like shit in some cases like in the casino and paradise. The music in pharma and office (combat cocktail and pyrexia respectively) fucking slaps and certainly doesn't seem like it was made by a complete amateur.
Honestly the soundtrack is one of the things I love about Cruelty Squad, it kind of reminds me of LISA's OST in strokes here and there. At the same time, I'm also just someone who loves garish music in general, so
Hi! Love the video, your analysis of CS was completely on point. I'm a freelance composer/producer and wanted to add something about the music of this game. It's the same thing as the visual art, there is a distinct use of dissonance and chords that do not sound good together in these horrifically brash midi tones, once again a deliberate breaking of conventions and rules, but what REALLY strikes me is that it isn't completely random. The song that plays in the casino is so dour and depressing and really represents what that place means. The sparseness of the title theme is fitting for the art displayed on screen, a man dead in a car, a meaningless act of violence. And some of the more distorted and energetic songs go hard, like the ones that play in the nightclub and the pharmacy. But yeah, loved the video!
Worth noting that Ville Kaillo is also a comics artist! That’s primarily how I know their name & work, and i think provides a more direct lineage to 70s alt comics, via stuff like Leon & Stefan Sadler. P-FE/FRAF published by kuš definitely feels close to this game
Check out the Death Ending if you want a full taste of the lore. This game really is made by a nihilist artist, it shows in every part. I love this game so much.
Maybe if we're lucky someone will make a game parodying these upper middle class yuppies making dark hyper dyspotic stories where the moral of the story has a downright evil undertone in terms of what the makers are trying to push and only the lower class has enough real problems in life to roll their eyes at it.
@@TheSoulHarvester All the "working class fiction" people keep elevating is stuff from upper middle class yuppies who've never seen the inside of a factory like the game this video is about.
>world engulfed in the fullest extent of nihilism because no one can die and "life" has no meaning >post scarcity world, but people are so materialistic that they're trying to get ahead anyway >bosses include the gnostic demiurge and the "cradle of life" "this is about capitalism" This is what people mean when they talk about small souled bugmen
GOTY for me, even got going into modding-I bought it immediately after seeing the aesthetics, was pleasantly suprised by how solid a game it actually was
And how could I forget how refreshing the politics were, delivered in a way as to beat one over the head with a hammer but also with gaslighting from the dev on twitter
@@zUJ7EjVD what's wrong with being center right? Or am I reading your comment incorrectly and the umbridge you have is with how the politics are displayed?
@@zUJ7EjVD my political beliefs technically fall under the umbrella of center right so I was just curious as to the hate. I have a lot of beliefs that would be labeled left and plenty that would be labeled right but when it comes down to it I'm I'm centrist that slightly leans conservative. Anyway take care man.
@@zUJ7EjVD Reminds of Cyberpunk 2077's whole press statement about the game "not being a political statement." Your corporate dystopia about corruption, technological power, poverty and oppression, class struggle, and urban decay "isn't a political statement?" Yeah sure... The wider gaming community can't handle political opinions in either extreme unless it's sanitized and coated in asterisks. I am glad Cruelty Squad has such an unforgiving view of the world we're heading towards because that's really what we need. The game doesn't care what you think about its opinions.
@@zUJ7EjVD Don't mind me sliding in the convo. to argue that it's less that the politics don't hold but rather that the modern world is already and you could argue excessively centre-right so adding of those just sound stupid to me. I honestly don't believe we currently have any ideology that, if scrutinized enough, would hold up without some damning issues. But I don't see why that should stop us from implementing, discarding or mixing various parts of them alongside new ideas to try and end up something we think would be better for our current needs and/or overall. Anyway that's my opinion as a left leaning social liberal that can appreciate some aspects of socialism and capitalism. Oh and absolutely fuck Far-Cry 5 and apocalyptical religious fundamentalism parading under the guise of societal freedoms and harmony. It hurts so much especially because I heard that 4 and Primal really rocked in some ways... Well I guess it looked purdy but fuuuuuuuck.
Now that's pure Bunnyhop right here. Actually waiting when the hype dies down to provide a truly thorough look at the game, instead of rather uninteresting first impressions. (Which are pretty much the same for everyone in a game like CruS). Even Civvie11's video was rather disappointing, but with your video, I actually learned quite a few things, and massive props for delving into Ville's work to give better context of the game.
I enjoyed Civvie's review but he is severely unqualified to analyse something like this lol. That's what made it so impressive tho, in a way; despite being unaware of or uninterested in the subtexts of the game, he dove right in & tried to meet it on its terms anyway. In spite of himself, he found some stuff to like about it, & I respect that. But yeah it's nice to see a review that's actually aware of what was being attempted lol.
@@ieuanhunt552 I think Leadhead goes by she/her? But yeah, it's a very good video. Honestly, I'm just happy whenever George uploads at all. Undoubtedly seeing this in my sub box will ultimately turn the rest of my evening into a binge session of all of his older stuff.
@@aurelionight Damnit this is Gamechamp all over again. Thank you for pointing out my ignorance. To be fair it's really hard to tell how someone identifies just from the voice. Just from the voice I would never think that Gamechamp is a feminine non binary but they are.
@@ieuanhunt552 Oh, I wouldn't beat yourself up over it too bad, I think she's pretty early on in her transition? and you'd only really know if you went out of your way to check her twitter or IG.
My favourite part of the game is that deus ex feeling of getting new items and applying them to obstacles in the world to reach new places, except every item you get is incredibly powerful and absoultely going to kill you in some unforseable way and every challenge leads deeper down the coprate greed fueled rabbit hole.
