Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Exploding Lips delivers a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled experience that will feel instantly familiar to fans of classic 3D shooters like Doom. From the moment you grab your first shotgun, you’re thrust into a relentless gauntlet of alien menace, weaving through narrow corridors and wide-open plazas as waves of floating, fleshy aliens descend on you in droves. The core combat loop feels razor-sharp: you fire, dodge, reload, and dash for cover in a frantic dance of survival.

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The variety of weapons at your disposal keeps each encounter fresh. You’ll swap between a trusty pistol for precise picks, a shotgun for devastating close-quarters blasts, a rapid-fire rifle for mid-range volleys, and a rocket launcher for those desperate, high-tension moments when you’re overwhelmed by the dreaded Kiss of Death. Each weapon has satisfying heft and responsive feedback, making every shot count and every reload sequence feel like a tactical decision.

Level design strikes a solid balance between linear progression and exploration. While the main path is always clear—letting you focus on the action—hidden alcoves and destructible walls hint at secret caches of ammo, health packs, or special upgrades. Environmental hazards such as exploding barrels, electrified floors, and collapsing ceilings inject an extra layer of strategy, forcing you to use the environment as both a weapon and a shield.

Graphics

Visually, Exploding Lips taps into a retro-futuristic aesthetic with crisp, colorful textures that pop on modern hardware. The titular aliens are rendered as grotesque, floating lips with pulsating veins and menacing rows of teeth that quiver whenever they prepare their Kiss of Death attack. These details might seem silly on paper, but in motion—and under the glow of flickering neon lights—they become genuinely unnerving foes.

Environments range from ravaged suburban neighborhoods to abandoned industrial complexes, each boasting distinct color palettes and lighting schemes. Dust motes swirl through beams of light in ruined living rooms, and sparks fly off shattered machinery in subterranean caverns. Dynamic lighting and particle effects give every explosion and muzzle flash an added sense of weight, heightening the overall immersion.

Performance remains solid even in the most chaotic battles, with frame rates holding steady on mid-range systems. Scaling options are robust, letting you dial textures, shadows, and anti-aliasing up or down to match your rig. Whether you’re playing at 1080p on a budget PC or pushing 4K on a high-end build, Exploding Lips maintains crisp visuals without sacrificing the fluidity of its signature run-and-gun combat.

Story

The premise is delightfully over-the-top: a terrifying race of aliens resembling giant, floating lips invades Earth, unleashing the Kiss of Death to obliterate anyone in their path. You step into the shoes of the planet’s lone protector, a battle-hardened hero who must clear his hometown and several exotic locales of these grotesque invaders. While the narrative isn’t aiming for Shakespearean drama, it delivers just enough context to keep you invested between firefights.

Brief in-game cutscenes and mission briefings pepper the campaign, offering snippets of humor and tension. You’ll overhear radio chatter from panicked survivors, intercept garbled alien transmissions, and uncover logs that hint at the creatures’ mysterious origin. These narrative beats flesh out the world without slowing down the relentless pace of gameplay.

Character development is minimal by design, but it fits the genre’s roots. You are the silent, unstoppable guardian—more icon than individual—but your triumphs feel earned as you push deeper into enemy territory. The escalating threat of the Kiss of Death attack keeps the stakes high, ensuring that every new area feels like a step closer to an ultimate showdown with the lips’ sinister queen.

Overall Experience

Exploding Lips nails the essentials of a classic 3D shooter while injecting its own brand of twisted humor and visceral thrills. The combat remains engaging from start to finish, the visuals are polished yet faithful to genre conventions, and the story—though simple—provides a satisfying backdrop for the onslaught. You’ll find yourself replaying levels to master speed runs, hunt down every hidden cache, and challenge your own high scores.

There are occasional spikes in difficulty, particularly when multiple Kiss of Death attacks overlap or when ammo runs low, but these moments feel earned rather than unfair. Checkpoints are generously placed, and resource drops are balanced so you’re never stuck in a slog—just rewarded for skillful play and exploration.

For fans of retro-inspired shooters or anyone looking for a high-octane blast of alien-blasting action, Exploding Lips is a solid pick. Its straightforward mechanics, combined with a unique—and undeniably memorable—enemy design, make for a thrilling ride that’s as engaging today as those early ’90s classics were at launch. Gear up, lock and load, and prepare for world-shaking kisses that you definitely won’t love.

Retro Replay Score

null/10