In the world of M.O.O.D.S., a desperate bid to become more like their legendary creators leads a society of artificial life forms to develop a substance that allows them to experience emotions. These feelings turn into an addiction, and the robots capable of synthesizing it become warlords ruling over a world falling into scrap. You’ve been pulled off the scrapheap for one purpose: Track down and disassemble each warlord while there’s still a society to save.

Emotion-Based Roguelike Adventure in M.O.O.D.S.

M.O.O.D.S. is a roguelike twin-stick shooter. The player selects from a series of emotion-based classes, each with its own triggered power, starting weapon and skill tree. Once in the dungeon, the player keeps going deeper until either defeating the area boss or dying, at which point a fresh robot is fetched off the scrap pile and given a chance to purchase long-term upgrades.

Weapon Customization and Upgrades

One selling point is the weapons and how they can be modified. Each weapon can accept a large number of upgrades – as many as nine for some of them – that can do anything from increase bullet speed to make projectiles explode or spray radiation everywhere. Survive long enough to get a full set of upgrades and you can lay a room to waste with some real style.

Challenging Gameplay and Lasting Appeal in M.O.O.D.S.

As with any roguelike game, M.O.O.D.S. has a lot of potential for replay value. It’s a very challenging game, though not dramatically harder than the typical twin-stick shooter. Dropping into the game is pretty simple, but it will probably take quite a few runs to really get into a groove.

Overall, M.O.O.D.S. doesn’t revolutionize the subgenre, but it’s still a great twin-stick shooter with a lot of options for customization.

STREAMER SCORE

M.O.O.D.S. (PC) - 2024

Overall

3.4

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Summary

Sticky Stone’s emotion-themed twin stick shooter offers high-octane gameplay and plenty of replay value.

Steam

Drew Johnston

ANDREW JOHNSTON is a teacher, writer and journalist based out of mainland Asia. He is a regular contributor to Superjump Magazine, where he specializes in independent video games and the gaming culture of East Asia. He has published short fiction in 30 markets and anthologies including Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures and the Laughing at Shadows Anthology.