Whenever you brought up our current corporate dystopia I just whispered „Jesus fucking Christ“ while absent-mindedly doing the dishes. My girlfriend has been looking at me as if I‘m crazy, but it‘s the world that‘s crazy.
I genuinely enjoyed the music in this game (as in, the experience of it, not the way it sounds). It constantly surprised me, creeped me out, disgusted me or made laugh (the toilet? music of the swamp was a highlight)
This is probably the best review of Cruelty Squad I’ve seen so far. The game is truly a marvel AND in addition to dverything you’ve said here I want to point out to people who’s still on the fence: the combat is really good. The guns are nice, it’s satisfying to kill enemies and scavenging for new guns was a big part of the appeal on my first playthrough. And this game has some GUNS.
Such a good video, I don’t know why but it never crossed my mind that you’d review this game, but it makes perfect sense. A perspective like yours is precisely what the discourse around this game needed.
The reason human life is so invaluable is bc there is technology that has made humans immortal. FYI also u can only eat dead bodies after dying enough times in a given level to get on to "Power In Misery" difficulty (signified by the fleshy border). Power In Misery in-universe is explained by you being forced to get a surgery that makes you regenerate endlessly after you die, meaning that you no longer have to pay $500 when you die. Also fun tip u can grind mall madness with a rocket launcher on punishment mode while dumping all of ur money into kidneys for quick money. I'm sorry I have a lot to say abt this game
I think the best thing about the game is that it's both a great art piece and a great video game at the same time, without one half ever detracting from the other. It's so boldly, satirically and unpretentiously punk (neo punk? 21st century punk? is that a thing anyone says?), yet once you get into the game it's also a really solid tactical shooter with really clever and varied level design and creative mechanics. The coating of "deep fried ironic meme" paint has the same effect in that it both meshes naturally with the cynical near-future cyberpunk dystopian themes, and at the same time complements the gameplay in making areas, enemies, items and effects both unique and distinct. A note about the music: the first level actually has dynamic combat music, which I thought was a really nice touch. Personally I love the whole soundtrack (even in the swamp level, because it's so unexpected and unsettling), but it'd be really interesting to know if there were ideas and plans for even more dynamic music for different areas and scenarios at some point in development.
After your video on Umurangi Generation and now this I have decided to exclusively buy and play games recommended by you, don't abuse this power Mr Bunnyhop.
I disagree about the music, but maybe it's just my massive nostalgia for early DOS games clouding my judgement. the way the music sounds "unfinished" kinda reminds me of how sim city 2000 sounded as a kid, playing on a soundcard that couldn't handle it.
Here have a like, at least you get rewarded with something... I guess... hey how about we take over our billionare overloards and change the system for good?
@@ZodiacEntertainment2 The "Death" ending track is intense as all hell, rivals any and all death metal. And the apartments track had my heart absolutely racing.
@@cole1714 Read the item description, it clearly states that "boost yourself upwards by releasing a jet of assorted biological detritus". Ironic that you state that people are "missing the text" when its you that didn't read it.
Unlike someone like Hasan he's probably smart enough to realise he's in the group that would be in those guillotines and is thus content with "exploiting" the plebs for money rather then rallying them up to inevitably murder him.
@@akoyash9964 He's certainly not poor by any extent of the imagination. Then again if he was his politics wouldn't be that found solely in the middle and upper class.
This Count... I feel as if I'm looking at my future self. Mega bucks, big-ass house, fast cars, dining in style with a world class chef and a trusted nutritionist counting every calorie! A team of hot Yoga instructors to keep me in shape... Nurses, to attend to my body... Maids and loyal servants at my beck and call... On the weekends, tanned babes knocking on my door every two hours... Every day full of excitement and luxury, that'd be the life! Everything in its right,place, it's the perfect life, it's the life of winners! That'll be my life! I thirst for selflessness, hypocrites lusting for their own desire to get killed by young rookies like me! This is how it goes down... And for the old killers? They'll croak anyway. I guess you could call this a "Comedy". I realize there's really nothing here for me. But what else CAN I do but keep going? Maybe I should've been a little more careful before I jumped in... Gotta find the exit... Gotta find that exit, to Paradise! But I can't see it... I can't seeanything! There's this sense of doom running down my spine like it's... Like it's trying to suck the life out of me! I need to get rid of it, before I bail... Something deeper, something deeper than my instincts is taunting me! Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit.
![ALLY - OH MY! [ REACTION ] 'Amarin Nitibhon' #ALLY_OHMY #ALLY #allynitibhon #แอลลี่](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nX9qpHjVfbQ/mqdefault.jpg)
"I really look up to people who are good at violence" is such a great quote.
@@elenorsolagracia7787 this individual has attained a CEO mindset
Remember, lads; subscribe to pewdiepie!
@@bobhonkhonk9843 wait, what?
"Oh youre one of them 'Open Carry' types huh? I respect that."
murder and violence is cool, but have you ever abused a chikd and watched it grow up absolutely broken then get addicted to drugs and live the rest of their lives under the bridge? you can go piss on them while they sleep. true cruelty requires patience. you wish you were this cool.
joker voice: we live in a cruelty squad
Is this some kind of... Society?
What do you get when you cross a mentaly ill loner with a society governed by corporations? I'll tell you what you get. You get Cruelty Squad!
instead of saying "literally 1984" say "literally cruelty squad"
That’s it, huh, we some kind of cruelty squad?
