Cruelty Squad
Cruelty Squad is a tactical first person shooter set in the hardcore gig economy of corporate liquidations. You're an emotionally dead combat-substance fueled grunt of Cruelty Squad, a depraved subsidiary company tasked with performing wetworks for its host conglomerate. Will you make the Corporate Arch Demoness proud or succumb to bitter tears of failure?
What it feels like
Dark humor and the dry, cynical framing of corporate-mandated murder and emotional deadness convey bitter, world-weary wit. The emotionally dead protagonist, sewage-infused setting, and offer of only failure or making a 'Demoness' proud convey hopelessness and cold despair. The surreal, psychedelic aesthetic combined with deadpan framing of corporate liquidation assassins suggests absurdist comedy rooted in nonsense logic.
What it's about
Steam tags and description invoke high-tech corporate dystopia with wetworks contractors, fitting the cyberpunk archetype of exploited mercenaries in megacorp worlds. The framing of emotionally dead grunts performing gig-economy wetworks for a depraved subsidiary directly critiques corporate exploitation and labor commodification. The oppressive corporate liquidation setting and casual dehumanization present a cautionary dystopian world.
How it plays
As a first-person shooter, aiming and firing firearms with tactical depth is a primary interaction system. Tactical stealth elements are explicitly highlighted as a core feature alongside combat, making avoiding detection central to play. Described as an immersive sim with tactical options, implying interlocking systems that permit multiple player-authored approaches to objectives.
How it looks and sounds
The game is explicitly a first-person shooter where the player inhabits the grunt's perspective throughout combat and exploration. The sewage-infused garbage world and description of a depraved, brutal setting evokes visceral grotesque aesthetics as a core part of the visual identity. Steam tags and user descriptions emphasize surreal and psychedelic elements, suggesting dreamlike impossible imagery defines much of the world's aesthetic.
How it's structured
Explicitly single-player with no multiplayer component. Implied structure of discrete wetwork contracts or assassination missions as discrete selectable objectives.
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