Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first few minutes of (Almost) Total Mayhem should make its priorities clear: you are not simply racing toward an opponent’s fort. Two teams of armored knights are attacking and defending at once, and the lone bomb turns the map into a contested prize. That restriction is a strong idea because it gives every push some tension. If your side has control of the bomb, you have a chance to make progress; if it is in enemy hands, defense suddenly matters much more.

That setup should reward alert, opportunistic play over mindless forward movement. A base attack can look promising until you have to peel away to protect your own fort, and the single bomb means you cannot solve the match by flooding the field with explosives. The best moments are likely to come from the scramble around that shared objective: who gets there first, who can hold it, and who leaves their own side exposed while chasing it.

The game is also built for a second person on the same Xbox 360 through split-screen co-op. That is where its team concept has the most potential. You can divide attention between attack and defense, or both commit to a risky push, but coordination is clearly more useful than two players acting independently. If you enjoy compact local action games that create arguments, rescues, and last-second changes of plan, this is the reason to try it.

Graphics

The 2D action plays out in a hand-drawn style on lined A4 paper, with knights and medieval forts rendered like doodles in a notebook. It is a deliberately playful look that fits the title’s almost-chaotic tone, and the side-view format keeps the battlefield focused on the route between the two bases.

Story

This is a game about making your own tiny siege stories rather than settling into a long narrative. Each round has an immediate conflict you can understand without ceremony: protect your fort, crack the other team’s fort, and fight over the bomb that can swing the battle.

That straightforward premise works because it puts both sides under the same pressure. An aggressive move has a cost, and a defensive stand can become the opening for a counterattack. The drama comes from the changing state of the match rather than from elaborate character writing.

For a local multiplayer game, that is the right kind of story to tell. You will remember the foolish chase that abandoned a base or the desperate save that bought your team another chance, not a pile of lore. The medieval knights and forts give those moments a clear, friendly frame.

Overall Experience

(Almost) Total Mayhem has a good core hook in its one-bomb siege design. By making a single object important to both teams, it avoids the feeling of two disconnected groups brawling on opposite ends of a map. The attack-defense balance gives its platform action a useful purpose.

Its strongest fit is for two people sharing a console and willing to communicate. Split-screen co-op makes the fort defense more than a personal responsibility, and the hand-drawn look keeps the mood light even when a match gets tense. Solo-minded players may find the team focus less inviting, but the central objective remains easy to grasp.

This is not a game that needs a complicated pitch. If you want a quick medieval platform battle where one bomb can redirect everyone’s attention, it has a solid competitive foundation. The payoff is in the back-and-forth: committing to an attack, realizing your base is vulnerable, and deciding whether to turn back or gamble on ending the siege.

Retro Replay Score

6.5/10