God’s Trigger is an interesting take on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse trope, mixed in with a healthy dose of comic book inspired carnage and cartoon violence. In terms of gameplay, God’s Trigger is the latest addition to the top-down shooter genre, similar to titles such as Hotline Miami and Ruiner.
My time with the preview build of the game lasted about two hours, which gave me ample time to get accustomed to the fast and bombastic nature of the game. God’s Trigger places an emphasis on speed, combos and precision. Unlike other games in the genre, God’s Trigger isn’t really about escalating difficulty, rather, the game continually ramps up the complexity of the level layout themselves, giving players new and interesting ways to experiment with God Trigger’s explosive sandbox.
Aside from the co-op, which sadly I could not get to work, God’s Trigger’s most unique feature would have to be the inclusion of the two playable characters, Harry and Judy. both characters can be switched between with a tap of a button, essentially giving players two sets of unique abilities and playstyles to mess around with. The abilities themselves also helps give God’s Trigger its own identity, as they are paramount to survival, especially in some of the later levels that require extra creativity.
Stats for both Judy and Harry are individually tallied, which helps incentivize switching often, in order to maintain parity, while also keeping each encounter feeling fresh, dependant on the character currently deployed. Out of the two characters, Judy was whom I gravitated towards the most, thanks to the inclusion of her super-handy Infernal chain, primary weapon, a long-range weapon with great verticality and reach.
Harry, instead, is left with a sword, which might not sound as exciting as a chain, especially given the comic-inspired context, but in truth, Harry’s sword is incredibly quick and essential in smaller spaces with denser enemy counts. The two play styles are deliberately different, not just in theory but in practice, as opportunities for both characters to shine are present throughout all the levels (or at the very least, within the 3-4 levels present in the preview build).
Harry and Judy can additionally pick up secondary weapons strewn about the various levels, both from fallen enemies and just from the environment. From what was available to me, it seems like all the secondary weapons were range-based, weapons included things such as guns, sticks of dynamite and throwing knives and axes.
Graphically, God’s Trigger is a competent-looking title, clearly going for a gritty American comic book aesthetic. This style works fairly well during gameplay, especially during fast moments of action, however, the same unfortunately can’t be said about the game during cutscenes, where things kind of just fall apart, ultimately making the game look a bit flat and dated. Hopefully, a little polish between the time of this writing and release addresses this minor complaint.
Sadly, God’s Trigger does contain one area in particular that really sours the overall experience and holds it back from truly getting my recommendation, that is, until the issue is addressed. My biggest problem with God’s Trigger is something that players will notice immediately, after the initial tutorial level, and that is the inclusion of an enemy dressed up as a stereotypical indigenous person. This, which on its own, I don’t think is a major issue if handheld tactfully, but given the ultra-violent context of God’s Trigger, having an enemy that appropriates indigenous aesthetic, just feels wrong and mars an otherwise fun game.
Given time, God’s Trigger has the opportunity to really shape itself up as a fun, co-op, top-down shoot-em-up, which is why I believe the best thing to do right now, is simply wait and see how Techland and One More Level handles the game, as it approaches its April release date.
