Review: Neon White

destructoid.com:

Neon White is the latest game from Donut County creator Ben Esposito. He and the Angel Matrix team bill this level-based first-person shooter as “for freaks, by freaks.” They’re not wrong, either. Despite some rough narrative moments and occasional hiccups, Neon White is a blazing-fast shooter with style, precision, and a lot of dead demons.

Sinners, saints, and salvation. All of these potentially await in the heaven of Neon White. To reach the end, though, you’ll have to learn to go really, really fast. And, as it so happens, Neon White is a pretty good tutor.

Neon White (PC [reviewed], Nintendo Switch) Developer: Angel Matrix Publisher: Annapurna Interactive Released: June 16, 2022 MSRP: $24.99

Surfacing in the ocean of heaven as Neon White himself, the player is a dead, amnesiac assassin stuck in a rut. White’s lost soul can be ferried into heaven, but only if he can seize the number-one spot against all the other damned, color-coded Neons.

Over time you acquaint yourself, or re-acquaint yourself, with the other denizens of heaven’s competition. There are some nameless Neons, the Believers who maintain the game and punish rulebreakers, and the pencil-pushing angels who task White with his daily missions. Mikey, the cigar-chomping Garfield-alike, is a particular favorite of mine, and SungWon Cho’s delivery as the inconceivable presence that White’s mind can only rationalize as an angelic cartoon is very endearing.

A few key Neons make up the core of the story though, as former life acquaintances of White’s. They start out divided into tropes; Yellow the best bro, Violet the homicidal but childish tagalong, and Red the enigmatic femme fatale. Add in Green, the imposing top-ranker, and it’s a pretty colorful crew