Johnny Rocket Review

"Huh"

Campaign

October 16, 2020 at 3:54am
By Jason Stettner

This is rather whimsical, and wild sort of cartoon based shooter. It brings a neat aesthetic, but not a whole lot of gameplay. It’s just a straight up campaign that does not take very long to play through. You can jump in on higher difficulties, but that’s about it here. You’ll finish it well under an hour and then be entirely done with it.

It can be frustrating to play, and a tad awkward to control. It’s actually a neat in concept, yet poor in execution effort. The game is split into three short chapters, that again you could wrap up very quickly if you really tried.

Even with deaths you sort of just plow through it, which is disappointing since it seems like such an interesting and well animated world. There are some boss fights, these provide a fair challenge. The levels aren’t too ambitious, being a simple light platforming run and gun setup. Once it ends things just sort of conclude, nothing past that.

Gameplay

As mentioned prior this is one perfectly animated world, the work there was incredible. It looks really cool, and strangely funky. It’s got a crude sense of humor to it, and I suppose that fits into the visual style. I liked the look of the various foes you’d fight, and the bosses. It all looked really neat, I just wish there was more to it and that it were more engaging.

They really nailed the style, but forgot about the substance to go alongside it. A shame for sure, as I’m sure they really did pour their hearts into the visual work, so that was appreciated. It’s kind of a bit strange to move around while shooting, you’ve got such a strange flow in this one.

The Conclusion

Johnny Rocket has some really charming aesthetics to it, but the game is super short and not too engaging. I suppose I had some small level of fun with it, but that was truly short lived. I played through it and really did expect more. I know it comes in at a smaller pricing point, but still. There really isn’t anything at all to this game. They could have at least added a different sort of mode or something extra campaign wise.

It’s just a small chunk that feels more like a demo of a bigger game than anything. It has neat visuals, but that isn’t enough to carry a game. I did really want to like this game, and there’s a small part of it that will resonate for awhile. It’s just not enough of a game to leave a lasting impression however. I would be up for another similar entry, and hopefully they’d expand the concepts further if they do so.

Read our Damsel Review
View our Game Hubs

Johnny Rocket Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Restless Corp

Rating Overall: 2.5