8DAYS Demo

Although it probably doesn’t seem like it, mercenaries are still a very important part of modern wars, especially in the case of small operations. Hence, governments around the world pay private contractors to take care of various jobs, as well as provide security in certain cases. On the other hand, the job is obviously not as flashy as portrayed in action movies.

8DAYS is a top-down action game in the style of Hotline Miami, and it features similar fast-paced mechanics, as well as a particularly tough difficulty level. In essence, the goal is to kill every enemy you come across as quickly as possible, using a variety of weapons to do so. Stealth is encouraged as well, although the mechanics for it are not very strong.

You have two characters to choose from in the demo, but the action is pretty similar regardless of which one you choose. Most of the action revolves around being the first to spot and shoot the enemy, because it’s pretty difficult to avoid the bullets once you’ve been spotted. You can absorb a couple of shots, on the other hand, unlike in Hotline Miami where each hit was fatal.

Unfortunately, the game shows you a small part of the map at the time, so it’s no wonder that you often run into enemies that come out of nowhere. It’s also very difficult to sneak around them, given the fact that there’s no HUD or view cones to let you know how to strike. Hence, your wannabe stealthy attempts are easily crushed almost every time, which can get very frustrating.

Thankfully, there are a variety of ranged weapons as well, so at least you have the option to obliterate everything in your path as loudly as possible. Since the enemies move extremely quickly sometimes, this is not always a good idea, but it really depends on your reaction times and reflexes. Lastly, the graphics are not bad at all, but they can hinder your ability to correctly assess distances sometimes.

In the end, 8DAYS is a bit too tough for regular games looking for a good time, because frustration is one of the main ingredients of the gameplay. Thus, you need nerves of steel and a quick hand to make it through some of the missions.