@@net6403 literally gorbino's quest
Other games: violence is bad, so here do some violence.
This game: Sell organs; stonks.
Other games: we make the violence fun and not offputting!
Cruelty Squad: neon pain color bullets to the eyes, this world is hell, now go do drugs and sell organs while striving to kill the anti-death capitalist secret god boss.
@@Sablus also don't forget to sell your dignity by implating body mods that makes you poop from diverse places in your body, progressively disfiguring you further and further into a non human being, that combined with your depressed mental state surely will do you greatly
Society: Video courses violence!
Also society: let's take their resources and lable them as terrorists!
persona 5's UI: An angsty teen's failed art project where they tried to be "cool."
Cruelty Squad's UI: Deliberately garish and offensive from start to finish.
@@expendableround6186 except persona 5's is good and everyone liked it? why put down a game for another game. Besides its ironic when cruelty squad is much more edgy teen trying to be cool.
I’ve been getting really into “hell”. Both as a mindset and as something to strive for, in an organizational sense.
That's cool, but my job is just playing with guns and drinking coffee. I don't really do much.
I'm not really into the whole number thing.
My kid loves this plastic crap!
When the beat drops I’m going to fucking kill myself
I have thousands of followers, they call me blacksuppositoried and debased
Me and a buddy got this game together when it was first out in early access. The sharing of our findings and just overall bewildered reaction to the putridness of it all was second to none with any other game we co-experienced. He passed away recently, but cruelty squad left an indelible imprint of how much games like this can create such a visceral memory of good times. Truly a one of a kind gem.
I'm sorry for your loss. It's really cool you guys were able to share this game together and bond over it too
@@Sethar1234 Thanks! He and I had a penchant for scrounging around for the obscurest, weirdest looking games on steam. Just glad to see a game we really liked getting the coverage it deserves.
Sorry for your loss. Me and my brother did the exact same thing. It was really fun giving each other clues or fun ideas how to kill targets
Oh man that must have put Trauma Loop into a whole other light for you huh.
May he rest in peace.
It's rare to find a piece of art that gets it's message across so eloquently and subtly while being comically blunt
Say what you will but this place is incredibly beautiful
Its a mastapiece
I'd be fascinated to hear what about Cruelty Squad is subtle lol
@@russelljohnson7004 where did you hear subtle? They said it was comically blunt
@@robertwyatt3912 "Gets it's message across so eloquently and subtly"
Games like this illustrate, perhaps the most effectively, that the only real difference between our concept of rock-bottom dystopian futurism and our current social, legal, and economic systems is the aesthetic. A coat of paint.
Yeah since the end of WWII things have degenerated significantly.
@@DestroyedArkana yeah, if the axis won things would have been a huge difference, now we gotta deal with the trio of the corrupt hell hole of burgerstani, drunkenpotato farmers and winnie the pooh.
@@NeostormXLMAX i think it would ahve sucked terribly hard Either way, There's no good timeline.
@@commissarvigil4806 well hitler was a moron and most people in his party hated him, he would have been overthrown anyways, and the republic would have been very stable.
the cold war would have never happened in this time line, same with japan,
the man in the high castle kinda got japan right, in that they are very interested in discovering other cultureal items then modifying them or improving them, like taking an italian dish and turning a taste, in their version of western america its more of like hong kong, where its an economic station to get products produced to the father land, in this sense west america would have ended like hong kong a lot more economicly focused and more developed in terms of high speed rails and infustructure, while east america would have been germany but a republic after hitler gets kicked out a few years later.
the worlds currency would still be gold standard and the usa wouldn't go to war for oil and inflating the dollar once they made the dollar the basis, and now the whole world suffers when the USA prints money because they literally control the prime currency. in this other alternative universe, there will be more than just one or two major power but well over 6. and without american interferance south america and middle east would be strong as well
@@NeostormXLMAX wtf
One of my favorite things i discovered in cruelty squad is that, in the suburban house level, you can put the exploded remains of your enemies on a grill and cook them into a surprisingly nourishing health-up. Go cannibalism!
Can you do that even before you get the regenerating meat surgery or whatever they call it? The one Cruelty Squad forces on you if you die too many times.
@@cupriferouscatalyst3708I think so, because you can gib npcs with the kick
there is also a grill in paradise level
@@cupriferouscatalyst3708yeah, if you die enough you become a flesh abomination that can eat human flesh. You can talk to an NPC about it.
This game is the visual representation of my mind when i enter the "automatic employee for minimun wage manual labour job" mode
When you don't have time for anything, just work, and work and work and every problem with your life and with the world is in the back of your mind, always there
I totally understand that. Especially the text on the billboards:
"Punishment, virtue, happiness". When you are in a frenzy or deep anxiety, those long ass corporate slogans literally turn to those simple vocabularies.
As long as you realise that its your own fault for not being hard working enough in your youth to get a better job
@@lyleinnoe2210 yes please drink the kool aid of your corporate overlords. You do the work so they don't have to.
@@RandomPerson13 You should write something dude
@@lyleinnoe2210 massive boomer energy here
I love Cruelty Squad to bits, but I never knew Consumer Softproducts was just one nihilistic artist that had never made a game before
This is a masterpiece and that new information makes it 10x more impressive to me
He also said that he spent ~10 years writing the game iirc.
@@RaeIsGaee 10 years writing the game? ok thats news to me can you link a interview
@@eltiolavara9
15 years actually, the devs replied to someone who liked the writing by saying "it took 15 years to write, better be good" on twitter.
