Player Preview - 12 Is Better Than 6

Title: 12 Is Better Than 6

Developer: Ink Stain Games

Status: Demo

Release Date: March 2016

Official Site: http://bit.ly/1XTxIoJ

Kickstarter Page: http://kck.st/1VRJXjO

Hey what’s up, Serpentine here taking a look at the top down Western Shooter, 12 is better than 6, the first game developed by Ink Stain Studios. You take on the role as a Mexican ex-slave running from the law and attempting to make a new life for himself, killing anyone that gets in his way because in the west it’s better to go to jail for murder than be the one murdered.

12 is better than 6 is probably best explained as a western Hotline Miami with more focus on weapon mechanics and not so much gore. You’ll only have your trusty knife at the start of each level to take on the bandits and sheriff departments officers that roam the countryside. It’s best to try and complete the level only using the knife as using a gun that you’ve picked up from an enemy can attract nearby enemies to your location. In some of the levels it’s even made impossible for you to use guns due to numerous watch towers scattered around the level that only detect you if there is gun fire and once detected will kill you almost straight away once you step outside if not outside already. As soon as the tower guards are alerted by the gunfire there is no way to divert their attention or to take them out so it’s basically a game over state. In the levels that you can use guns there are a couple to play around with like the Revolver, the double barreled shotgun and the long neck rifle. Instead of just aiming the gun and firing, these guns will also require you to click the right mouse button to cock the weapon, preparing it to be fired. This is required for all the guns in the game and prevents you from going on a crazy shootout, unloading bullets everywhere. Instead you will have to make sure there are no nearby enemies or if there are, that you have gotten the cock and fire mechanics down. This leads to some pretty crazy moments in the game were you are furiously clicking trying to cock and fire your weapon as fast as possible only to continuously fire an un-cocked weapon before getting shot down.

The levels in the game along with the camera position are a lot more closed in and compact compared to the camera and levels in Hotline Miami. There is somewhat a reason for this with the limited sight range acting as a limit to your weapons effectiveness range. The only exception to this being the long neck rifle which can move the camera while aiming to give you a better effective weapon range but that is only available on the rifle. The camera being so zoomed in does have some disadvantages though for instance you can’t really get a good overview of your current situation. Enemies can just be off screen and still notice you and start firing without you even seeing them. It seems the developers know this and try to remedy it with congested levels that have quite a bit of cover or multiple ways to enter and exit buildings. There are some moments in the game were you will be blindly firing off screen in the general direction of enemy fire like in this chapel level and I think the game might benefit from having the camera zoomed out just a little bit more with some other mechanic to limit some of the guns effective ranges.

 The art style as you have probably noticed is quite striking in a simple way being a kind of hand drawn on paper style. The only source of any actual colour is the red of a downed enemy’s blood or your own. It does make it hard however to distinguish friendly from foe but luckily there is no friendly fire. Even with its simplistic style though the game manages to put some life into the environment with moving elements and wild animals while also being surprisingly detailed. The soundtrack to the game already is fantastic being an upbeat mix between rock and country that suits the game perfectly.

Other features of the game planned to be implemented further in development will include more guns to pick up and use against enemies. There will also be an upgrade system that will include things like armour that can deflect bullets, silent stealth kills, extreme accuracy with weapons and more. If the game meets some of its higher up kick-starter goals a PvP mode and Co-Op mode will also be added to the game.

Altogether 12 is better than 6 is an intriguing game that with a little bit more time in development and maybe some slight design changes could be a really good game. At the moment I feel that either the camera needs to be zoomed out a little so as not to have those blind firing situations or the level designs are going to have to go through a lot of refining to prevent such situations. The story is interesting and the guns unique mechanics add a nice touch to the game. If you enjoyed Hotline Miami but are more interested in stealth combat or rather a less spray and pray style, then 12 is better than 6 may interest you.

Anyway, that’s been my player preview for 12 is better than 6. The game is currently running a kick-starter campaign with a little over 20 days to go and will be releasing on PC, Mac and Linux sometime in March 2016. You can try out a short demo of the game via their Kickstarter page and if you want to find out more about the game check out the links below. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you guys next time.