OTXO Review

OTXO (pronounced oh-cho) is a top-down shooter, developed by Lateralis Heavy Industries, which isn’t afraid to show blood and a lot of it! Right off the bat, I’m going to talk about the visuals in the game, this isn’t your typical shooter title, it has a retro look with its 8-bit visuals. Everything is in black and white, with the red of the blood being the only punch of colour you see, and I guarantee you that you will see a lot of it! There is a bit of a film grain effect like an old movie, and while you are in the Mansion, the lights are constantly flickering which gives it the feel of an old horror film. 

The game begins with our protagonist and a woman on a train. Across from them, another passenger stands up and drops a mask, as he departs the train. For some reason, our unknown character decides to put this mask on. As soon as he does, visions of a girl appear and the ground cracks beneath him. Suddenly, he wakes up, washed up on a beach. You take control of the man and you begin to explore this place to find out what the heck happened and how it was that you were brought here. You come across some building and a man who seems to work there. The man tells you that an OTXO man washes up ashore every few months, after putting the mask on. The woman that was accompanying you on the train, is now deep inside a mysterious Mansion that is full of secrets for you to uncover as you explore. Oh, and it is full of foes who want to stop you in your tracks, using a huge arsenal of weapons.

To release the power for the mask, and to rescue your love, the heart of the Mansion will have to be destroyed. Fortunately, the man you met is incredibly helpful and he lends you his old service rifle to defend yourself with. Every door in this place is locked, keeping both you and the enemy from getting through. Apparently, these aren’t the most sturdy doors as you can easily kick them in, or shoot them, blowing the door apart. The enemy hasn’t realised this yet, so they are stuck in the room until you destroy the door. The game is a top-down shooter that lets you play on the computer with a keyboard and mouse, or with a controller. I opted to play with a controller, your movement is done with the left thumbstick, and where your gun is aimed is controlled with the right. When moving the right thumbstick, the movement isn't always smooth so it can be a bit jarring when it does move. To kick, you press in the right thumbstick. This is not only useful for kicking down doors, but if you happen to run out of ammo or drop your gun, you can kick the enemy. Our protagonist does have a special move that the foes do not have, called Focus. Focus lets you slow down time for a few seconds to avoid shots coming from your enemy, giving you time to aim the perfect shot at them. When the time is up, there is a brief cool-down time before you can use it again, but chances are you will be so busy shooting down enemies you will barely notice. Once you learn the basics of combat, it is time to enter “The Infinite Foyer.” 

When you die, The Infinite Foyer is home to The Rose Room, this is one of the options where you will start your next run. There is a bartender here and a woman who orders the liquor that the bar will stock. Be sure to drop your weapon before talking to the bartender as he won’t serve you if you have a gun pointed — this totally made me think of the John Wick movies. He gives you your first drink for free, but every time you make it back there on your run, you will have to pay. There is a selection of three drinks that are randomly generated each time you visit. One drink called the Gun Boot will make a bullet fire from your boot whenever you kick, Clarity lets you do 50% more damage while using your Focus ability but decreases the duration, while Choke makes your shotgun spread tighter. There is even a drink that will give you an attack dog, who will run full tilt at an enemy as soon as you bash open the door and take them down in a bloody mess. I will warn you though, your dog will be shot at and can die. I found this out the hard way… R.I.P. doggie. 

Your task is to kill every enemy in that area of the Mansion. Once cleared, you will be able to move on to the next area, then eventually make your way back to The Rose Room, where you will get to visit the bartender again and buy more liquor, or lend coins that you have collected from enemies you have killed to the woman in the room to order the booze that you want the bar to stock. The game has rogue-lite elements that make it feel more forgiving than a full roguelike title, so it’s not as frustrating as it could be. The game lets you save your current run between rooms whenever you want, but when you die, your run is over and you have to start back at the beach or The Infinite Foyer again. When you are killed, you are Forsaken, and a summary screen displays how many kills you got, how many bullets were fired, your accuracy, money earned, highest combo, preferred weapon type, your run time, and how many kills by a door you got. These stats are fun to see, and I didn’t even realise that you could kick windows until I saw it listed here. As you play, be sure to start at the beach sometimes to explore more of the land around this Mansion. You will meet people who are servants for this mysterious place and can help you get items and power-ups that will be useful during your runs. You even meet a nun who works for the Church of Steel and is in charge of maintenance and procurement of all the weapons in the Mansion, she can change which guns will show up for you to use. Though keep in mind, your enemy will also be able to use these same kinds of weapons, so choose wisely.

The music in the game is upbeat and sounds like industrial rave music you would hear in action sequences in a movie. It fits well with the ridiculous amounts of violence that happen in the game. There is so much blood, so much that enemies I killed, had so much on their faces that I looked like I killed a room full of Spider-Man cosplayers. Every time you killed an enemy, you could pick up the gun that they had dropped. With the pixelated graphics, it wasn’t always easy to tell what kind of weapon you were picking up by sight, but the most important part was how much ammo it had left. The sound effects for each gun sounded great, they were unique based on the kind of gun, or if you opted to use a grenade, you would hear the resulting explosion.

There is so much here in OTXO to collect and use, this game will keep you busy for an incredibly long time. It truly feels like I am playing in a roguelike, retro game version of a John Wick movie. I’m not normally a huge fan of overly violent games, but I find if it is pixelated like this, I don’t feel like I am killing real people. I know it’s kind of weird, but the more realistic a game is, the more guilty and hesitant I am to shoot them. I am having a great time playing this title, there are so many mysteries to solve and secrets to find, and there is so much constantly bringing me back to the game on both my computer and Steam Deck. I can’t believe how much I love playing this game!