@@RaeIsGaee god damn if that isnt trolling thats insane
@@eltiolavara9 its half-trolling. "15 years" of reading. a year or so of writing. afaik at least
I'd call the aesthetic heavyhanded if it wasn't so effective. It has what I feel a lot of the guilt-trip-laden messages in AAA games are missing- most of us are numb to the cognitive dissonance of killing in a video game because you can always pin your actions on some greater good, character motivations or even just the game developers, but deliberately devaluing and commodifying the lives you take isn't something you can easily shrug off.
idk, the game puts you into such a fucked up world that no life has value. Everyone is scummy and no one matters. These people don't feel like people, I don't get any empathy for them, nor for myself. It's a hellhole of a game, and that's the great part about it. At some point, you might even lack motivation and yet keep pushing because why the hell not?
Cruelty squad is like what a young teen sees when staring at society. Incomprehensible, yet somehow completely coherent, and disgustingly ugly. The game captures that feeling so well.
shit man I'm 21 and it still looks like that, at least in America. Some countries can't be all that bad
@@bowsmed you have no idea
Some games are good, or even great, but conventional enough that you only need to watch one review to know whether you want to buy them or not and there's not much point in watching multiple reviews. Then there's games that are extremely appealing to a niche so you want to watch several reviews to find out which reviewers like it and which don't. Then there's games like Cruelty Squad where the first review you watched convinced you to buy the game but you still keep watching reviews of it because it's so offbeat that all the reviews also end up being offbeat and entertaining.
I read a comment on reddit and cruelty squad was on sale the next day and I got it.
this is literally what i’ve been going through, i bought the game cuz of one review, and now i just wanna watch more people talk about it
The soundtrack is actually great, honestly. Its also in the vein of some underground experimental music. I especially love the Office level track, its gorgeous.
Took long enough to find someone who also understands what the music was going for
The office music is fantastic. Same with the one at the space company headquarters.
Bog business OST is fire
I think his critique is more that the music isn't subversive in the same way the ux and level design is. I've listened to bits and pieces and there are parts that "violate the basic rules you're taught in music school" but other parts that just seem kinda... Bleh. Its interesting though.
This whole game is a love letter to the concept of pure hatred for the world you live in, it's wonderful.
remember the game hatred? back then I thought this would be like this game
@@TheAllin5 Hatred was just an edgy pos game. This is art.
@@emeraldcelestial1058 exactly, I hoped it to be more than just a controversy driven cashgrab
@@emeraldcelestial1058 Cruelty squad is also edgy.
@@penguinwolf3330 naaaaah that dilutes the meaning of the word edgy or completely destroys the labelling of 'Hatred' as being 'edgy' and boosts it to the realm of 'psychotic' which is not what Cruelty Squad is since its satire. Hatred was not satire.
Having 6 ebay employees and executives stalk and harass owners of a blog about loopholes in ebay policies has ironically, probably got the blog a lot of exposure.
If executives are willing to go that far to try and stop the website then it must be really good. What a weird world to live in.
If the weirdness only means funny, I'm all for it.
But sadly, it isn't.
Let's not forget that behind every story that got exposed, there's probably many that weren't. Media, by statistical necessity, only give a biased view of the world. There's probably many voices of dissent that were successfully shut-down but we don't hear about them exactly BECAUSE they were successfully shut-down.
This is the Gorbinos' Quest of real life!
When the beat drops I'm going to fucking kill myself
@@alfiowo Please dont
I respect the game's message and intent and am super happy it's getting a lot of love from the creatives I love... but in no way can I ever play it myself for multiple reasons.
Absolutely fair the game deliberately is obtuse and unforgiving intentionally both visually and mechanically. While it helps tell it's messages it's purposely made uninviting and hard in many ways which will lack it's appeal to some people.
For real, I was on the fence up until 6:20, and I'm pretty sure if that was fullscreened I may have thrown up. Like, great job, you managed to successfully induce motion sickness. Why.
@@zUJ7EjVD Great way to put it. While games like this have the unfortunate side effect of attracting toxic elitist gatekeepers, that doesn’t detract from the overall art and message it conveys.
@@Szanth you'll be fine, play the game
@@thedingleberrybush6076 where do you see these toxic elitists?
i have only seen people with extreme hate toward the game calling everyone else who likes it pretentious elitists lmao
What are we, some kind of cruelty squad?
Ah yes Neil. The Philosopher that brought us Neilism.
Nihilism is dumb. Watch Kent Hovind Seminars
@@nickkerinklio8239 I don't really want to join a cult, thanks
@@thewraithwriter22 clever response pony man
@@nickkerinklio8239 If you want to understand why nihilism is dumb you should read Nietzsche.
@@Xob_Driesestig I can see nihilism is dumb with my own eyes as my nihilist friends degenerate into nothingness
Hearing "it's like Hitman mixed with Quake" is the best schizophrenic description for this game.
So, is this a Doomer shooter instead of a Boomer shooter?
This might actually be pretty apt?
Deus Ex doomer shooter but adjusted for a more modern audience with a CEO mindset.
imagine a coomer shooter
@@zergvenegas That is what Hdoom is, right?
