Neon White is creating a buzz on Steam. Is the new shooter really as good as everyone says? We found out for you.
On Steam for just one week, but already the game of the year 2022 for many fans: The new parkour shooter Neon White from publisher Annapurna Interactive is currently causing massive excitement on Steam. Of over 1,700 user reviews, 98 per cent are positive. Reason enough for us to take a look.
This is what Neon White is all about
After assassin Neon White botches an assignment, he finds himself in the afterlife and discovers that heaven is a corrupt bureaucracy. For a chance at an afterlife in paradise, the former professional assassin is recruited by God himself to assassinate shadowy demons.
However,
Neon White is not a classic shooter but places great emphasis on speed: you race through heavenly areas, have to kill all the demons and finally reach the goal as quickly as possible. A level rarely lasts longer than a minute. The faster you are, the better your rating – and the higher it is, the more difficult missions you unlock.
To achieve the best times, you not only have to run skillfully and have a nimble finger on the trigger, but also master the soul cards that you can find in the arenas or capture from slain enemies. The cards serve as weapons, but also change the way you move. If you find a pistol, for example, you can of course shoot your enemies with it – or you can throw the card and make a particularly high jump.
You can see what the whole thing looks like in motion in the following video!
In between missions you can let off steam in a kind of dating simulation: Since protagonist White has lost his memory, he can’t remember his former life. Through conversations and gifts, you can build relationships with other characters and thus learn more about the past of your hero and his companions.
If you don’t like the overwrought and anime-typical dialogues, you can unlock exciting side quests.
For whom is Neon White worthwhile?
One thing in advance: Neon White is really as good as everyone says. Your character’s movement works incredibly precisely at all times and the challenging core mechanics are motivating. But that’s not just because the weapons are varied and fun throughout
Neo White is particularly convincing when it comes to level design: Many of the maps seem deceptively simple when you first play them, also because there is always a clear main path to the goal. However, as soon as you hunt for new best times and want to save important seconds, it quickly becomes clear that the levels are quite complex and that dozens of shortcuts are hidden here.
The decisive factor for whether Neon White could be worthwhile for you, however, is its speed: Do you want to play very short levels over and over again, discover shortcuts, optimise running routes and ultimately secure a place in the online world rankings? Then you should give Neon White a try. But it’s not a game for everyone. Especially those who like to take things slowly should save themselves the price of 22 euros.
Editor’s verdict
Although I’m not a passionate speedrunner myself, I still watch Twitch events like the GamesDoneQuick fundraising marathon, the Speedrundale format at the colleagues from Rocketbeans or the Trackmania-YouTuber Wirtual with great enthusiasm:
But I can’t help but always feel a bit of sadness, because I know very well that I probably won’t be able to pull off such impressive feats in my gaming career. Unfortunately, nobody is interested in the fact that I was called up to the national team of Unreal Tournament 2004 almost 20 years ago.
I haven’t played Neon White all the way through yet, but I already think it’s brilliant. Simply because it gives an old veteran like me, who has his best days behind him, the feeling of being a pro once again.
The only thing I can happily do without is the terrible anime dialogue – and I’m really not an anime hater. But this is just cringe, as the young people today would say. Thank you for your attention, I’m going back to plucking the grey hairs out of my schnörres.
