This game allows you to KILL Gianni Mantragano. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hate this stupid piece of ♥♥♥♥ so much. He uhhh umm. had sex with my wife and my entire family including my dog. He is literal satan and I hope he gets hit by a train.

you sum kinda wise guy? issa good game

Gem! That's the best way I can describe Fallen Aces. It's been a while since I've been so desperate to replay a game immediately after beating it. Some reviews say that this game isn't an immersive sim as the tags might suggest, but I'd have to disagree. It may not be as much of an immersive sim as something like Prey but it definitely fits the bill. Each major element of this game deserves to be brought up so I wanted to make a few points!

To begin, the style and graphics immediately stand out. All of the characters and interact-able objects/weapons are drawn in this very appealing comic book style and stand out as 2D images in a 3D world, similar to something like Paper Mario. Not only is this satisfying to look at but it also helps the player discern between something they can use and something that's just a part of the environment. Especially in a game where finding a weapon laying around can be the difference between life or death, this little detail can help a lot. And as for the 3D objects in the world, they're also drawn in a similar comic book style and have very simple geometry. Everything you see is low-poly like a PS1 game which gives the world this almost "folded" appearance, further amplifying the comic look. It's refreshing to see graphics like this in a modern game that isn't just flat-out replicating a retro experience.

The next major element is the combat. Every melee weapon has a short durability. Once it breaks, the most you can do with it is throw it at an enemy for one final hit. If you're all out of weapons, you'll have to find another one somewhere in the world, purchase one, or take one from a goon you've beat. On top of that, the game limits you to three tool slots. I love this mechanic as it forces you to be a bit smarter with your weapons as opposed to just spamming attack, and it provides more of an incentive to take out goons so you can steal their weapons. I also rarely used anything ranged. Guns are typically harder to acquire than melee weapons, you either have to find them in secret spots throughout the world or purchase them from the merchant that appears in a couple of the levels. Another issue that comes from using the ranged weapons is the ammo. It can be hard to find and if your gun is full, the extra ammunition will take up another slot in your tool bar which could be used for something else. With how many goons there are in some of the levels, ammunition really doesn't last long, so I tried to save anything ranged for the very ends of the levels. And oh yeah, if you disarm a goon with a gun you can't use the gun because it breaks for some reason, so that's fun. Outside of the weapons, however, you can also throw random objects you find around the world. Bar stool, vase, explosive canister, whatever you'd like. If you need that extra bit of damage or want something ranged without wasting ammo, using a piece of furniture can really come in handy. Finally, you have the smaller moves like blocking with certain melee weapons, kicks which break down certain doors and can hit enemies from a slight distance, punches for when you have nothing left to lose, and finishers you can conduct once a goon is at low enough health. The combat is so complex but easy to understand and satisfying to use, I never found myself getting bored with it.

I've brought up the world a few times already but I wanted to expand on it for the next major element. Fallen Aces is separated into three different episodes (with only one episode being out at the moment), the first of which having three chapters which are basically levels. Each level is pretty big, they vary a lot in scale but are all super detailed. Three of the levels have numerous buildings for you to explore, and the two that are limited to one building are still massive with a bunch of rooms to investigate. There's never just one path to get to your main objective which I love. You can scale a roof and climb through a window to sneak up on a bunch of goons, or find a vent in an alleyway that leads to a secret area. And speaking of secrets, there are plenty of them in each level and they're always a lot of fun to come across. Some are just hidden in random areas whereas others might require you to solve a puzzle of some sort. The game loves to hide secrets in these safes that you'll need to find the code to somewhere around the world. Other secrets can be accessed by finding keys. This is a big feature that makes the game more replayable for me as I never found every single secret and would love to go back in to see which ones I missed. Aside from the secrets, there's almost always going to be a less obvious route for you to take. If you want to stealth most of the game like I did, you can do that because the layout of the levels allows for a lot of experimentation. You can also go in loud if that suits your play style better.

Overall, this review's already very long so I'll end it here. I won't go in-depth on the story for spoiler reasons but I did really enjoy it and I can't wait to see what happens in the next episode. If you're looking for a 4-6 hour experience (depending on how you play,) with a lot of replayability, Fallen Aces is perfect for that. There's also an upcoming level editor which I believe is coming before episode 2, I'm extremely excited for it as somebody who loves creating my own levels, and it'll have full Steam workshop support to really extend the longevity of the game outside of the campaign. Even if you don't plan on participating in that, I'd highly recommend getting the game, it's highly worth the price and is one of my favorite indies in recent years.