LBR was provided with a Nintendo Switch review key from Flynn’s Arcade to review Sentry City.
Sentry City is a cyberpunk action indie from developer and publisher Crashable Studios. It’s a side-scrolling shooter, with platforming elements and light puzzle solving.
In Sentry City, players must journey through different stages of an advanced city, confronting a variety of AI enemies to uncover how they were corrupted. Players will mainly need to master timing in order to survive and defeat challenging bosses.
Sentry City originally launched in 2022 and is available now on PC, but the new Nintendo Switch version arrives next week on September 28th, 2023. You can check out some gameplay in this official trailer from the Crashable Studios YouTube channel:
Sentry City is intentionally designed to be tough. Despite well-positioned checkpoints, this game should definitely challenge casual gamers.
However, those who enjoy that difficulty will be pleased that each level requires careful attention to the obstacles, which continue to evolve throughout the game.
Once you reach level 7 or so, the game really improves by incorporating familiar platforming mechanics and more complex enemies.
This includes leaving and returning to moving platforms, shooting hidden switches, taking cover intelligently, and meticulously timing all lines of sight.
There should be at least several hours of content here for average or above-average players. The pacing is swift, the puzzles and Nintendo Switch controls are solid, and the cyberpunk world is filled with terrific pixel art.
But there are some hiccups. Sentry City can be a little buggy, such as checkpoints failing to work at times. The hit boxes for the electrical obstacles can be annoyingly unclear.
Sentry City’s story is also unfortunately plain, with little dialogue, motivation, or worldbuilding. Sentry City could use something more overall to distinguish itself from so many other titles in the genre.
And although the music can be catchy, it does get redundant in a game so driven by trial-and-error, where you must sacrifice your infinite lives just to learn patterns or find something you overlooked.
By the time I reached the second boss, it became quite brutal for me. While I may simply not be skilled enough, I did take a patient approach, and still felt the difficulty curve was a little unbalanced in the second half of the game.
Playing Sentry City on the go with a Nintendo Switch will be very beneficial, adding a breezy tone and maintaining responsive controls.
Final Thoughts
Sentry City is a relatively fun grind, with some decent puzzles and well-crafted visuals. But despite its atmosphere, it can feel a bit generic, even beyond the AI premise. This almost feels unrefined, with promising aspects and mixed results that don’t really disappoint or impress me.
Score: 7.0 / 10
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