![]() ![]() Shakedown: Hawaii is keenly aware of this wave of social decay and, rather than fight the tide, enables players to do everything imaginable to keep it rolling. If you have found yourself blankly paying for some kind of service (or absence of service) you don’t quite understand, you are not alone. ![]() Shakedown Hawaii was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.Sponsored content. But I did, without even a tinge of regret. I didn’t want to be a belligerent jerk, taking control of the island economy by force. While the currency is virtual, it’s also quite addictive to see an ever-increasing sum of money being added to your coffers, transmitting the allure of power. Shakedown Hawaii understands this, bringing an array of pugnacious tasks for you to perform. Fans of synthwave will appreciate Matt ”Norrin Radd” Creamer’s buoyant soundtrack, although you might have to make some adjusts in the sound menu to ensure the riffs aren’t overpowered by Shakedown’s sound effects.īeing the bad guy is oddly compelling. But when the action heats up, dozens are sprites are shifting around the screen, which would have pushed the consoles of old into flickering fits of slowdown. Visually, the game improves of the eight-bit look of Retro City Rampage, with a style that pays homage to the SNES/Genesis era. Chased other revenue-generating tactics probably would have undermined the jokes and made your own in-game pursuits rather ironic. For twenty dollars, you get at least twenty hours of over-the-top enjoyment without any irksome loot boxes or downloadable content. On the upside, the game offers arcade challenges which boil down some of the game’s most fun and frantic bits into standalone score chases.īut arguably the game’s most radical constituent is its sales approach. But the change feels like a missed opportunity, since each character plays the same and shares the same loadout. You’ll take control of different characters in Shakedown, temporarily shifting to the perspective of the lead’s son or a business acquaintance who must mow down an entire cartel. It’s hard gunning down those pesky police who are in perpetual pursuit. I do wish there was a button that would freeze your firing angle, though. Shakedown Hawaii uses a lock-on system that automatically aims toward the nearest threat you are headed toward. On foot, things are naturally slower, but you’ll have access to the game’s full range of weapons, from shotguns, flame throwers, to automatic rifles. Whichever you choose, you’ll be able to weave through traffic like a top-tier stunt driver. Hop into a vehicle and you’ll enjoy a healthy amount of precision thanks to a pair of control schemes. It’s doubtful this stance will lose relevancy any time soon.Ĭontrol is rooted in two different navigational methods. But with Shakedown, the comedy centers around corporations sticking it to consumers. Vblank’s previous title, Retro City Rampage incorporated a lot of referential humor that hasn’t aged so well. Consumers often get the shaft from your actions, with soda not being filled to capacity in bottles, or rebate forms being rejected by ridiculous stipulations. You’ll blow up package delivery trucks, terrorizing the island’s major online retailer. Once you do manage to takeover a business, you’ll be rewarded with daily income, which can used to purchase property on the map.īut that’s not the only illicit activity you’ll be involved in. Other times, the seemingly innocuous patrons will turn on you, and you’ll have to defeat them all to gain leverage. Sometimes you’ll have to damage the outside of the building while fending off police. After articulating your demands to the proprietor, you’ll be tasked with a multitude of different intimidation techniques. Shakedowns refer to persuading store owners to pay a bit of protection money. What follows is a rapid-fire succession of malicious schemes. And Shakedown shows that its amazingly fun to be a bad guy. No, you’re a malicious, amoral jerk who has no qualms hurting or deceiving others to stage a comeback. Shakedown Hawaii’s gameplay revolves around a last-ditch effort to salvage your island-based holdings.īut this isn’t a tale of a good-natured underdog rightfully reclaiming his holdings. But his technological foothold has lost its grip and the residual checks have dried up, pushing his empire into bankruptcy. The game’s aging, once-wealthy protagonist once celebrated stagnancy by writing a book entitled, “My Company Runs Itself: I’m at the Beach”. There are several satisfyingly subversive elements in Shakedown Hawaii, Vblank Entertainment’s second open-world action game. ![]()
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