@@killerexe007 one of them, yea, another one would be like gal gun or any shooter that has sexual themes and/or obvious connotations of it
I think simplifying the message to just a Hotline Miami like critique of video game violence is doing it too little credit and simplifies it. In my view once you really get into the lore and themes of the game and its later routes you start to notice themes about how life without death devalues life. Cruelty Squad takes place in a universe where dying literally just costs you 500 dollars to be reconstructed and nobody ever really dies permanently with only a couple of notable exceptions because they can just go and get reconstructed for 500 bucks and this is especially the case for the rich. No wonder human life is worth so little when its basically been boiled down to a minor economic setback akin to getting a fucking speeding ticket in this world. Hard to feel bad for killing somebody when you can just come back and see them the next day like nothing happened. It makes even killing rich assholes who have it coming feel futile and irrelevant since you know they are just going to pop out again in a reconstruction machine.
With that established now think about people like Peter Thiel who are talking about how they want to make themselves immortal and conquer death and do insane shit like injecting themselves with the blood of the young so they can live forever and these themes start to really resonant. That and the clear influences of people like Georges Bataille in the mythology of the cruelty squad worlds creation myth and I would say Cruelty Squad is the very first PRO-DEATH video game. (In a good life affirming way I mean) To put it another way Cruelty Squad seems to be saying that in a world without any death trying to live a meaningful life is basically impossible and makes the tragedy of human life being taken meaningless. It draws connections between the billionaire pursuance of immortality and capitalisms pursuit of infinite growth with no end.
Like honestly the ultimate message of the game really reminds of the main message of the Anime Texhnolyze if you guys have ever watched that. They share some very similar themes anyway in my estimation.
I'd say this game has purposefully no message. It's not pro-death or anti-capitalist because it simply can't be. By making it as nihilistic as possible, the author is basically saying: in modern day neoliberalism, every resistence is futile and this whole game is sterile. It doesn't matter what I'm critizing, you people won't care and neither will I. We have lost already, this work of art, if it can be labeled as such, is nothing, less then nothing. It's this absolute disdain for even acknowledging the problem that seems to drive Cruelty Squad. It's utterly deranged and absurd; its meaning doesn't matter, not in this world, not in this lifetime.
@@SpiderMan-gf1lc if a person mentions "neoliberalism" their opinions are worthless
@@lbsc1201 cool
@@lbsc1201
Your opinion is worthless then. Good.
@@SpiderMan-gf1lc no this game is very explicitly anti-capitalist wtf are you talking about
There's a genre of music known as utopian virtual, a descendant of vaporwave noted for its use of tacky 90s synth sounds often used in stuff like corporate training products to give those sounds a beautiful new context. Frankly, when listening to this game's music, my first thought is "dystopian virtual"
in the paradise (suburban neighborhood) level there's a full recreation of the compound osama bin laden was found in, just pointing that out edit: (also at 12:32 you say there's a canibalism button and while there is it's only for the lowest difficulty that you can only reach when you die a couple times)
I'd say it's more of a "mode" than difficulty
@@Criperoks Isn’t that just semantics?
@@demonbasher4426 Not really, you're fully expected to reach it at some point and the methods out aren't really clear
I imagine toning the difficulty down, giving up on yourself and taking up cannibalism just to survive is a part of the game's meta narrative.
@@rheawelsh4142 @@rheawelsh4142 You have to die several times in a row, as earlier in the game that sends you into debt - as each respawn *before* getting to cannibal mode costs 500$.
Glad you went into the art style AS an art style instead of just calling it intentionally ugly. I cant imagine how that guy feels developing over the years only to undercut with "haha ugly game"
I can bet to you that he is hardly affected by those kind of critque at his stage of career: A veteran and skilled artist is already used to rejection.
I mean no, the game IS ugly. The intended reaction of the art style IS to make you uncomfortable. What's wrong is when an audience is automatically trained to take "ugly/uncomfortable" as synonymous with "bad/not worth it" and not explore it as a deliberate choice in itself.
I mean, I'm pretty sure this is not the first time his art was called "ugly"
@@dixego And this reaction is where we get into why most people hate modern art and artists almost as much as those artists hate most people.
I would blame no one for not wanting to play Cruelty Squad because of its aesthetic because christ, it's just so hard to look at sometimes, and not everyone wants to look at *more* ugliness in their day or with their entertainment. But there's always this mindset that a bunch of hipstery irony poisoned types come up with that people are somehow "wrong" for not wanting to somehow subject themselves to more pain in their lives - even if it's just visual pain.
They're not wrong to want to avoid an eyesore artstyle. If there's any wrongness here, it's how fucked up someone has to be to think that people avoiding pain are in the wrong for doing so. Do you even see how messed up you have to be to get to that mindset?
@@MidlifeCrisisJoe No one would care about Cruelty Squad if it didn't look like vomit. Amusingly, it being ugly isn't just pretentious horseshit funded by some taxpayer art grant, it's a compelling selling point. Even modern art must have value when you have to sell copies to plebs. If you downscaled the 150k wall banana into a $150 Walmart product, absolutely no one would buy it, revealing it for what it is. Cruelty Squad sells and that proves that it's actual art. Can't dodge taxes with your Steam library so every sold copy is an individual who found meaning in it. Novelty. They felt something. A twinge of the first time they had Stolichnaya perhaps, but meaning and value was had all the same.
where most games tell you violence is bad to your face, Cruelty Squad leans in uncomfortably close and says "Come on, shoot those people, do it. Do it, it'll be fun" in the same tone your boss at wal-mart uses to tell you to bring shopping carts in from the parking lot
An interesting thing to me is that the arsenal of this game seems to be mostly made up of prototype guns which were tested, but never made it to standard issue.
