Machine Party Review (PC)

Buckshot Roulette taught me a valuable lesson: If you hear industrial techno bleeding through the walls of a derelict building, then you should probably make a swift u-turn and find somewhere else to gamble your paycheck. Machine Party teaches a lesson that isn’t all that different—a rule that applies to the general public and those who strongly believe that fortune is earned through goodwill and morally righteous sacrifices. It tells you that, if you are stupid enough to sign your life away without reading the terms and conditions, then you probably deserve all of the bad things you have coming to you.

Signing up to Machine Party is a bit like accepting an invitation to play Russian Roulette with a double-barreled shotgun — stupid, pointless, and only good for illuminating the weak from the chaff, the moronic from the idiots who foster a death wish as if it were their own conscience. In a world like this, nobody is a rightful heir to the throne, yet everyone has a similar stake in the monarchy. Death is inevitable, but there’s a slither of hope that, with enough blood, sweat, and tears, a far less grotesque death will come to fruition. Spoiler alert: it never does.

It goes like this: either with a friend or with up to four players, you embark on a series of ruthless battles across a variety of gruesome mini-games, all of which have one thing in common: fatal consequences. Like Buckshot Roulette or Final Sentence, each bout offers you abysmal stakes—conditions that, unlike your usual family-friendly Mario Party game, require you to sabotage, cheat, and manipulate your opponents in horrifying situations. Take one of the challenges, for example. In a dismal situation, you and your friends find yourself outrunning a rolling grinder. You can dodge objects, tackle other players, and, well, cheese your way through a hellhole that even Jigsaw would wince at.

As I said, there are no formal winners in Machine Party — only losers who can prolong the inevitable long enough to claim a bittersweet victory. In most cases, the combatants have a simple task: to outlive their rivals as the world crumbles and the obstacles gradually transform into deadly roadblocks. And, of course, if it isn’t a rolling spike that’s out to annihilate you, then it’s a sniper rifle, a hammer, an escalator, or a plate of peas. Don’t ask.

With fifteen mini-games to choose from, you have a good hunk of meat here to carve at with a hacksaw. In addition to its deviously crafted murder-based games, you also have various skins and cosmetics to unlock, meaning that you can, if you so desperately desire, dress your own meat bag before sending it out to the chopping block. It isn’t vital to the core gameplay, but it adds a little extra character to four blank slates, and I think that counts for something.

As gory and as disturbing as it is, Machine Party is an absolute bloodbath — and a bloody good one, at that. With a trove of mini-games to sink your bruised hand into and a stark PSX-like visual aesthetic that bleeds a mixture of Nightmare Kart and Twisted Metal, it has all of the makings of a cult classic PvP battler. It’s sick, twisted, and, above all, an absolute blast to jump into and play with friends. Friends, or mortal enemies.

It might not be what it was going for, but to tell you the truth, Machine Party is, weirdly, a breath of fresh air. Given that most PvP games are designed to host a balanced playing field and a forgiving learning curve, it is oddly satisfying to see a game that dares to take things a little further than the average party brawler. The mini-games are devilishly good, and the controls are easy enough to learn on the fly. While simple and without the added complexity of a big-budget battler, each one offers a different set of rules, a unique death trap, and a comical twist that allows you to pull the wool over your friend’s eyes and obliterate their odds. Personally, I think that’s a good thing. Well, it is, until it’s you who becomes the brunt of the joke.

Needless to say, Machine Party has a good backbone to it. It also has the exoskeleton of a prolific PvP game that could technically outlast several of its greatest adversaries. With a foundation that has the capacity to latch onto fresh mini-games, hats, and skins, it could, in theory, become a much, much bigger pawn in the online multiplayer field. I sincerely hope that it does, too, because at the end of the day, it isn’t all that often that you catch a gruesome party game that can get away with murder. Frankly, I’m just happy to see something that isn’t either Jackbox or Jamboree. 

Of course, Machine Party isn’t a game that you would typically recommend at a family gathering. Given its bleak and chaotic nature and disturbing atmosphere, it’s unlikely that every party fan and their neighbor will enjoy a game like this. That being said, it is a good choice for those who want a bloodier PvP experience. Again, you don’t need to be a sadist to enjoy it; you just need to loathe your friends and share an undying love of belittling their efforts to survive fates that are far worse than death itself.

Verdict

Machine Party belittles the common family-friendly multiplayer experience with a switchblade of violence and gore, grotesque mind games and ruthless combat. With one hand on a pocket of sickeningly barbaric mini-games and another on a deeply competitive ecosystem, Oro Interactive finds the strength to create a strong and unapologetically bittersweet PvP game that looks good and feels just as sadistically satisfying to play through with a few friends.

While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Machine Party has a lot of potential to bring fresh ideas to an otherwise bloated audience. As for whether or not it will survive the onslaught is another question. For what it’s worth, though, I will say that, between your average party game and this, I will happily choose to put my neck in a death trap every time. Maybe I need help. Maybe I just need to stop playing Jackbox.