Game Review: Rapture Rejects: Cyanide & Happiness

Published by Tiny Build and developed by Galvanic Games and ExplosmGames, and based on the Darkly comedic web-comic franchise, Cyanide & Happiness has made an online game of sorts that properly utilizes the simplistic art style and mean-spirited humor the franchise is known for as the game’s storyline takes place during the apocalypse and as the title implies, Your one of the many who didn’t get raptured up to Heaven and must fight everyone to get your hands on a heavenly “Golden Ticket” which is randomly hidden by God himself within the environment your standing on. Consequently, more than one person of course wants this ticket which results in you having to kill others to prove your worthiness. In terms of presentation the story, music, and aesthetic of the webcomic are all present and accounted for and the animation style felt reminiscent of the flash games I use to play on Newgrounds which has a nostalgic feel to anyone who played around with that site. You start with a simplistic avatar you can customize which has a plethora of options from color & facial hair to even outfit accessories that can be added through unlocking them in a mini-game called “Sinners & Winners” either as rewards or taking the costly way out as DLC and Microtransactions.

The game itself is more along the lines of a multiplayer/Battle Royale games like Unreal Tournament or the far more popularized “Fortnite” with the winner being the last person standing amidst the chaos & death between other customized stick figure people in isometric environments. The game also gives the option of team matches where they’re paired up with another player, in “2 on 2” battles. Shockingly, while most multiplayer kill-fest type games have a limited number of people in one room to cut loose, this game further expands the idea to 50 players which would’ve been the best kind of ridiculousness If you aren’t encountering potential connectivity issues depending on how good your signal is, you’ll be lucky if you aren’t encountering any sort of lag mid-game play. But adding to the sense of urgency, weapons, and supplies must be found and progressively the environment shrinks down limiting any sort of cover/hiding spaces depending on how far you’re allowed to go. Like most games of this genre, of course, there are randomized loot boxes which contain power ups and weapons dropped from Heaven, and the weapons themselves despite their improper balance, also gave me a good laugh since the jokes play to the strengths of the web comic’s dark humor with gimmicky weapons such as a literal “F-Bomb”, which in a nutshell sets off an explosion complete with a giant “Bleeping” sound and more bizarre ones such as a “reverse pencil sharpener” or a “Toaster Gun” that shoots knives.

In terms of gameplay, It’s hit & miss at best. The movement is simple, using four directional keys and sometimes the mouse, and the combat system is handled by aiming and clicking to fire projectile-based weapons via-mouse akin to the Diablo games. Given that this is a “beta-build” there’s still room for improvement as the gameplay mechanics of this feel quite awkward and despite having the ability to concurrently move & shoot and change camera-angles when necessary, hitting moving targets seems delayed at times but not impossible. This also gives a clear advantage to certain weapons with a wide range as a few of them don’t require making any clear direct shots at said target. A bigger problem that arises from this is that fighting with fists somehow manages to beat out guns, which doesn’t make sense because close-range attacks aren’t supposed to have a longer reach and kinda defeats the purpose of having long-ranged weapons, to begin with.

Our Take

While not perfect, Rapture Rejects is a weird yet decent spin on the Battle Royale craze that still has room for improvement. Its colorful yet simplistic aesthetic in combination with it’s dark & demented style of humor differentiates itself when compared to other titles within this particular genre. If they manage to iron out all the bugs in a later patch or something, I could see this as a potential sleeper hit. But other than that, you are better off waiting for a price drop from Steam.