I’m not entirely certain if you can count Max Payne as part of the “boomer shooter” era or not, especially given that it’s a third-person shooter instead of first-person, but either way, we finally have our full-on Max Payne revival via Strange Scaffold’s latest game, El Paso, Elsewhere. The funny thing is that despite being a lifelong gamer, I was never a full-on aficionado of shooters from back then, instead getting more into the genre around the time of BioShock and the original Prey. So once again, I decide to finally full immerse myself in a genre that I’ve admired but haven’t fully experienced…or at least a version of a genre from a different era. So does El Paso, Elsewhere succeed in delivering thrills as a throwback or just a good game in general, or is it all just one bad trip?
El Paso, Elsewhere centers around Jame Savage, a folklore expert who’s battled everything from golems to leprechauns, the latter even having taken out a chunk of their leg, according to them. He’s also an addict who tragically finds themselves downing a metric ton of pills in order to prepare themselves for their greatest challenge yet: having to stop Draculae, the lord of the vampires, from performing a world-ending ritual. Oh, and to make things more difficult, Draculae is actually their ex-girlfriend, which complicates things further. Not to mention the fact that the El Paso motel where Draculae is now has an elevator leading to forty-some floors of underground areas warped by an entity known as The Void, with otherworldly threats known as The Forces Beyond being involved as well. So yes, quite a few leagues above something like your average battle with a leprechaun.
Each floor in El Paso, Elsewhere makes up one of the chapters, and each one sees you dropped into a twisted version of a world that the Void warps like a funhouse mirror, one where reality is out to lunch and the roof has been torn of everything in order to give you a view of the psychedelic dimension around you. In terms of core gameplay, the goal is to rescue all the hostages possible and then make it back to the elevators, using a weaponry consisting of guns, guns, more guns and wooden stakes plus molotovs in order to wipe out anything in your path, combined with slow motion shootouts and dives, per its inspiration. Once you get all the hostages, your surroundings turn red, and things get more hellish with enemies on the trip back.
Pretty basic stuff in terms of gameplay, but that’s par for the course in terms of such particular throwbacks such as this. The important thing is if it’s still a fun gameplay loop, and the answer is a resounding “Heck yes.” El Paso, Elsewhere never stops running out of action, and subsequently never stops running out of ammo and health-restoring pills to provide you with, either in plain sight, hidden away or found by smashing all the furniture possible. Most games would be this generous with such supplies either before or after a major combat section. Here, everything is just another day at the office for James. It helps the the action is fast-paced, with movement and gunplay being nice and smooth and, most importantly, fun, backed up by level designs that’s near the absolute tops. It’s all so slick that the slow-mo dives almost feel unnecessary, but they are welcome (and mandatory in some sections, just to drive the point home as to what kind of game this is).
Visually, El Paso, Elsewhere nails the low-poly turn-of-the-millennium visuals that expertly provide everything with a retro feel, while still giving everything a nice visual flair, especially when it comes to the various otherworldly horrors in each level. Be it mummified vampires, biblically-accurate angels or animated suits of armor, all of the enemies are challenging, well-designed, and nicely stand out among each setting, with my favorite touch being the dot-like, glowing eyes of the werewolves that give them a creepy vibe yet also allow you to nicely spot them for aiming purposes. The use of lighting and colors is also terrific as well, helping players find the way to go without the use of any sort of map.
The visuals, however, pale in comparison to the soundtrack. Composer RJ Lake delivers up a gloriously pulse-pounding soundtrack that easily makes El Paso, Elsewhere a contender for the year’s best music in video games, delivering a mix of heavy beats and electronic synths that feels like it covers everything from industrial to techno and rock, delivering the type of tunes that perfectly make you pumped to blow away as many monsters as possible, like a Mick Gordon soundtrack for an FPS on mounds of hallucinogens (appropriately enough for the game). Oh, and did we mention the hip-hop numbers as well? Fully-voiced ones that play over the action on certain levels at that? That might sound like a recipe for disaster, but again, combined with the music’s intensity and the lean into the more gloriously-ludicrous elements, they fit in perfectly.
Speaking of ludicrous, the story is afraid to embrace the camp as well, fully leaning into its melodramatic neo-noir narrative courtesy of James' narration, as another nod to Max Payne. There are even hidden radios, answering machines and projectors to find as well, delivering radio dramas like Pill Cop, desperate car ads, bizarre podcasts and more in-universe entertainment that Remedy would be proud of. But that said, El Paso, Elsewhere still manages to deliver a satisfying and captivating story beneath its over-the-top exterior, especially as the more twisted elements come into play and we get a deeper look into James and Draculae’s past relationship. It’s perfectly-executed stuff that makes for a great tale, thanks in part to terrific voice acting as well.
El Paso, Elsewhere isn’t perfect, though, as seen with some of its various issues. For one, there are still a few glitches that need to be ironed out, ranging from small things like subtitles being clipped off and/or overlapping and dialogue being drowned out during the end section of each level, to larger stuff to an entire boss that suddenly seemed to disappear after taking off a health bar (unless I somehow missed a step). There are also enemies that are annoying after a while, like the teleporting brides that fire huge projectiles. Reloading can take too long (and can get interrupted), which doesn’t help in the heat of battle. Also not helping is that like Lies of P from earlier, the healing animation is needlessly elaborate and slows you down. Just saying, when you’re at a sliver of health and you have a quarter of vampires chasing you, you can’t afford to slow down much.
But if there’s one thing that hurt more than expected, it’s the fact that in terms of visual design and creativity, the levels peak early on with the motel and motel/graveyard mashups. Much like with Control, the parts where the game plays around with the eerieness found in such a mundane setting make for truly creative and surreal bits that leave you wondering what’s next. But by the time you get to levels with Gothic manor or Egyptian tomb settings, the surrealness goes away. It’s almost like there’s a trade-off that as the story between James, Draculae and the Forces Beyond deepens, the less campy the game becomes, with even the bizarre radio broadcasts seemingly going away in favor of more projectors telling Draculae’s story. But even with these flaws, El Paso, Elsewhere still remains a blast from beginning to end. After all, it’s not like downing a massive angel with a single rifle shot to a sudden hip-hop jam would ever get old.
Closing Comments:
El Paso, Elsewhere is an excellent nod to the days of Max Payne, but thanks to its impressive story, surreal world and unforgettable soundtrack, it still manages to stand on its own as a top-notch shooter. With smooth, slick combat that perfectly feels like a classic action games with a modern feel, this is one terrific blast of adrenaline that anyone should check out. The Void may mess with you quite a bit, but the trip through it is definitely worth taking.
