For the review I used the v1.0.1 available here as I am too broke to pledge the addition 10 bucks to get the game for free...
Solas City Heroes is another typical MrZed game:
- Awesome concept
- Huge amount of well-done animations
- Solid implementation
- Overall enjoyment of the game is significantly damped by bad game design decisions
Also, compared to the previous games the graphics have been improved by a lot. Now people cannot make the joke anymore that it looks like a PS2 game.
Gameplay and Controls:
The game is a 2.5D fighting game similar to games like Streets of Rage or Little Fighter. You use the arrow keys to move around, and other keys to punch, kick, block and jump. In each stage you fight your way through dozens of regular Villains until you encounter the boss at the end of the stage. You can destroy boxes, chairs, plant pots and similar furniture to hopefully get an item that gives you a boost. Traps that knock you down, put a bondage item on you or put you into a bondage furniture like a chair or a pillory also exist.
When you are knocked down you don't immediately lose but have to struggle to get up again. If an enemy managed to grab you while you are on the ground they will either put a bondage device on you, or start a foreplay / sex animation. If they manage to make you cum you lose a part of your max HPs, and if those are reduced to zero you lose.
While the game is fun at first you quickly notice many weaknesses.
Lets start with combat. Most of the so called Villains are basically identically. Sure, they have different looking special attacks, but gameplay-wise they are practically identical. That the Villains tend to bunch up makes their tells hard to notice, and in addition BLOCK is bond to the same key as DASH which makes it very hard to reliably and correctly react to those special attacks. The only Villains with special attacks that feel noticeably different are the shooters. Luckily they are almost never smart enough to position themselves in a way to actually hit you, so that the horizontal view of the game is too narrow is at least not game-breaking.
Another dumb game design decision is that when you are knocked down you need to fill up your current max health. That means the more exhausted your character is from having been forced to repeatedly orgasm the faster they can stand up again. There is even the issue that if you are at ~5% max health you can stand up quicker than any Villain can approach you, making you virtually invulnerable.
Aside from three difficulty levels there is also a Hardcore Mode, which is supposed to make the game harder, but makes it actually easier. You and the Villains deal more damage which makes it easier to overcome their self-healing, and they are more likely to put bondage devices on you, making it less likely they will sex you and thus reduces your max HP.
The bondage system is also disappointing. Most of the devices have a very boring effect, like -20% damage with your attacks. The blindfold, which blackens most of the screen, the gag which makes it impossible to eat food booster items, and the chained leg and arm restrains that make it impossible to kick or punch are the only game-play wise noticeable ones. And of those only the blindfold is fun. The gag is way too punishing. If you have both chained restrains you can only run away from the Villains and smash the PUNCH and KICK keys to build enough special meter to attempt to escape. Because your walking speed is not impaired even with both of these bondage devices on you it creates a very boring gameplay loop. And the Villains even patiently wait until your struggle animation is over, instead of using this chance to pounce on you.
The game features a massive amount of well-done animations, and they vary depending on which participant(s) are in the dominant position.
But sadly the sex part of the game is sadly even worse than the combat part. When you are in a H animation you can either mash the PUNCH and KICK keys to gain domination, thus receiving less arousal damage and dealing more, or mashing the LEFT and RIGHT keys to escape. Or you do both, as there is nothing stopping your from it. Having to recognize and memorize which Villains are sex gurus so you have to escape asap, and which you can overpower sexually? Maybe some have interesting special traits, e.g. regaining health when they make you come? No. Just mash all keys at once. Also, all Villains, even bosses, are total pushovers when it comes to sex. Even if you do not build your character for it you can outsex even the boss that's called The Succubus by letting her grap you and not pressing a single key...
The customization options for what sex content you see is also limited. E.g. you can only set if females are put into the receiving role, the penetrating role or randomly in one of them. You cannot e.g. set that they will be in the receiving role for a cowgirl animation, and in the penetrating role of a doggystyle animation.
You can set which animation is not played at all, and which animations should be played instead. However you need to first unlock those animations. Yes, you need to grind the game to see your preferred animations.
Solas City Heroes is also the first game of MrZed to feature 3some animations. While they look amazing they feel like they were added as an afterthought. While in a 3some animation you can not see the health and arousal level of both Villains at once, dominating and escaping often gets easier as the game seems to average their domination and restraining powers instead of adding them together. It's also not possible to enable and disable 3some animations. 3some animations also ignore your setting if the same or another animation should be played after orgasm.
Bondage furniture such a pillory, called Heavy Bondage, are also poorly implemented. They are so easy to escape that Villains will never catch you in one unless you deliberately allow it. Unlike in ordinary sex animations you cannot gain domination or escape while in a heavy bondage sex animation, you only get a chance to escape once the Villain came (which again, you will succeed unless you just don't press any buttons). Again, you cannot disable certain heavy bondage animations, and they ignore your setting if the animation should change after orgasm.
Overall the game is just a mediocre game, both in terms of gameplay and H content. Which is really sad because in every minute you play it you cannot help but notice how awesome the game could have been if it had been more polished, and better gameplay decisions had been made...