I've just beaten episodes 1 through 2 on the normal difficulty without dying once (not counting the lives lost), minus the final level where I restarted a grand total of 3 times until I found my Sifu training kicking back in.

It's probably the most tense boomer shooter I've ever played on a normal difficulty. The lack of quick saves or checkpoints becomes incredibly nerve-wracking, especially on the longer levels, and even on the intended difficulty can be surprisingly tough, if it weren't for my secret-hunting skills and the extra lives obtained from those nooks and crannies.

Upon first discovering INCISION it definitely was my "Mad God the game" candidate, but going deeper and deeper into the growth vivarium and beyond I felt much more like I was in a Lovecraftian story, and this time, a creature of termination, I was able to influence a level of eldritch politics I could never fully understand.

INCISION's story, unlike Mad God, is not completely surreal, but was very open to interpretation, and that's my favourite kind of story.

You play as a man who was "rebranded" by something he couldn't understand, and has been hiding in a desolate part of a walled-off city for a good long time, waiting for rescue, dissecting the corpse soldiers and flesh walkers to try and figure out what made them, and in turn himself, tick.

Then he gets a visit from the growth's army, and from there he continues his original goal, to delve deep into the world below his feet, constantly descending into something mankind should never have to tread.

Along the way I found the many humanoid figures, gone of skin, nothing but emaciated flesh and torn bone, curled into fetal positions or spread out among a pile of ammunition. You can even find some of these seemingly human remains in the [REDACTED], which makes you wonder if you weren't the only human thing to make it down that far, crossing between realities.

The combat and shooty-shooty-bang-bang action of a boomer shooter is here, and it feels good. Fast, slow, you never feel as if you're being choked into a certain playstyle, however you're never really forced to super-super fast. Level design is great, the weapon selection is beautiful, and Kitty is the most adorable bioweapon. It may not be bunny-hopping central like DUSK, you don't have the tactical forethought of Gordon Freeman from Half-Life, you're not the DOOM Slayer, and you can't shoot coins like it's Ultrakill, but you do have double-jump and the best melee weapon in any boomer shooter you could ask for: the saw-spear-blade.

When I replay INCISION, I've got to do a saw-spear-blade-only run, cause the saw-spear-blade is the most amazing-feeling weapon apart from the rocket launcher and the revolver spinny secret mechanic and it makes me wanna see more melee action in shooters.

In fact, the designs for all of the weapons top-notch, maybe even a little overcompensating.

[SPOILERS IN CASE YOU WANNA FIND THEM ALL FOR YOURSELF]
For one, you've got the saw-spear-blade. Then you've got a six-shooter revolver, which is the only weapon you could possibly call "subtle" in this game. Then a quad-barrel shotgun, a two-barrelled machine gun that can also fire several shots as an improvised incendiary grenade, Arnold's iconic Commando quad rocket launcher, Kitty the living bioweapon, a minigun that tallies its rounds via how many yards rather than the actual number, a triple-barrelled shotgun nicknamed "THE JAWBREAKER", and a meaty railgun infused with Lovecraftian energy.

The artstyle and level design is immaculate. The placement of everything, from death traps and weapons to story clues and dead bodies made everything feel really lived-in despite everything being inside-out. My imagination ran wild throughout the game.

Enemy designs are great, and their usage is phenomenal. Too many shooters will forget about the enemies of an earlier level, or forget to add new enemies to later levels, but SmoothBrain's INCISION, especially Episode 2, is very smart with enemy placement. Even after fighting hordes of later level enemies you'll still come across a few early level enemies, again making everything feel like a proper lived-in world, as if the corpse soldiers are steadily following your path of carnage.

My only gripe is the saving system, but only for repeat playthroughs. I didn't mind the looming dread of having to replay an entire level if I screwed up, however it'd be fun to unlock a cheat after beating an episode that lets you go back and play with either quick saves or checkpoints. Quick saves would be the easiest to implement, so that way you wouldn't have to go back through every. Single. Level just to implement specific checkpoints, but I presume with enough patience even that would be possible.

The only time I think any kind of checkpoint system should be implemented (outside of cheats) is in the boss levels. The parry miniboss almost made my heart take a leap when I realised that I still had over 100 enemies to kill after dealing with him, and then at the end, you had a special surprise of not one, but TWO more parry bosses, plus several late-game enemies. Fortunately for me I really like parrying, and I've always been a fan of horror games, so having a scare like that made the level much more memorable, even if I was anxious in the moment.

I also noticed how the level select option in the main menu didn't unlock after beating either Episodes 1 or 2, but I assume it's only cause it hasn't been implemented yet. Early access and all.

So long as you manage your extra lives well, explore the environment, and learn your weapons and your enemies, you'll do just fine on the easy or normal difficulties. I've yet to try anything harder, and will prepare adequately before doing so.

If you're feeling apprehensive about getting the game, I recommend waiting for it to leave early access or grabbing it on a sale. But the atmosphere, the sound design, the world of INCISION is easily worth your time. I didn't even mention the soundtrack, which is absolutely awesome and unique.