Cruelty Squad stands out as a tactical first-person shooter that blends action, indie creativity, and simulation elements into a bizarre, unforgiving world. Set in a dystopian gig economy where you play as a numb operative liquidating corporate targets, this PC-exclusive title delivers a raw experience without any guidance. Released in 2021, it challenges players with its open-ended missions and surreal mechanics, appealing to those who enjoy deep strategy mixed with chaotic violence.
Gameplay
The core of Cruelty Squad revolves around tactical infiltration and combat in varied environments like offices, suburbs, and secret compounds. You select gear before each mission, choosing from weapons such as the flechette shotgun, silenced 10mm pistol, radiation emitter, dart gun, or corrosive gas launcher to suit lethal or non-lethal tactics. Movement feels highly kinematic, allowing fluid navigation and improvised attacks, like hurling toilet bowls at foes. Missions emphasize multiple paths and strategies, with no handholding to force creative problem-solving. Objectives focus on eliminating or destroying targets before escaping, while interactions with NPCs reveal world lore and hidden secrets. Advanced death mechanics add layers, letting you experiment without permanent setbacks, and a stock and organ market simulation ties into progression, where harvesting and trading body parts influences your resources.
Enemies range from standard private security and cops to bizarre threats like psycho freaks, flower hybrids, swamp cultists, and mutant dogs, each requiring different approaches. Sneaking, shooting, or environmental kills keep encounters dynamic, and revisiting levels to improve times encourages mastery.
Game Modes
Cruelty Squad operates as a single-player experience centered on a series of missions, each with open objectives that allow for replayability. You can tackle them in various ways, aiming for S-rank completions by optimizing speed and efficiency. Punishment mode ramps up the challenge, introducing harsher conditions that test your skills in a more brutal setting.
Unique Mechanics
Beyond standard shooting, the game incorporates simulation aspects like managing a twisted economy through stocks and organs harvested from defeated enemies. This system affects your loadout and abilities, adding a strategic depth uncommon in tactical shooters. Exploration uncovers hidden equipment and levels, rewarding thorough players with new tools and areas.
Is It Worth Playing?
With overwhelmingly positive reviews from over 21,000 players, including 96 percent approval overall and 94 percent in recent feedback, Cruelty Squad holds strong appeal for fans of immersive sims and tactical gameplay. Its current state remains solid without ongoing updates, making it a complete package for those who appreciate experimental indie titles. If you thrive on unconventional challenges and don't mind the intense, epilepsy-unfriendly visuals, it's a compelling choice that stands out in the genre.
