This game wears its inspiration proudly—slow-motion dives, gritty monologues, dual-wielded pistols—but it does so with its own unique soul.

You play as James Savage , a haunted man chasing down his vampire ex through a dimensionally-warped motel crawling with werewolves, fallen angels, and other hellish creatures. It's noir drenched in blood and existential dread. Think Max Payne meets Blade meets Silent Hill—but make it deeply personal.

Gameplay:
Bullet time is back, and it's just as satisfying as ever. Leaping sideways through a hail of gunfire, pumping shotgun shells into a pack of monsters, never gets old. Combat is tight, fast, and stylish, with a focus on positioning and timing rather than pure twitch reflex. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it polishes that Payne formula beautifully.

Presentation:
The narration is pure noir poetry—melancholy, bitter, poetic. The lo-fi hip-hop and horrorcore soundtrack sets a somber yet aggressive tone. Visually, it's a mix of PS2-era grit and surreal design, with flickering motel corridors collapsing into abstract horror-scapes. It's janky in places, but intentionally so—it works.

Why it works:
What sets El Paso, Elsewhere apart isn't just its Max Payne DNA—it's the emotional weight behind it. This is a breakup story turned mythic. It's about addiction, self-destruction, and guilt, wrapped in a supernatural action shell. And somehow, it all lands.

Verdict:
If you loved Max Payne and want that same noir-soaked action but with more monsters, more emotion, and way more style, this one’s for you. It's rough around the edges, but full of heart—and it absolutely deserves your time.

Satisfying jump kills.
Incredible vibe.

An instant classic

Somebody decided to take the stunting/bullettime/pills combat and neo-noir narrative of Max Payne, limited to just the dream sequences and personal pain, and mash up those dream sequences with Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Somebody decided the right thing to decide. The dreamlike twisting up and breaking down of architecture and being able to dive through it in slow motion with pistols akimbo is my favorite part. I love a level that changes and unfolds like a living entity. Voice acting is excellent. Protagonist's pain feels very familiar and believable, despite the supernatural circumstances. His narration about how he's trying to understand his surroundings, trying to give the nonsense meaning, does an excellent job of bringing the strange levels further to life.

My one complaint is that it often feels harder to survive using the stunts than it is to just carefully and calmly run in circles to avoid getting hit, using slomo while standing still to get perfect shots on every enemy. Aiming is awkward while diving, which is realistic, but did make me refrain from diving and shooting unless I had bullet time to spare. There aren't many enemies with projectile attacks, and only one kind of melee enemy can jump over obstacles. Other reviews complain of bad AI, but I think the AI would be fine if there were more projectile and jumping or teleporting types. I think players are expected to run and gun, demanding the use of stunts, but aside from a few areas there is no downside to taking it slow, getting a sense of the space, and keeping enemies at a distance. I've been playing The Specialists mod for Half-Life for something like 20 years, so I'm here to unnecessarily roll and dive as much as possible (because it's fun), but I wouldn't be surprised if people who have never touched a game like Max Payne might never find a good use for the dive button here. That's a lot of words to explain that this is a small complaint.

I love this game. Pacing was great. I rarely replay single player games but am sure I'll be revisiting this one.