Milanoir Reviews
Overall Milanoir is an excellent entry into the genre and worth your time and money.
Milanoir takes an appealing aesthetic with a promising setup and turns it into a dutiful slog without much of a payout. It's basic, it's petty, and it's laughably crude. It is a noir title that really doesn't have a whole lot to say.
To be sure, some of this is my own incompetence - failing to notice the street signs that can be used to ricochet bullets. But much of it is the fault of the game - the eight-person ricochet off stop signs only hitting two of eight foes in a scene designed explicitly to tutorial that very feature. For that reason alone, I cannot recommend Milanoir. If you want to experience the story of a sadistic killer who's plans have gone bust, you're better off watching one of the game's inspirations, the 1973 film Almost Human. Just know it, and Milanoir, are not for the faint of heart.
I’ve played games that I would call “not fun” in the past. Somehow, Milanoir is a whole massive leap beyond that. My first and most overwhelming thought is that this is one of the games the devil makes you play for committing one of the seven deadly sins. I don’t know, pride maybe. The fact that so many indie games can look at Hotline Miami and pull all the wrong lessons from it continues to baffle.
If you want a quick pick up and put down 2D shooter and are happy to ignore the story then there’s definitely satisfaction to be found in Milanoir and although I played it on PC I feel like it would be most at home in its portable form on the Switch. You’ll get frustrated more than a few times with the controls and lack of direction but there are moments where you hit your stride in combat which can feel almost as cool as a 70’s action movie.
While Milanoir does a whole lot of things right with its fair share of positives and highly stylized aspects, it still manages to drop the ball on some key elements like crucial gameplay mechanics. Regardless, this game is a fun play, and we'd say it's definitely worth your money, assuming you are looking more for a solid story and over the top experience than you are for the smoothest, frame-perfect gameplay.
A great concept that summarily misfires on all cylinders, Milanoir is an admittedly stylish retro shooter that is simply too frustrating and poorly designed to recommend.
Milanoir provides pleasure in its own roundabout, corny, lighthearted way. Sure, its combat is very obtuse, awkward, and confounding. I became emotionally detached from Piero as his dense, cocky attitude drained my soul. But with a few neat mechanics and a well-rendered art style, this whimsical crime-film imitation flatters some of its ancestors and lightly entertains with the same campy charm.
Milanoir has a surprisingly awesome gritty story with some slick story cutscenes you play through. The action will kick your teeth in and can be slightly frustrating at times but it's over the top action will satisfy your action movie craving and not leave your wallet swimming with the fishes.
If you're up for a challenging game, this might be right up your alley. However, if you're the type of gamer who prefers a more casual flow to a game, then don't bother – you'll just end up frustrated with controller holes in your wall.
It's a Fagazy!
While Milanoir offers up something very different on Switch, and manages to avoid repeating itself too much, the overall unevenness of the experience can be hard not to be frustrated by. Some sequences play well, and will give you some push back, but others can prove to be maddening and seem to only get cleared through an element of luck on top of your skills. If you’re determined to you’ll get through it but for mere casual fans without a patch it will probably aggravate more than entertain.
Milanoir is not the longest game, but that breakneck pacing is so high octane that it can become draining. Unfortunately, it's not a game that's easy to pick up and put down at will, because it's a little confusing as to when it's actually saving the action.
Milanoir may look the part, but it certainly doesn't play like it thanks to finicky controls and a cheap difficulty.
An excellent game filled with all the things to love about video games. Cool characters, great music, sweet story, and graphics that fit the game perfectly. It’s just too bad that the difficulty spike absolutely killed the experience for me. I don’t rage quit very many games, but when I do… a controller usually dies a horrifying and disturbing death. Don’t worry. No controllers were harmed in the process of this review.
Aggressively unpleasant and a chore to play, Milanoir is a bloody dud of a tale. A slick visual style is the only positive to take away from this lousy slog of a game.
Milanoir is a fun game with a decent 1970s style story and a gritty pixel art style that fits the narrative. There's a lot of attention to detail in this one, and you'll feel as if each area you visit comes alive. The Mature nature of the game, with its violence, language and some scenes of a… different nature, means this one is not for everyone, but if you're over the age of 17, then you can take this one for a spin on PlayStation 4 to unwind after a long day.
An interesting shooter that reminds italian noir with some Tarantino's ideas. A good indie, but some unnecessary difficulty spikes ruin the overall flow.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If Milanoir were a Tarantino film, it would be Death Proof; a self-indulgent exercise in tedium that would make most people who experience it want their money back.
So all things considered, I had a pretty great experience with his game. The gameplay can get somewhat repetitive and there are some things here and there which can play to Milanoir’s strengths… But also it’s weaknesses. The fun characters of Milanoir and their interactions with each other, the fun and dumb world established in this game, and the environments explored is what made it for me.