JYDGE

Alright, so another title from 10Tons that is uncomfortably close to Neon Chrome. This one is quite good. Now to be clear it is not as good as Neon Chrome, but that's ok. Neon Chrome has nearly infinite replayability due to proc gen, and JYDGE has premade levels (I will not use the term 'hand crafted'). The rogueish factor in Neon Chrome also gave it serious hooks for addicting gameplay.
But yeah, JYDGE is solid and does its own thing pretty well.
I like the mission structure and the tons of really cool unlockables and gear. 10Tons has shown they are really good at coming up with cool and novel mechanics, and now they have also shown us that they understand how to hide grind. That's a fantastic skill to have when developing games.
But on a very serious note - and moving forward - please, no more Neon Chrome look-alikes. I know that Time Recoil had its own angle and so does JYDGE, but the whole 'feel' begins to wear thin at some point.
Pros:
+Great functional unlockables and gear to customize your dude
+There is some pretty great subtle humor
+I like the mission structure
+The price point is right
Cons:
-I think this would have done better with proc gen levels; the premade levels aren't anything super special (have the levels generate once per save, so mission 1 is always the same BUT was randomly generated that once)
-I want those feels back from last summer when I was super addicted to Neon Chrome, and both JYDGE and Time Recoil sort of tease with that but don't deliver on that level (and that's ok, but it's true)
Get Neon Chrome first, but then get JYDGE.

Review by Games for Lovers - only GOOD local co-op games!
You want to play something with your significant other?
Then JYDGE is one of the best twin-stick shooters to play in local 2-player mode!
In addition to the great basic twin-stick shooter gemeplay and perfect local 2-player co-op implementation you can also improve and modify your cybernetic cop a lot. Transform him into an augmentated killing machine and serve justice to the criminals rampaging in the city! Even the weapons can be altered to suit your prefered game style.
The levels are handcrafted, there is no randomization here. You play along a nice story, but later levels are only unlocked if you have earned enough medals in the levels before... this will lead to the need of replaying older levels just to get the required medals... but well, at least you do it with your SO by your side.
Works fine with XBox 360 gamepads. Can be played alone (which is half the fun).
Conclusion:
Solid couch co-op twin-stick shooter with lots of customization options.

I picked this up on a lark, when it was on sale. I'm glad I did! It is amazingly fun, and I'd advise it to anyone looking for something good, fun, and challenging. A lot of people are comparing this to Judge Dredd. Fluff-wise, it's kinda fair, since your character is "Judge, Jury, Executioner" and all that fun stuff, but crunch-wise, it feels closer to the old Crusader games.
There are a few things that have turned people off to the game, and I'll go over them here:
The progression is locked behind "medals"; level-by-level achievements for completing the levels in certain ways, like not killing any civilians, not breaking anything (ASTOUNDINGLY hard), or not being spotted. My advice if you are trying to do this would be to go after the medals oe at a time. Some of them have a nice synergy where you can get more than one in a single run-through easy. Others, not so much. The cyberware that helps with one medal won't help much on another.
A second sticking point is that there's not a whole lot of story. The overarching plot basically boiling down to "get rid of this one particular gang" and the story mostly being told as a radio voiceover played with a spinning graphic image. Yeah, if this were a bigger budget game from a bigger studio, there would probably be a huge, expensive cutscene showing gangers breaking into places and causing mayhem or whatnot, but IMO the resources were better put to making the game more fun. Plus, those cutscenes are usually only watched once, then skipped entirely every other time (the radio messages are skippable, FYI. No unskppable cutscenes in this game).
So if you're looking for a fun, easy in-and-out game, then give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised.

