Hot Brass Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Hot Brass
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Hot Brass artwork

My SWAT operative has a solid knowledge of all but two of the rooms in a motel complex, complete with clear locations for potential bad guys, some of them clearly armed. Under-the-door cameras are that good. But the mission is to locate and non-lethally take down their leader, who is probably in one of the two spaces that I have not yet mapped, mainly because there are lookouts that can warn him I am coming. I abandon my sneaky approach to sprint towards one of them, all the way shouting police warnings. As I shackle this acolyte he warns his boss, who tries to flee. After a chase across a parking lot and a flashbang that misses its target, he manages to leave the level. I already have a better plan to take him down next time.

Hot Brass is a top-down action title created by Walk with Kings and published by Treasure Hunters Fanclub. Players become a SWAT agent that has to deal with a variety of threats, minimizing casualties while making sure the bad guys are taken care of. The game is one Steam title that offers a demo, allowing potential fans to get a quick look at the core experience.

As an elite operator, the player has access to two main weapons, two gadgets (think flashbang and entry charge), surveillance tools, a taser, and some body armor (options open up as missions are completed). He has to use all of them to explore levels, ranging from the simple to the complex while abiding by the rules of engagement. This means civilians need to be protected and bad guys should either be arrested or killed, based on how threatening they become. A perfect mission is one in which nobody dies while all hostiles are taken into custody.

Hot Brass
Hot Brass
Hot Brass
+4more

The main character in Hot Brass is controlled using a WASD and mouse setup and can jump over almost anything in the level while also sliding or moving quietly. Each level features plenty of potential entry points, opening an array of tactical options. And all of them are necessary because uncertainty is almost present and failure is just one bad shot away. Players have to react quickly and efficiently to an ever-changing situation.

The disks that represent characters rarely clearly identify as enemies. The player needs to shout at them and hope that they go green, revealing that they are civilians needing protection, or that they drop a weapon, becoming opponents that can then be secured with cuffs. If they don’t or start firing it is alright to try and take them down. Some give up once blood is drawn and should be non-lethally handled from them on. Others insist on firefights and will be killed. Just make sure that you have you don not have an over-eager trigger finger as failure is the price of any rules of engagement infraction.

The mission design offers a variety an interesting challenges. The problem is that once areas that as objectives grow in complexity the difficulty spikes a little unfairly. Hot Brass is cooler when up to four players join forces, either locally or online. There’s a lot of opportunity for coordination and solid teamwork. There’s also space for weird moments and laughs, even if most of the time those lead to a failed mission.

Hot Brass is clearly created using limited resources and the presentation suffers for it. The levels do look good, filled with details and interesting light sources. But the characters are just dots that change top images based on their equipment and their state. That makes it often hard to read the rooms and the enemies, especially under pressure. This is a good commentary on the issues that real-world armed police have to deal with but it affects the game negatively. A little more detail would have been appreciated.

The sound effects, especially the breaking glass and the gunfire, are very solid, as is the main theme of the soundtrack (it would have been an earworm with added lyrics).

Hot Brass
Hot Brass
Hot Brass
+4more

The Good

  • Cool tactical moments
  • Coop focus
  • Varied scenarios

The Bad

  • Difficulty spikes
  • Presentation issues
  • Confusing enemy actions

Conclusion

Hot Brass is an intriguing game that restricts its ability to keep players engaged. The SWAT fantasy is well transferred into mechanics but the overall look of the game makes it hard to fully enjoy. The missions are designed for multiple approaches but different ways of engaging with the title do not deliver a variety of thrills or failures.

The focus on real-time action is probably the biggest drawback because it undermines the importance of planning. While the pressure and tension work well the top-down action title is too confusing at times. Trying for an objective, again and again, becomes frustrating.

Hot Brass also makes SWAT operators out to be heroes who instantly fail when they do something wrong during a mission, an idealized abstraction that is uncomfortable given the very real harm to civilians that highly trained policemen have inflicted all over the world.

story 7
gameplay 8
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 8
multiplayer 8
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 
NEXT REVIEW: Loop Hero

Hot Brass screenshots (21 Images)

Hot Brass artwork
Hot BrassHot BrassHot BrassHot Brass
+16more