Despite Hazard's joke about the stationary gun, the game fails to recognize that these defend scenarios are annoying. At times, it is hard to tell if the writers and developers were both in on the joke. Defeated enemies evaporate into a blue haze of 'code', absorbed by Hazard for his upgrade meter. With a full meter, Hazard can choose between fire or ice weapon upgrades to make rooms swarming with enemies a bit easier to navigate. Both upgrades incapacitate the enemy for several seconds, giving you the chance to deal with more pressing enemies or quickly finishing them off. There are also temporary shield and attack upgrades to pick up through the game, with a ticking timer in the upper left-hand corner reminding you how much longer you have them for. There are also melee attacks, but, with three hits required to take down an enemy, they are not a wise choice when facing more than one at a time.
There is a fair amount of enemy variety, but early on they are nothing more than an excuse to hand-deliver new weaponry. The western renegades, Russian soldiers, and security officers all behave identically, with the same obvious 'headshot' weak point. Things get a little better once Hazard's zombie foes come clawing with headshots doing the only real damage, and the fem-bot style assassins need to be stunned before you can finish them off with a melee attack. The game at least keeps you on your toes with enemies that consistently spawn all around you, making the frequent checkpoints a welcome sight. Sonically, the game is a mixed bag. The voice acting is nothing short of fantastic, which will hopefully lead other developers to use real Hollywood talent in the future. The electro-action score of the game is reminiscent of an early nineties space shooter, fitting the story of the game perfectly.
Unfortunately, the sound effects do not get the same care. Specifically, the guns sound atrocious, with a hollow, tinny sound that fails to deliver the appropriate 'pop' you expect. The magnum handgun actually sounds more like a cougar's screeching growl more than a gunshot. Graphically, the game gets the job done without ever wowing you. It looks a couple of years behind the times at this point, but is far from the worst looking game you will find on the console. Despite the bland gameplay, you almost want a multiplayer aspect just to see what jabs they could have taken at lag and poor sportsmanship. In the end, Eat Lead's story and characters have far more personality than the gameplay. This really like the clever concept slapped on a stock third-person shooter they already had finished, limiting how creative and inventive the game really is.
