Apple Arcade review #57: Dead End Job

Dead End Job is a twin-stick-shooter take on Ghostbusters, with a 90s Nickelodeon aesthetic; all neon-coloured and cartoonishly grotesque. It’s a manifest mood, thoroughly consistent, from user interface to soundtrack. Whether you like that mood or not is a matter of taste, and the mood colours the rest of the game.

The mechanics are simple, with (ugh) virtual sticks and buttons: left side is movement, right side is shooting, with a separate “vacuum” button. The vacuum’ s your proton pack, in Ghostbusters-speak. You accept jobs from haunted businesses, you fire at the ghosts until they’re stunned, and then you suck ‘em up. Your proto— Your vacuum can overheat, so you need to keep an eye on that. You earn cash from jobs, and you keep a logbook identifying the types of spooks you’ve captured.

The virtual controls are awkward; this game benefits from a real controller. I’m partial to twin-stick shooters, but only if I actually have twin sticks. Your mileage on the 90s mood is a decisive factor. I found it exhausting (much like 90s Nickelodeon itself) and I couldn’t really get into the game because of that.

Link: https://apps.apple.com/no/app/dead-end-job/id1461747354