Street Boss: Shootout Review

Down The Irons

When I started playing Street Boss: Shootout by WillBeFun, I was feeling rather confident due to its light-hearted aesthetic. After digging into it, I quickly realized that this third-person adventure game has a lot of material. At first glance, this game would seem suitable for playing a few rounds while waiting for the bus to show up. However, this Android action game will have players sweating through their clothes when they realize that this little romp is no joke.

Street Boss: Shootout is about warring families trying to seize control with different regions throughout their city. Players will take control of different characters like Eric, Vera, Edward, Bill, Nora, Rayne, and Kevin. These characters can be unlocked with each subsequent level that’s cleared. However, I quickly realized that these characters just change the aesthetic to the model and introduce a new super move. There’s not really much else beyond that. Each of them can be upgraded with in-game cash and gems, but all the skills are the same with each character. I can play as Eric the entire game and not really miss out on what the other characters have to offer.

Wacky Weaponry

The gunplay in Street Boss: Shootout is hearty. There’s plenty of it and it does not let up. The campaign is broken up into seven regions that each have an average of four levels. At the later levels, there can be serious spikes in difficulty. Especially when I didn’t take the time to equip my character. There is an inventory available to where I could toy with the specs. However, I could only use the in-game cash to upgrade a gun just once. Additionally, there are also certain puzzle pieces needed to continue upgrading that is only collected through daily loot boxes. This can be a bummer for certain players who want to upgrade by their own merits as opposed to relying on loot boxes. I will say that there are some humorous and wacky firearms such as the “Singing Gun” and “One Punch Bazooka.” They do add a bit of charm but gameplay-wise all firearms dish out the same amount of damage.

Colorful Carnage

There is, at least, a variety to the discharge and re-loading speeds. Each weapon has a clear, sharp, and distinct sound that gives them each a certain identity. I did notice that the hitboxes on most of the enemies are the same. Shooting someone in the leg gives off the same damage as headshots. I unloaded an entire magazine with my AK-47 into an enemy’s face before they finally went down. Dropping an enemy with one well-placed headshot doesn’t apply here. The weapons are flashy, loud and the explosions are a treat to see. The stages can differ greatly in terms of length and difficulty. These stages operate like an “arena shooter.” Every time a stage is cleared, I was given an option to use a perk of some kind before progressing. Usually, it’s something like “increase life by 20%” or “10% damage with headshots” and others. I will admit that this adds a thin layer of freshness to each firefight helps with the curve in difficulty.

Trigger Fingers

For the most part, the controls are airtight. I could aim and take out enemies with my finger rather smoothly. It’s easy to call for back-up, switch cover, and re-load. Everything is easily accessible. I did notice some glitches and the game even crashed on me a few times. This is frustrating because the later levels require clearing up to 40 stages before beating it. This can be a gauntlet and after half-way through, I had enough. I found that the sweet spot was 20-25 stages. Beyond that, the repetitiveness starts sinking in and I was rolling my eyes more than I wanted. I had to really commit to beating these levels. I was actually getting sweaty palms trying to clear them.

Conclusively, Street Boss: Shootout does offer some fun. The advertisements available can be used for optional double XP and revives. On top of that, there’s also a multiplayer component where players can compete against each other’s score by clearing out certain areas. There’s a lot to dig into, but make sure that you aren’t going anywhere for a while to complete the later levels.