Pressure Demo

The steampunk culture is a bit difficult to understand, although it is one of the most widespread art styles out there. To put it simply, steampunk is basically a combination of modern technology and the Victorian age, which is sort of defined by the steam engine and all the related inventions. One of the more recognizable examples in the video games industry is Arcanum, although that one also added magic into the mix.

Pressure is a top-down casual racer that’s more of a shoot ‘em up when you get down to it, because your main purpose is to destroy wave after wave of enemies while sprinting for the finish line. To make matters more interesting, the entire shenanigan takes place in a steampunk universe, which means that the vehicles and the weapon are designed to incorporate steam engines and black powder.

Story-wise, the game tries to be amusing, and it sort of manages to do that in a silly and childish way. As such, the main character wakes up one day to find all the water from his town gone after a local villain stole it all. His plan is to open a spa and charge people for using the water, which obviously doesn’t sit well with you. Hence, you must go on a quest to defeat the villain and get the water back.

The gameplay is a bit awkward in some regards, mostly because this is neither a proper racing game, nor a vertical sidescroller in the true sense of the word. Thus, the controls are annoying, and it’s difficult to get used to them regardless of how much you play. Thankfully, you don’t need precision to finish the races, but it’s still frustrating not to be able to shoot straight when you want to do so.

To make matters more interesting and provide you with a sense of achievement, the money you make from the races can be used to upgrade your onboard weapons. There are a few interesting options and all of them can have a couple of power levels you can unlock, but the results are not as satisfying as you would expect.

All things considered, Pressure is definitely not a bad game, but it’s repetitive and unpolished in the areas that required it the most. As such, while the overall idea is nice and intriguing, the execution is sloppy and it can disappoint you in a matter of minutes.