Summary of Cruelty Squad: A Guided Tour

00:00:00 - 00:45:00

This video is a tour of the "Cruelty Squad" video game, which is a 2D jump-and-run game with a unique approach to difficulty. The game features a number of secrets and a number of challenges that are only accessible if the player has a divine link. The game also has a death mode that adds a speed boost, a wall jump, and a health meter that says "death."

• 00:00:00 Cruelty Squad is a video game that blends elements of Hitman, Deus Ex, and LSD dream emulator. The game's graphics are based on an older, impressionistic aesthetic, and the music has a similar tone. The game's tone is one of discomfort and panic, and it frequently moves into full-blown horror.
• 00:05:00 Cruelty Squad is a video game that is set in a world where the natural world is collapsing, and where people are struggling to survive. The game is difficult, but it is balanced to avoid ever being frustrating. The game has no random enemy spawns, and threats are telegraphed well. The game's copious score imparts a sort of body horror, but it also leaves a mark that the player can use to navigate each level.
• 00:10:00 Cruelty Squad is a first-person shooter with a heavy focus on style over substance. The difficulty of the combat encourages players to explore each level carefully, some paths are obvious and some are locked behind progression items. The game starts to open up fairly quickly, movement is enjoyable, and the controls are responsive. Traditional sneak by the enemies stealth is not possible, but with some practice it is possible to beat levels without alerting anyone. The level design always gives multiple options but never sacrifices believability. The level that takes place in a gated community doesn't have convenient duct work leading to every target, so to play it stealthily the player has to climb around on rooftops and avoid being spotted. This keeps every level feeling unique, and builds immersion since each map remains grounded in the game's internal logic. Money is a big obstacle in the early parts of the game, so getting new equipment always feels earned. There are numerous ways to beat levels without resorting to violence, but the game is open-ended enough that any approach will work.
• 00:15:00 The "Cruelty Squad" video tour features a guide demonstrating how the game's various tools and mechanics work together to create a variety of challenging levels. The design choices made in creating the game allow for a high level of variety among players, while also providing a fun and challenging experience for casual players.
• 00:20:00 Cruelty Squad is a fast-paced, challenging game that can be addictive. While the undercurrent of anxiety never goes away, the enemies that appear later on make combat high stakes. The game has a story that unfolds through the protagonist's actions, with the first 10 levels being disconnected assassination jobs. Mission 11 sees you killing your boss, the corporate archdemon Elsa Holmes. There's a turn towards self-determination in these two levels, but it's unclear if the protagonist is trying to free himself or if the friend is just giving the orders now. The last main mission is Archon Grid, the grid being an all-seeing techno being whose existence is hinted at earlier in the game. At the beginning of the level your divine link can finally be restored via an orb which is a reference to the prosperity path series. You are now ready to release panic blessings to all beings in the milky way galaxy. 1,000 to panic reduction, 500 to infinite eternal endurance.
• 00:25:00 Cruelty Squad is a 2D jump-and-run game with a unique approach to difficulty. The game features a number of secrets and a number of challenges that are only accessible if the player has a divine link. The game also has a death mode that adds a speed boost, a wall jump, and a health meter that says "death."
• 00:30:00 The video discusses the "Cruelty Squad" video game, which features a powerful gun that scales with the player's stock portfolio. To get the gun, the player must complete various levels, some of which are difficult. The gun is also hidden behind a number of traps and an invincible enemy. To get the best ending, the player must have a million dollars in stock.
• 00:35:00 This video features a tour of the "Cruelty Squad," a group of professionals who specialize in inflicting pain on their victims. The tour begins with a demonstration of how the squad can strip their victims of all their equipment, including their clothes. The tour then moves on to show how the squad can inflict various types of pain on their victims, including cutting them, branding them, and whipping them. Finally, the tour concludes with a demonstration of how the squad can shoot laser beams at their victims' eyes.
• 00:40:00 In "Cruelty Squad," the player takes on the role of a squad of soldiers tasked with rescuing targets from a house filled with enemies. The game's mechanics, level design, and themes all work together to create an emotionally powerful experience. One of the game's creation myths is based on the work of George Bataille, and it explores the ways that capitalism can be cruel and exploitative. The game's critique of capitalism is framed in the ways that it transgresses Bataille's general economy. Humanity has conquered death, but life is still essentially valueless, and reproduction is impossible without death. In the game, humanity has also conquered luxury, and growth is no longer driven by the need for profit. However, this doesn't mean that humans are living in a utopia. The religion and cruelty squad in the game stresses the transactional nature of general economy, and the characters in the house level are just as greed- driven as the characters in the capitalist world.
• 00:45:00 In this video, a player guides a tour of the three possible endings of the video game Cruelty Squad. In the first ending, the protagonist attains some earthly power but is still trapped in a world without life or death. In the second ending, the protagonist achieves some level of power but remains a rotten husk. In the true ending, the protagonist confronts and kills the universe, finally allowing everything to die.