It took three of PIGFACE’s brisk missions before I finally realised what connection I was trying to dredge from my cluttered memory. PIGFACE may have the appearance of a retro-inspired FPS in the trailers, but it often felt like a slick first-person mod for the earliest Hitman games – think Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) or the sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002). It’s a compelling mix of exploring a sandbox-like maps for quest objectives and entertaining yourself by exploiting AI that are deadly at close-range but incredibly stupid overall.
PIGFACE functions as a first-person shooter – with gloriously retro aesthetics, chunky gore, and thumping combat music – but running-and-gunning only feels viable when replaying missions with new upgrades. Once you’ve bought body armour; weapon attachments; and amassed equippable masks hidden in each level, it’s easier to tear through levels sowing confusion and popping heads. On your first run, however, you’ll want to take it slow and steady to avoid quick deaths and mission restarts.
In this early access build, a brief introduction and tutorial introduce the player to “Exit” – a hit-woman who runs afoul of a vigilante group known as “The Cleaners”. With a bomb embedded in her skull to ensure compliance, she’s sent after several gangs to dismantle illegal drug and weapons trades. It’s a classic setup but also one with a surprising amount of narrative in the form between-mission cutscenes or calls from her handler; a handler that sounds increasingly stressed and unhinged when caught between a merciless killer and his equally intimidating boss.
It remains to be seen how important that overarching narrative becomes, but it provides light context for a gameplay loop that shifts between Exit’s safehouse where you can buy and upgrade gear, and missions in locations scattered across a map of the local area – think rundown farms, motels, and train stations. From a distinctly ‘90s-era online storefront, the money you earn from completing missions and gathering scrap can be spent on buying new weapons, attachments, consumables, and armour – expanding your options when selecting a loadout in the van you take to each mission.
Armour and morphine shots help you survive more hits; optional masks – which offer a trade-off between perks and flaws – can synergise with your playstyle; but the most important attributes are weapon damage and their noise level. With no crosshair outside of scope and laser pointer attachments, running firefights that draw hordes of goons towards you are unwise. Instead, methodically clearing locations by sneaking in close and swiftly dispatching small groups is optimal. Gunfire may draw everyone in an area, but it still feels satisfyingly “gamey” with an unrealistically short range.
Once you unlock silencers for every weapon (even if it makes little sense), you can start messing around with the AI in some fun but often immersion-breaking ways. You can snipe at distinct enemies to send them panicking and firing back at you – but their allies will often stand around and do nothing if you’re out of their noise detection range. You can storm a motel floor with a silenced shotgun, blast everyone in sight, only to slip back outside to prey on unaware patrols. Enemies can still kill you quickly if you find yourself surrounded, but once you build up a decent arsenal and accessories, your recklessness is more likely to get you killed than the enemy AI.
As of this early access build (v0.24), it’s worth reiterating that PIGFACE is no boomer shooter with a focus on hand-crafted levels and enemy placement; it’s all about finding your own fun in janky sandbox environments reminiscent of the early Hitman games. If you enjoy the idea of brisk sandbox missions, replaying them with new gear or different approach, and just messing around with the AI for fun, PIGFACE is one to keep on your radar or in your wishlist.
PIGFACE was previewed on PC using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher.
gameblur-v2.0 