Mullet Madjack Review – Review

MULLET MADJACK, published by Epopeia Games, has taken the term “dopamine rush” to a whole new, and wild, level. By crafting a boomer shooter with roguelite elements, temporary weapon and personal upgrades, quick in-and-out levels, a very cool ‘90s anime aesthetic, plus a ton of action, gore and humour, MULLET MADJACK has no business being this fun!

Everything about MULLET MADJACK should feel overwhelming, and it does. But that’s entirely the point. The premise at its core is simple. Kill quick, don’t die, get to the end of the level as fast as possible. Rinse. Repeat. But there is more to it than just that. Beneath the insanely fast-paced action and chaos, there’s actually a story holding the levels together, and it feels like it comes straight out of an action movie. Think The Raid, or Taken. You play as Jack, or “Mullet MadJack” if you prefer, a mullet-sporting mercenary who has been selected as a ‘moderator’ and sent on a mission to rescue the Influencer Princess from a robot corporate overlord and his army of robots. Floor by floor, Jack has to navigate, survive, and kill his way to where she is being kept, defeating bosses every ten floors. To add to this, Jack has a lifespan of up to 15 seconds (dependant on the difficulty level you select) which will run out and kill him if he doesn’t get a dopamine hit, AKA kill robots to keep his 15 seconds topped up… oh, and he’s hooked-up to the “Peace Network” and his progress is being live-streamed. It shouldn’t need a story given how the game plays out, but having one makes it better.

During the 10th floor boss fights, there is no time limit on your life as the network conveniently goes down, dropping you into a one-on-one arena-style fight with the enemy at hand. Outside of these boss levels, systems are online, meaning if your 10-15 seconds elapse, you die, and are sent right back to the first floor of that chapter. Killing enemies will add up to 3 seconds to your lifespan, which is the most common way to survive just a little bit longer. There are other bonuses for headshots, nutshots (yes, nutshots), and also other perks like interacting with vending machines during levels, or selecting specific upgrades or perks that can provide extra seconds to you during that chapter.

During my time with MULLET MADJACK, I was indeed experiencing my own kind of dopamine rush. The fast-paced, one-shot kill nature felt very Hotline Miami (one of my favourite games of all time), and the aesthetic chaos reminded me of Doom (another one of my favourites — both the classic and modern versions). There is also a huge homage to Duke Nukem here; in Jack, some of the lines he comes out with are so out of pocket and have nothing to do with what is happening. “Learn to enjoy your own company!” being shouted as you gun down robots, was one standout that stuck with me. Combine all these elements, and you essentially have the gameplay for MULLET MADJACK. It’s quick, fluid, responsive, and completely bananas. You’ll not always know where to look as the time drops while you’re dealing with hordes of robot enemies, down sometimes narrow corridors, but after a floor or two, the simple controls become second nature and you begin to feel as powerful as I imagine many do who proudly rock a mullet.

You begin the game with a simple gun to shoot enemies, but as you progress through each floor you are offered randomised perks. These range from a limited number of new weapon options that change the way you play — from shotguns, katanas, plasma rifles, and more. Alongside the weapon choices, you also have the option to select personal upgrades to help you on your run. These can impact the way the next floors are played, like adding the ability to slow time when you are low on seconds. They can also buff Jack and his weapons going forward. For example, a common upgrade I would select is to add a percentage change that bullets become explosive. These roguelite elements allow you to experiment with weapons, and select the perks that work well for how you play. I am a simple man when it comes to these games: run-and-gun, spray-and-pray, like a shark, constantly moving forward, and you know what? It works very well! Which I like to think is how the developers wanted you to play. High octane and brutal.

Depending on how good you are at the game, you can look to complete the story in around 3-5 hours. Despite what sounds like a short time, it’s important to highlight that on average each floor takes between 35 seconds to a minute to get through (unless you die, then it’s back to square one of that chapter). With such short, snappy, action-packed levels, there is a lot here for you to work your way through, and plenty of time to experiment with all the weapon choices, perks, upgrades, and really find your style. It is repetitive, but the floors don’t overstay their welcome at all, and the tightness of them makes jumping back or going one more floor/chapter very easy to do. It’s like MULLET MADJACK is feeding us on its own dopamine!

One minor criticism is that the health system isn’t always clear. Alongside your timer, there appears to be a separate health bar, and mid-run it can be difficult to tell whether you died from the clock hitting zero or simply taking too many hits. The screen reddens as damage builds, but the feedback isn’t obvious enough. The boss fights actually make this clearer by default, with the network down during these parts, your timer is gone and health becomes your only concern and reason for death.

Each boss is a unique robot, and some of the most wanted Robobillionaires in the world. They’re all fairly unique and most definitely not references to anime… *cough* Chainsaw Boy *cough* Robot Hunter D *cough*… Typically, boss encounters in video games produce nerves and are the toughest part of a game, but I found these portions to almost be the breathers of the campaign. The arenas are usually quite spacious and as long as you are fairly decent and timing your jumps and sprints, you’re all good.

Load times are fast, and as mentioned before, the controls are tight and simple — run, shoot, dash, kick, perform a finisher — easy to pick up, and second nature within minutes. The soundtrack pulls from synthwave, heavy metal, and more, earning its place as one of the game’s standout elements. It doesn’t just complement the aesthetic — it drives it. My suggestion is, to get the most out of MULLET MADJACK, is to whack the volume up when playing, as it will only enhance your experience.

MULLET MADJACK isn’t a game that asks for much. Pick it up, point your weapon at robots, and try not to blink too much. What it gives back in return is a relentlessly entertaining, aesthetically nostalgic slice of controlled chaos that somehow makes its repetition feel like a feature and not a shortfall. It’s brutal, it’s pretty silly, and it absolutely earns every second of your time.