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Hypnospace spin-off Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance is my kind of retro throwbackDeck stacked like the best of them
Deck stacked like the best of them
If you playedHypnospace Outlaw, there’s a high chance you’ll remember Zane “Zane_Rocks_14” Lofton. He’s one of the more memorable characters you meet in Tendershoot’s alternate reality web simulator, an angsty teenage boy whose home page is slathered in camouflage textures and GIFS of exploding handguns. Since release, Zane has become one of Hypnospace’s de facto mascots, a beloved dweeb that is abrasive but also kind of painfully relatable? It’s hard to laugh at Zane’s baggy trousers andlove for Linkin Park-esque rap-metalwhen you grew up in the mid-2000’s. I mean, we all bought a dog lead from Wilkinson’s and hooked it between the belt loops on our jeans at one point, right?…right?
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer: Reveal TrailerWatch on YouTube
Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer: Reveal Trailer
On its surface, Slayers X is a frighteningly accurate portrayal of what a teen in the mid-2000s thought was cool. There are poo jokes. Excessive gore. A butt-rock soundtrack. Hidden within Zane’s closet is an elevator that descends into his secret base. Your shields are called Hack Blood. Your shotgun shoots shards of broken glass. “I’m awesome,” growls Zane after you dispatch your first Psyko, the game’s bog-standard baddies who wear long trench coats and no shoes for some reason. It feels like the doodles in the back of a school book brought to life, a game any DOOM-obsessed teenager could only have dreamed of creating back in 2001.
Creator Jay Tholen hasalluded on Twitterthat the game could tell a subtle story about the “real-world” Zane as much as the game’s exaggerated version of the character, conveying the teen’s naivety about the world through the way he interprets it within this passion project. I think what’s already here is very good - and I would be perfectly happy if it remains as a surface-deep meme game for Hypnospace-likers - but if the full release can pull off this dual-narrative idea it could become something very special indeed.
Still, even in its current form, this is a fun curio that fans of Hypnospace should absolutely check out. There are a few references to the original game, and just the fact that this bonkers project exists is reason enough to give it a try. Zane does rock, it turns out, even if he doescanonically hate this website for some reason.