The AN-94, G11, IWS 2000, ACR, MCR… All designed to become weapons of the future for armies all over the world, but abandoned because they were too unreliable, too complex or - usually - too expensive to put into mass-production.
I feel like this fits the aesthetic of Cruelty Squad quite well - you shoot industrial competitors and dissidents with guns rejected by militaries because they didn’t fit their capitalistic requirements.
oh damn, i hadn't realized this. great observation
the exception is the zippy 3000, based off the zip 30, the zippy 3000 is the worst gun in the game as its entirely a 1/3 chance to even fire and might even just hurt you
This looks like if LSD dream emulator was a shooter
Great video, great game. Hard disagree about the soundtrack- I find myself straight-up listening to the office and apartment tracks from the OST. There is a nice range of "crazy" and "desolate" that fits each level's tone
Apartment Atrocity has a banger tune.
The soundtrack is an unironical banger. Just like the art direction, it takes talent to craft a truly off-putting OST. He definitely knows what parts to tweak to make it just the perfect blend of bizarre but also straight flames, dawg 🔥 the Combat Cocktail song comes to mind
To be fair, the music in cruelty squad seems like it's purposely made to sound like shit in some cases like in the casino and paradise. The music in pharma and office (combat cocktail and pyrexia respectively) fucking slaps and certainly doesn't seem like it was made by a complete amateur.
Honestly the soundtrack is one of the things I love about Cruelty Squad, it kind of reminds me of LISA's OST in strokes here and there.
At the same time, I'm also just someone who loves garish music in general, so
Aye, large fries brotha.
It all sound like an old Atari teenage riot-album
Love it !
The first ever strand type shooter
Hi! Love the video, your analysis of CS was completely on point. I'm a freelance composer/producer and wanted to add something about the music of this game. It's the same thing as the visual art, there is a distinct use of dissonance and chords that do not sound good together in these horrifically brash midi tones, once again a deliberate breaking of conventions and rules, but what REALLY strikes me is that it isn't completely random. The song that plays in the casino is so dour and depressing and really represents what that place means. The sparseness of the title theme is fitting for the art displayed on screen, a man dead in a car, a meaningless act of violence. And some of the more distorted and energetic songs go hard, like the ones that play in the nightclub and the pharmacy. But yeah, loved the video!
Worth noting that Ville Kaillo is also a comics artist! That’s primarily how I know their name & work, and i think provides a more direct lineage to 70s alt comics, via stuff like Leon & Stefan Sadler. P-FE/FRAF published by kuš definitely feels close to this game
Spot on with the comparison to 20th c. counterculture cartoons: the cursor looks like the severed hand of Rat Fink.
Nice to see super bunnyhop being true to his name jumping his way through a game.
did it wrong tho lool
Y'know, I can forgive you saying "Comparishun" and "Rayshuns" and "Sid Meers", but "Neil-lism" is where I draw the line, George!
I drew the line at him saying Gib with a hard G! It's pronounced "Jib" dammit!
@@RandomPerson13 giblets is said with a j sound. Giblets is the word gib is short for.
Check out the Death Ending if you want a full taste of the lore. This game really is made by a nihilist artist, it shows in every part. I love this game so much.
I wonder if they'll make games parodying the entire mechanism, psychology and "subculture" surrounding mobile and gacha games in the future lol
there isn't already? damn, i should get on that.
I feel like Let It Die has been doing that to some extent since like 2014; I'm sure there's other, better examples.
Maybe if we're lucky someone will make a game parodying these upper middle class yuppies making dark hyper dyspotic stories where the moral of the story has a downright evil undertone in terms of what the makers are trying to push and only the lower class has enough real problems in life to roll their eyes at it.
@@ZontarDow if you branch out from being a hentai-addicted weeb maybe you'll encounter more working class fiction
@@TheSoulHarvester All the "working class fiction" people keep elevating is stuff from upper middle class yuppies who've never seen the inside of a factory like the game this video is about.
>world engulfed in the fullest extent of nihilism because no one can die and "life" has no meaning
>post scarcity world, but people are so materialistic that they're trying to get ahead anyway
>bosses include the gnostic demiurge and the "cradle of life"
"this is about capitalism"
This is what people mean when they talk about small souled bugmen
GOTY for me, even got going into modding-I bought it immediately after seeing the aesthetics, was pleasantly suprised by how solid a game it actually was
And how could I forget how refreshing the politics were, delivered in a way as to beat one over the head with a hammer but also with gaslighting from the dev on twitter
@@zUJ7EjVD what's wrong with being center right? Or am I reading your comment incorrectly and the umbridge you have is with how the politics are displayed?
@@zUJ7EjVD my political beliefs technically fall under the umbrella of center right so I was just curious as to the hate. I have a lot of beliefs that would be labeled left and plenty that would be labeled right but when it comes down to it I'm I'm centrist that slightly leans conservative. Anyway take care man.
@@zUJ7EjVD Reminds of Cyberpunk 2077's whole press statement about the game "not being a political statement." Your corporate dystopia about corruption, technological power, poverty and oppression, class struggle, and urban decay "isn't a political statement?" Yeah sure...
The wider gaming community can't handle political opinions in either extreme unless it's sanitized and coated in asterisks. I am glad Cruelty Squad has such an unforgiving view of the world we're heading towards because that's really what we need. The game doesn't care what you think about its opinions.
@@zUJ7EjVD Don't mind me sliding in the convo. to argue that it's less that the politics don't hold but rather that the modern world is already and you could argue excessively centre-right so adding of those just sound stupid to me.
