Immediately as you open up Party Hard, you are assaulted by blues, purples, and darker colors, putting one in the mind of one of those old disco films like The Last Days of Disco or Saturday Night Fever. TinyBuild definitely went with the retro-esque feel to this one which is pretty good timing with the Nintendo re-releasing and selling out so very quickly because that’s what Party Hard reminded me of.
When the game and first cut scene open, you claim to be an Inspector, and it appears that someone is attempting to question you about an event Deemed the Party Hard killings. After you voice what you are and the beginning of what seems to be a story about a guy that just wants some peace and quiet, you are cut back to what looks to be the side-yard beside a house and the alley beside it.
Personally, the first thing I noticed was the red X on the person which signaled to my head to approach him. The instructions given at the bottom of the screen for this one is to press E to kill him while no one is looking. Conversely, you could have noticed the words, kills and points the upper left corner. Of course, leave it to me to throw a person into the fire the first chance I get.
After you kill everyone in the yard area map, the scene cuts back to the Inspector and then back to the next screen as the bright green objective at the bottom of the display instructs you to them all”¦them all being an entire house of people.
This is where the game gets really funny”¦or maybe scary depending on which way you look it. You gain points based on how you kill people, which is primarily done by stabbing. This is the easiest part. What is difficult is managing to kill the person and dispose of the body and anyone who might have seen not only your crime, but the body, either because you did not move it quickly enough or because you are carrying it”¦ by killing them and disposing of their body as well so that no one can reach any of the two phones in the house to call the police who will promptly arrest you upon arrival at the scene, and thus begins the vicious cycle. Lucky for you, there are a few different places you can hide a body.
Party Hard leads you through the life and murders of a man who only wanted some peace and quiet. However, as you complete levels, you get to choose one and have the chance to unlock new “heroes.”
I found the game to be quite enjoyable despite all the blood and gore involved, perhaps, even more so given all the violence and manipulating the cops and people around you. Due to this, the game definitely requires some strategy. You can just walk in and murder everyone without thinking about it first, or you will be arrested quick, fast and in a hurry. This probably won’t be a game I play around my manager anytime soon.