Not a Hero Impressions: Shoot First, and Keep Shooting

In Not a Hero, BunnyLord, an anthropomorphic character from the future, is running for mayor. In order to win over voters, he has pledged to reduce crime in the city, and you're a be a big part of that plan. As a both a professional assassin and campaign manager, you'll reduce crime by running into buildings and killing everyone you encounter.

That's really all there is to it. You select a character, each with different attributes like faster reloading or the ability to knock enemies down, then go dashing into buildings. Kick open door, slide to cover, and shoot everyone before they can shoot you. Sometimes you'll get to throw some explosives. Then head over to the getaway van, driven by the BunnyLord, grab breakfast and head into the next hilarious mission briefing. Each mission includes a number of (sometimes) random bonus objectives, like completing it within a time limit or getting a kill streak, but completing the primary objective is all that matters.

Your character starts at the entrance to a 2D building. Inside are armed criminals that are either casually standing around or on patrol. The action starts almost as soon as you open the door. Sliding and taking cover behind large objects will keep you from getting hit, but that won't stop them from walking up to you and knocking you over. Characters have access to special moves. For example, Steve can slide in and knock enemies over. Shooting an enemy from up close scores you a critical hit. Knocking them over gives you a chance to execute them in a violent fashion. Players must work their way through, floor by floor and room by room, to kill everyone and reach the mission objective. Sometimes there will be hinderances, like having to pull a far off lever to unlock a door. Random events, like a SWAT raid, will sometimes occur to mix things up, but I didn't notice anything during my playthrough of the early levels. Perhaps they'll become more prominent later on in the game.

Aside from movement, controls are very straightforward. Slide to avoid getting shot and to move behind cover, shoot, and reload. Different characters add a little variety to how you go about killing everyone in sight, and they may change up the optional objectives, but it doesn't matter who does the rampaging as long as it gets done. Although I played the game on PC, it doesn't appear as though keyboard and mouse controls are supported. You'll need to a gamepad to properly kill crime.

Missions become increasingly complex with more criminals and more floors to navigate. There may be times when you'll need to rush down a stairwell and get to cover as quickly as possible. At other times, you'll have to jump through a window or two. Missions are short, but intensely fun to play. This is perhaps one of the most addictive games I've come across in a while. Plus, the BunnyLord briefings are simply not to be missed. However, most of what he says is not fit to be repeated here.

But you'll have a chance to experience the fun of murdering on behalf of BunnyLord's mayoral race, while cleaning the streets of crime, when the game releases on May 7th on PC, PS4, and Vita.