I honestly don't believe we currently have any ideology that, if scrutinized enough, would hold up without some damning issues. But I don't see why that should stop us from implementing, discarding or mixing various parts of them alongside new ideas to try and end up something we think would be better for our current needs and/or overall.
Anyway that's my opinion as a left leaning social liberal that can appreciate some aspects of socialism and capitalism.
Oh and absolutely fuck Far-Cry 5 and apocalyptical religious fundamentalism parading under the guise of societal freedoms and harmony. It hurts so much especially because I heard that 4 and Primal really rocked in some ways... Well I guess it looked purdy but fuuuuuuuck.
This is one of those few games where being colorblind is probably beneficial.
You can cook the gibbed body parts with the bbq/flamethrower and it gives you more health when you eat it. God I love this game.
I look forward to people playing this game and completely missing the message the game is trying to tell you
Wait there was a message?
most of those types will be beaten by the art style hopefully
@@maurostrachwitz747 get all the endings at some point you should start to understand it
Now that's pure Bunnyhop right here. Actually waiting when the hype dies down to provide a truly thorough look at the game, instead of rather uninteresting first impressions. (Which are pretty much the same for everyone in a game like CruS). Even Civvie11's video was rather disappointing, but with your video, I actually learned quite a few things, and massive props for delving into Ville's work to give better context of the game.
I enjoyed Civvie's review but he is severely unqualified to analyse something like this lol. That's what made it so impressive tho, in a way; despite being unaware of or uninterested in the subtexts of the game, he dove right in & tried to meet it on its terms anyway. In spite of himself, he found some stuff to like about it, & I respect that.
But yeah it's nice to see a review that's actually aware of what was being attempted lol.
Leadhead did a good video on it. Though I felt I wanted to give her a big hug after watching it.
@@ieuanhunt552 I think Leadhead goes by she/her? But yeah, it's a very good video.
Honestly, I'm just happy whenever George uploads at all. Undoubtedly seeing this in my sub box will ultimately turn the rest of my evening into a binge session of all of his older stuff.
@@aurelionight Damnit this is Gamechamp all over again. Thank you for pointing out my ignorance.
To be fair it's really hard to tell how someone identifies just from the voice.
Just from the voice I would never think that Gamechamp is a feminine non binary but they are.
@@ieuanhunt552 Oh, I wouldn't beat yourself up over it too bad, I think she's pretty early on in her transition? and you'd only really know if you went out of your way to check her twitter or IG.
The Duke 3D comparison is exactly what I've been thinking playing this
Man this was a well done video that made me feel like that there is a ton more in cruelty squad. Great job
Can’t believe you didn’t call out the most insane reload mechanic in any pc game in decades
My favourite part of the game is that deus ex feeling of getting new items and applying them to obstacles in the world to reach new places, except every item you get is incredibly powerful and absoultely going to kill you in some unforseable way and every challenge leads deeper down the coprate greed fueled rabbit hole.
Whenever you brought up our current corporate dystopia I just whispered „Jesus fucking Christ“ while absent-mindedly doing the dishes. My girlfriend has been looking at me as if I‘m crazy, but it‘s the world that‘s crazy.
This game is that Machine Girl album cover brought to life
This is probably the most comprehensive description of the themes and influences of CS I've seen so far
conceptually I appreciate cruelty squad, but I couldn't get through half an hour of it. it is an extremely uncomfortable experience and it's a marvel.
gotta get yourself a CEO mindset
Yeah you simply lack that grindset bro, that's why you're poor and unhappy. Gotta sleep 4 hours
You beta , man up, take protein, drink huel and learn about the alpha and sigma mindset.
I didn't know this was from a Finnish developer, but looking back on it, it makes perfect sense to me as melancholic Finn myself..
Vittusaatana
Lmao that bhop technique is super bungus my guy.
Exactly the kind of game I'm glad exists but will probably never play. Excellent video!
Im just so happy a 3D Godot engine game was successful
videos from this channel reappearing in my recommendations again after over a year makes me realise that i enjoy them and should probably subscribe.
Bro, the soundtrack is amazing
I genuinely enjoyed the music in this game (as in, the experience of it, not the way it sounds). It constantly surprised me, creeped me out, disgusted me or made laugh (the toilet? music of the swamp was a highlight)
This is probably the best review of Cruelty Squad I’ve seen so far. The game is truly a marvel AND in addition to dverything you’ve said here I want to point out to people who’s still on the fence: the combat is really good. The guns are nice, it’s satisfying to kill enemies and scavenging for new guns was a big part of the appeal on my first playthrough. And this game has some GUNS.
this review was peak george. I need more georg
gorg
eorg
gerg
The music is amazing in this game!
Such a good video, I don’t know why but it never crossed my mind that you’d review this game, but it makes perfect sense. A perspective like yours is precisely what the discourse around this game needed.
That music just sounds like Bottles from Banjo Kazooie talking.
George is the cruelty squad of games journalism
I appreciate the history/context you provided. That’s one of my favorite aspects of your channel.
