Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Citizen X positions you as a last-minute recruit thrust into a high-stakes mission: race against the clock and disarm a deadly bomb threatening an entire city. The fifteen-minute timer is a constant reminder that every second counts. This tight time pressure keeps the tension high throughout, pushing you to make split-second decisions on which routes to take and when to engage or avoid enemies.

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The core gameplay unfolds as a side-view platformer, blending precise jumping and wall-breaking mechanics with fast-paced shootouts. Navigating treacherous sewer tunnels, you’ll clear mutant humanoids and swarming rats from your path, while in the carnival stages you’ll dodge projectile attacks from deranged clowns hiding behind striped tents. Walls crumble under your firepower, revealing hidden passages and secret caches of ammo—rewarding players who explore every nook and cranny.

Intercutting the 2D action are full-motion video (FMV) sequences that ramp up the narrative stakes. These live-action cutscenes drop you into the field commander’s war room or show your handler relaying updates via a grainy monitor feed. While the FMVs don’t directly alter controls, they do provide contextual clues—like which zone you should tackle next or when time is slipping away—giving the platforming a cinematic pause and heightening immersion.

Controls are responsive and intuitive: standard run, jump, and shoot commands are complemented by a context-sensitive wall-burst ability that breaks through weakened barriers. The challenge curve is well-balanced. Early levels let you master basic platforming skills, while later stages introduce relentless enemy waves and environmental hazards that demand quick reflexes and strategic pathfinding.

Graphics

Visually, Citizen X marries crisp 2D pixel art with occasional FMV overlays to striking effect. The platforming environments are richly detailed: damp brickwork and dripping pipes in the underbelly of the city’s sewage system, contrasted by the garish stripes and flickering lights of the deranged circus grounds. Each area has its own distinct color palette and atmospheric lighting, reinforcing the sense of adventuring through a living, breathing world.

The mutant humanoids and rats in the sewer levels are rendered with unsettling animation loops—jerky lunges, twitching limbs, and glowing eyes that make every encounter feel tense. In the carnival stages, the bomb-throwing clowns sport exaggerated proportions and maniacal expressions, giving these platforming sections a twisted carnival-horror vibe. Environmental effects like steam vents, flickering bulbs, and acid puddles add extra depth to each scene.

The FMV cutscenes bring a retro charm, featuring gritty camera angles and grainy textures that evoke classic 90s action thrillers. While the acting and production values are intentionally low-fi, they lean into the campy, one-man-against-the-world premise. Transitions between pixel art gameplay and live-action footage are surprisingly smooth, maintaining continuity without jarring the player out of the experience.

On modern hardware, Citizen X runs at solid frame rates with minimal load times between levels and cutscenes. Screen tearing is virtually nonexistent, and audio cues—like dripping water, distant roars of mutants, or the maniacal laughter of clowns—are crisply mixed, enhancing the ominous mood of each stage.

Story

The narrative of Citizen X is refreshingly concise: you are a random civilian plucked off the street and thrust into the heart of a terrorist plot. There’s no sprawling lore or side quests—just a ticking bomb, a city on the brink, and an enemy organization hell-bent on chaos. This streamlined approach ensures the story never bogs down the gameplay, keeping you focused on the ticking clock.

Despite the minimalism, the FMV interludes add personality and context. Your handler’s urgent briefings, the eccentric villains revealed through grainy surveillance footage, and frantic phone calls from panicked civilians all contribute to a sense of immediacy. Each cutscene reveals a new puzzle piece about the terrorists’ motives, their hideouts, and the next assassination attempt you must thwart.

Character development is sparse but effective. You’re an everyman in a suit, armed with little more than a pistol and grit, which makes your progress feel earned as you clear each hostile zone. The antagonists remain largely faceless, save for a few bombastic close-ups in the FMVs. This ambiguity actually amplifies their menace: you know they’re watching, and that drives home the urgency of your mission.

Story pacing is tight—there’s no extraneous dialogue or filler levels. Every stage pushes the narrative forward, whether it’s uncovering a hidden lab beneath the sewers or shutting down a rigged carousel planted with explosives. By the time the final countdown reaches zero, you’ll feel intimately invested in the outcome.

Overall Experience

Playing Citizen X feels like starring in your own action movie, complete with a ticking clock, relentless enemies, and live-action cutscenes. The blend of platforming mechanics, shoot-’em-up encounters, and FMV storytelling offers a unique mash-up that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire fifteen-minute runtime. Replays are encouraged—each run can reveal new wall breaks, alternate routes, or bonus ammo caches you missed before.

The game’s short duration might deter players looking for marathonic campaigns, but that brevity is also its strength. Citizen X delivers a distilled, high-octane experience that respects your time while offering plenty of tension. Speedrunners will appreciate the challenge of shaving seconds off each segment, while completionists can hunt down every secret passage.

On the downside, the difficulty can spike sharply in later levels, potentially frustrating newcomers who haven’t mastered the controls or explored thoroughly. However, the checkpoint system is forgiving, and even your failed attempts reveal new information via FMV cues about where you should head next.

Overall, Citizen X is a tight, thrilling platform shooter with a cinematic flair. Its fusion of pixel art levels, mutant-infested sewers, bomb-throwing clowns, and live-action interludes makes for a memorable ride. If you crave pulse-pounding action and don’t mind a short but intense campaign, Citizen X is well worth investigating.

Retro Replay Score

null/10