Writing can carry a game with mediocre gameplay while steller gameplay mechanics can make a boring story tolerable. Video games have to have this level of balance in order to maintaining a persons interest and while some games are able to get around this general rule, it is important to understand that this is usually the outlier. Now what happens when you get a game that nails both gameplay and story, resulting in an experience that you cannot put down or walk away from? Well, you end up with El Paso, Elsewhere.
El Paso, Elsewhere blends the gameplay mechanics of Max Payne with a story that will pull at the heartstrings in ways I wasn’t expecting. The game has us following the main character, James Savage, as he descends into the void to stop a powerful vampire named Draculae. James understands that this journey into the void may be his last and that there is a lot at stake here. Armed with a plethora of guns and a handful of pills to aid him through the journey, Savage steps into an elevator and starts the descent into madness. Oh and Draculae? She’s not only a strong adversary but she is also his Ex.
The story here is full of twists and turns throughout its long run time. I expected the game to keep their relationship on the back burner and focus more on the monsters that we encounter over the course of the game while the romance would take a backseat. While the first couple of levels do talk about the void as well as the presence of creatures that haunt it, we will see James talk amongst himself in regards to the relationship he had with Draculae. She kept him in the dark about a lot of things in her past but now James has the opportunity to find out more about herself since the void seems to reflect both his and her feelings. While the monsters are terrifying and put up a fight to prevent James from moving forward, the real horrors here can be found in the shape of the abuse that Draculae dealt over the course of their relationship. She asserted dominance over James which eventually led to him fleeing in a car that he didn’t own while picking up an addiction to pills to help aid his escape.
Gameplay will see us running around a multitude of levels, 50 to be exact, in an attempt to reach the bottom and stop Draculae. Each level will have a horde of enemies waiting to jump at us from around every corner while we try to save the hostages spread throughout the locations. From twisting motel hallways to an eerie castle, we will be picking up heart shaped keys in order to unlock doors and move throughout the levels. Warewolves, Mummies, and Puppeteers await us around every corner but thankfully James knows how to handle himself. Gunplay has a strong presence here with James being armed with a multitude of weapons ranging from twin pistols to a tommy gun and an uzi. Each gun has its own ammo pool that can be replenished by various pickups found throughout the levels and when monsters get a little too close for comfort, we are able to utilize one of the stakes we can pick up. The influence from Max Payne shows in the gameplay since James is able to dodge and leap around the level while slowing time down to get a better read on the situation while being able to adjust his shots to hit vital points in order to save on ammo. The ability to enter this bullet time mode will drain a separate bar located next to his health so it is important to keep an eye on the bar or else you may find yourself overwhelmed and underprepared. Thankfully, you can toggle the slow motion with the press of a button so you can make use of it when things get tough without having to worry about completely draining the bar.
Visuals are impressively smooth while still retaining a retro look here. The areas you will be exploring have some phenomenal lighting effects and are filled with a plethora of destructible objects. Smashing wooden objects will sometimes reward you with extra stakes so it’s important to break everything you can. I personally found myself with a topped off supply of stakes and pills over the course of the game so while ammo preservation is important, with proper management of your resources you will be able to make it to the end credits without hitting a wall.
The music here is another key point that I would love to point out since each track does a wonderful job of adding to that atmosphere. There are vocal tracks that are sung by the same voice actor for James, Xalavier Nelson Jr. If that name sounds familiar, that is because he is also the head of Strange Scaffold, the company that brought us this wonderful gem. Tracks such as I want Wealth and Stay awake show up at key moments in the story and had me on the edge of my seat. Along with a phenomenal soundtrack, we are also graced with some amazing voice acting. James is full of metaphors and the rough tone he has makes each sentence hit you in the core with every delivery. The perfect use of pauses in between sentences makes the delivery of his realizations hit even harder.
El Paso, Elsewhere is a beautiful example of what happens when a developer puts all of their heart into a game. In the beginning I was here to take on the hordes of monstrosities that Draculae throws at our main character but by the time the credits rolled, I was broken up over the relationship between the two. James isn’t a perfect person and often admits that he was a drug addict who made mistakes in his life but this was his one chance to do good. Draculae might be an interesting take on Dracula but she is more fleshed out than that. She isn’t just some reskin of the famous monster but has her own personality and emotions that we uncover over the course of the game.
This is a game that I can highly recommend to anyone who has been looking to fill the hole that Max Payne has left while still having its own personality. With 50 levels to run through and 2 different endings to get, this is definitely something that will take up a good chunk of time but is worth every minute spent here. So grab your trench coat, grab your arsenal, and prepare yourself to experience a one way trip that is bound to stick with you well after the credits roll.