Cruelty squad is a great example of video games being art
The reason human life is so invaluable is bc there is technology that has made humans immortal. FYI also u can only eat dead bodies after dying enough times in a given level to get on to "Power In Misery" difficulty (signified by the fleshy border). Power In Misery in-universe is explained by you being forced to get a surgery that makes you regenerate endlessly after you die, meaning that you no longer have to pay $500 when you die. Also fun tip u can grind mall madness with a rocket launcher on punishment mode while dumping all of ur money into kidneys for quick money. I'm sorry I have a lot to say abt this game
I think the best thing about the game is that it's both a great art piece and a great video game at the same time, without one half ever detracting from the other. It's so boldly, satirically and unpretentiously punk (neo punk? 21st century punk? is that a thing anyone says?), yet once you get into the game it's also a really solid tactical shooter with really clever and varied level design and creative mechanics. The coating of "deep fried ironic meme" paint has the same effect in that it both meshes naturally with the cynical near-future cyberpunk dystopian themes, and at the same time complements the gameplay in making areas, enemies, items and effects both unique and distinct.
A note about the music: the first level actually has dynamic combat music, which I thought was a really nice touch. Personally I love the whole soundtrack (even in the swamp level, because it's so unexpected and unsettling), but it'd be really interesting to know if there were ideas and plans for even more dynamic music for different areas and scenarios at some point in development.
You BETTER not be talking mess about Bog Business. That track is gold!
Link's heart containers are now seen in a new light.
Uncomfortable? It's an arcade Rainbow Six, extremely fun to play. One of those games that reminds you why you like video games in the first place.
14:28 Gunther Herrman would be jealous
Don't forget the Orange soda, it better not be lemon-lime
That will be adequate.
This is the only way to start a review about cruelty squad
I guess you're super at bunnyhopping.
my eyes are bleeding. definitely a cruel experience.
Cruelty Squad's music is great, cmon
Combat Cocktail alone is a banger and a half
After your video on Umurangi Generation and now this I have decided to exclusively buy and play games recommended by you, don't abuse this power Mr Bunnyhop.
Oh you know a game is good when one of the steam reviews is the Unabomber manifesto
So what are we? Some kinda Cruelty Squad?
I disagree about the music, but maybe it's just my massive nostalgia for early DOS games clouding my judgement. the way the music sounds "unfinished" kinda reminds me of how sim city 2000 sounded as a kid, playing on a soundcard that couldn't handle it.
ima be honest the music is perfect
I'm a cool hipster because I followed the game's dev on Twitter many months before the game was near completion and exploded in popularity
Here have a like, at least you get rewarded with something... I guess... hey how about we take over our billionare overloards and change the system for good?
Make no mistake: the music is masterful.
The soundtrack for the office complex, first level, apartments, and some other levels are actually pretty great.
@@ZodiacEntertainment2 The "Death" ending track is intense as all hell, rivals any and all death metal. And the apartments track had my heart absolutely racing.
I forgot you existed because youtube finally decided to recommend me a video from you after years. What a great website
I can't believe you just glanced over the gorilla texture. It's the best part!
this looks like a game made by dril. edit: nevemind, it as already addressed
14:58 he's not shitting himself. you're literally missing the Text. he has Gunk Boosters installed in his feet, it isn't complicated
he could be shitting through his feet
"biological detritus" that's literally shit
@@emmastrange5557 it's literally gunk???? it's gunk. please don't jumpt to conclusions you have ZERO basis for. thank you!
@@LeadHerring that's an amazing point
@@cole1714 Read the item description, it clearly states that "boost yourself upwards by releasing a jet of assorted biological detritus".
Ironic that you state that people are "missing the text" when its you that didn't read it.
You haven't played enough Cruelty Squad if you haven't been brainwashed into thinking at least a few tracks are fire.
George is just moments away from telling us to break out the guillotine
Unlike someone like Hasan he's probably smart enough to realise he's in the group that would be in those guillotines and is thus content with "exploiting" the plebs for money rather then rallying them up to inevitably murder him.
@@ZontarDow why would someone who isn’t even a millionaire or relevant to most of the world be guillotined
@@velvet7765 Because he's still rich enough to probably be on that chopping block, even if he's not a millionaire like Hasan is.
@@akoyash9964 He's certainly not poor by any extent of the imagination. Then again if he was his politics wouldn't be that found solely in the middle and upper class.
@@ZontarDow dude i think you need to go out and meet more people if you think socialism/communism is exclusive to middle and upper classes.
This Count... I feel as if I'm looking at my future self. Mega bucks, big-ass house, fast cars, dining in style with a world class chef and a trusted nutritionist counting every calorie! A team of hot Yoga instructors to keep me in shape... Nurses, to attend to my body... Maids and loyal servants at my beck and call... On the weekends, tanned babes knocking on my door every two hours... Every day full of excitement and luxury, that'd be the life! Everything in its right,place, it's the perfect life, it's the life of winners! That'll be my life! I thirst for selflessness, hypocrites lusting for their own desire to get killed by young rookies like me! This is how it goes down... And for the old killers? They'll croak anyway. I guess you could call this a "Comedy". I realize there's really nothing here for me. But what else CAN I do but keep going? Maybe I should've been a little more careful before I jumped in... Gotta find the exit... Gotta find that exit, to Paradise! But I can't see it... I can't seeanything! There's this sense of doom running down my spine like it's... Like it's trying to suck the life out of me! I need to get rid of it, before I bail... Something deeper, something deeper than my instincts is taunting me! Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit... Can't find the exit.
This feels like the game that would come out if I wished for my dream game on a monkey's paw
This man invented the slimecore music genre he’s a musical genius
You can only eat people only in "Power in Misery" mode
this is the most badass intro to a review I've ever seen.
Perhaps the best gaming channel on TH-cam. I ways appreciate your style and attention to detail.
I am glad to hear you talk about this game
the music is pure art, no hate