Forced Showdown

This hybrid action-RPG tries very hard to succeed at many forms of gameplay, but overall it just falls flat. Most of the time, video games tend to cater to a specific audience with a love of a specific genre, but every once in a while, someone tries to mix things up and create a Frankenstein's monster that will have something for everyone. Forced Showdown is one of those games, blending elements of old-school twin-stick arcade shooters, deck building and card collection, and rogue-like action/RPG. Sadly, this particular mix of flavors is a little hard to swallow. For starters, the deck building part of the game feels out of place and adds an extra level of complication to what seems like a pretty straightforward shooter. Making matters worse, even playing through the game's long tutorial is a chore and never really does a good job of explaining things.

Forced Showdown does have personality but also more than a fair number of flaws. C-SAR, the robotic host of the show, provides some cheesy one-liners and play-by-play commentary, but he can get a bit grating and repetitive over time. The game is bright and colorful and has a very fun style, but that's only when you can get it to run smoothly. It feels like it's just barely chugging along sometimes. It's even possible to fit a Netflix marathon in during some of the game's loading times. It just feels like it's trying too hard to cram in too much without ever stopping to make sure it all works. As a result, Forced Showdown ends up feeling a bit forced on its audience.