Slayer Shock

Introduction

Slayer Shock is a stealth action game from, inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, to the point where missions in the game are divided into seasons and episodes. Developer Minor Key Games, makers of roguelike Eldritch, also come from a similar background in the BioShock series. In the game, a protagonist receives objectives from within their coffee shop hub, where they can also purchase weapons and unlock new skills. Currency to progress is measured in Dust, from slaying vampires and other mythical monsters.

Missions are laid out on a map as different optional areas, which can vary in threat level. The longer an area is untreated, the higher the threat, as well the concentration of vampires, will get.

On Steam, the game comes with 15 achievements, most of them tied to progression, with 4 hidden achievements.

Gameplay

The main loop of the Slayer Shock is seen from a first person perspective. Players can walk, run or crouch through urban and rural environments. Crouching increases the stealth potential, as it is possible to evade detection from monsters, in the vein of games like Deus Ex. Missions come with certain objectives, such as retrieving items, rescuing hostages or defeating challenging enemies. It is possible for missions to have optional goals as well, such as avoiding detection.

If detected, enemies will attack players, either with melee attacks or projectiles. Slayer Shock has a number of weapons, starting at a simple wooden stake, to nail guns, crossbows, rifles, but also melee weapons like swords. If hurt, the player can heal with a limited number of healing items, in the form of bandages.

Vampires can have different strength levels, usually determined by their health pool, but can also have different powers, such as the ability to throw out fireballs or exploding when killed.

Outside of combat, Slayer Shock also contains a lock-pick mechanism, similar to Skyrim, where rotating the pick will shake the lock into place, before moving on to the next pip, in order to unlock chests with various items, like ammo and Dust.

After a mission is completed or failed, the player returns to the coffee shop hub to take on new missions in a new "episode" or trade in Dust currency to buy gear for the next loop and to unlock skills.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Slayer Shock is scored by solo developer, David Pittman. It is comprised of mostly acoustic guitars and bell chimes, accompanied by echoing percussion, in a folk rock style. There are 28 tracks in total, which are available on Bandcamp, as well as being located in full in the game's Steam install folder, in .mp3 format.