In Jydge you play as a Jydge. Just one. A mass-marketed model made to dispense justice or the nearest approximation. A robotic cop that's also a judge that also terminates, connect the dots.
Made by 10tons Ltd, who have done about 10 billion other twinstick shooters, it's a twinstick shooter! You twinstick and you shoot. All the good stuff. It's objective based, so you tackle new objectives each map - free the hostages, disarm some bombs, and shoot some targets. On the way you shoot everyone.
Now this might look like Neon Chrome 2, from the aesthetic to the gameplay, to the destructible wall tech (which is great, by the way), takes place in the same universe, features ads from it, yeah. Honestly it's tied in with just about every other 10tons game, they all make an appearance either in the lore - the lore that doesn't matter - or as a secret item or whatever. I didn't notice any absences.
The main difference is despite being advertised as a roguelike (roguehate?) there is not a single procedurally generated element in this game. Maps are static, enemy placements are static - some stuff just has to be done once per map and carries over but else what you see is what you get.
Jydge is a better game for this alone.
All the maps in this game are fantastic - they're varied, they're intricate, they're memorable, they love you like your parents don't, and they don't get boring over the playthroughs and difficulties. You've got plenty of enemy variety, and learning routes around the levels is integral for getting "medals".
Apart from getting the ending (there's a dumb morality system, by the way - it doesn't matter and the plot is stupid the end) the real idea of the game is to get all 216 medals across the difficulties - difficulties that completely remix the levels and change your objectives completely - for the sake of getting them.
Pro tip: there's no grand finale thing for getting all the secret items and medals, you just do it. Do it because you can.
This is fundamentally pretty fun. It's a process that's carried by the gameplay.
Now it starts off slow and forgiving - just ambling around with your starter rifle taking down starter mooks and threatening potplants, but the variance in playstyles that you can make viable - and have to, to get the Nightmare medals - is all there. Stealth, Tanky, Hotline Miami 2.0, Pet Summoner AI Build with MLG strats, and just hitting things with your gun - none of them are bad.
Well some of them are. Until you get all the Cyberware, Mods, a couple of upgraded weapons and specials, and get to experiment with them. Then they're not.
Course getting all that requires all buying them then upgrading them, which you will not do. The economy is just bad, like 2007 bad, it's a total mess. You have to spend tens of thousands of credits to fully upgrade each weapon, credits that you just won't get. You'll get the 4 fully upgraded special and weapons, you'll get all the mods and cyberware, and after that you're not getting jack.
Get used to your tiddlywink selection of weapons. Unless you like grinding.
Pro tip: I used the C4, Flame Grenades, Stun Pulse, Snyper and Serial Shotgyn. Carried me through Nightmare like a charm with the right mods and Rythless.
Overall, though - great game, great aesthetic, and great sense of justice. If you're after an action game that's fairly easily paced and gameplay that lets you play around with, I absolutely recommend this.

The introduction to the game was a bit of a cold shower. Nothing prepares you to the small size of the maps. But this is because it isn't a straight-up shooter: in a sort of derivative, twisted Door Kickers, you are to be the law and the order, and do some serious judicial work by killing the right targets.
When, after a couple of maps, the structure of the game starts to make sense, it becomes a joy to play. Maps grow larger and larger, and soon enough, the chaos' nuances cover all of the Neon Chromic palette. There are persistent aspects to the way you shape the maps (I won't say more), which makes little sense narratively, but entice you to try and progress one step at a time when you are a bit low on the power curve.
The recycling of visual assets since Neon Chrome is obvious. Well, I don't really care. The gun mechanics are so good: if 10tons is to be to shooters what BrainGoodGames has become for streamlined tactical puzzles, that is very fine with me!

if you know the judge dredd movie (the old one ofc!!) you know what this game is all about.
kill bad guys, rescue hostages and 'confiscate' money.
pretty simple but BIG fun!
the music is really catchy indeed while sound and graphics are not that special but they've got a nicely fitting retro feel to them. oh and there's lots of neon, too!
lots of gear and weapons need to be unlocked and upgraded to get the most fun (aka carnage) out of the missions. you can be sneaky and use a sniper rifle while being invisible in the shadows. or you just strap on some body armor and kick in the front door with a rocket launcher. different missions require different tactics so it's always important to pick the right gear for the job at hand. if you keep dying you most likely brought the wrong gear to the party!
however there is a little downside. to progress the story you are forced to replay pretty much all maps on higher difficulty. i didn't mind since higher difficulty comes with other mission objectives and obviously a greater challenge. but you know...some people just want easy wins.
i finished the game in about 6 hours but i put a LOT of extra time into completing all maps on all difficulties and getting the game 100% completed.
great stuff!
still not convinced? just buy it for the neon and shut up.

This is a fantastic action game. I absoultely love the dystopian/Judge Dredd feel of the game. The action makes you feel like a real badass. I also liked the strategic nature of dispatching each level.
The best feature by far is the ability to customize and modify your Jydge and his Gavel. This adds a very indepth and intricate layer of strategy. Levels play totally differently depending on the layout you choose. Also, you not only get tons of weapons, but they all level up so there's a ridiculous number of ways to play.
Another fine point is the level of replay. There are a lot of levels with many ways to play from stealth assassin to guns blazing.
This is a great game and I totally recommend it!