Party Hard

By: Robert Murphy

It may sound a bit dark but when I watch a crummy horror movie I often think that it's more fun to root for the killer rather than the survivors as the movie is only enjoyable when they are on screen, excluding the gratuitous sex scenes of course. In Party Hard I was now able to take up the role of a psycho killer as he goes on a murder spree across the United States. Okay, psycho might be a little bit of a stretch considering all your main character wanted was to get a pleasant nights sleep but a rowdy party next door was ruining it, so he put on a mask, grabbed a knife and went to kill them all. Never mind, he definitely was a psycho.

As bleak as the game is, Party Hard is one of those games where it's good to be bad. Your character must maneuver himself, or herself as you unlock other characters, through the party and kill all those in attendants. But, this isn't just a simple slasher game where you stab someone and hide their bodies, there are a number of ways you can go about your fun fueled rampage. You can go around silently plotting your kills and wait until the opportune moment to strike and stash the body in a nearby dumpster or you can get creative and use your environment to your advantage. There are a number of hidden gems throughout each level that will aid you in your quest for peace and quiet such a rampaging bull that can charge through a crowd of people, knocking over a tree into a nearby room or even poisoning the kegger so everyone gets sick or in some cases zombified.  

These delightful set pieces ramp up the amount of carnage you can get yourself into, I once sent a Lamborghini into a line of people and watched as the number of people I had to take out dwindle drastically. While these are great fun, they typically don't last long and you have to be clever with how you use each of them. If there aren't people by the punch bowl then the poison will run out, if you explode the dance floor with no one on it then you've wasted a potential killing spree. So despite the catchy and upbeat tempo to Party Hard's soundtrack, you have to take your time and plan out your attack or you will end up busted by the cops. 

This is perhaps the fault that can be had as you play through the brightly colored parties in each state. Early levels of the game feature a variety of different ways to take out your victims and there are admittedly a number of well designed parties to go along with them. But, in an effort to ratchet up the difficulty as you progress the game decides to decrease the number of environmental hazards making it increasingly hard to progress. The boat party level in particular was a drag for me as there was a limited amount of ways to take everyone out and not a lot of places to hide. The challenge was a good idea but ultimately it turned into a grind that decreased my interest. There are a number of moments like this outside the later levels such as moments where you have to take out your last ten party goers, at this point there's no hazards left to use and you basically just wait to silently take them out. 

Small pick up items do help dull this monotony for a short time but just like the environment hazards they are limited. Suitcases and shifty salesman can sometimes be found in the various levels that will give you smoke grenades, bombs, samurai swords and a spare change of clothes to aide in your night of terror. Smoke grenades though can only be used twice, bombs are a one and done use and will also lead to a SWAT team raiding the party, samurai swords which are just a glorified knife and then the spare change of clothes which is also a one and done use but it does help when you want to escape from the cops. None of the items really quicken the down time moments when you're trying to make your way through a particularly tough level but they do add to the games overall charm. 

Party Hard does have plenty of this charm to go around too. The style of the game and most of the levels is set in the 80's and perhaps the early 90's so it's to be expected that many characters would bare some resemblance to important people during this era. I saw Michael Jackson, Slash and a blonde haired beauty from Baywatch to name a few. There were also some more anarchistic types thrown here and there as well, such a vehicles supped up with metal spears jutting out, punk rocker chicks thrashing to the sounds of rock metal and big burly bikers threatening to squash you like a bug. There is a huge number of hidden gems and characters strewn throughout the story and they mix together to make an enjoyable concoction to say the least, but by the end of the twelve episode game you're left wanting a little bit more than what you got.  

Despite Party Hard baring many similarities to one of my favorite top down games, Hotline Miami, it doesn't carry the same dark and satirical appeal as it's counter part. The catchy level design and unique methods of killing were all a blast to use and experiment with but once you whittle down the party goers things become a bit of a drag till you get to the end. There were also increasing levels of difficulty that made playing certain levels quite frustrating and for a game such as this you want a more even flowing experience throughout your play time and that was the real killer for Party Hard. 

Good:

- Finding and experimenting with the different killing methods

- Bright and interesting party levels

- Catchy soundtrack

Bad:

- Difficulty on later levels were unnecessary 

- Short supply of hazards for levels and one use items 

- Killing everyone at the party can be an exceedingly lengthy experience at times

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10