Paint the Town Red

Paint the Town Red is a brutal first-person action game from South East Games. Instead of working through set combo strikes, you use bottles, chairs, weapons and other furniture to fight your way through changing locations. Enemies are made of deformable voxels; combat dynamically changes their visible body parts.

The game combines self-contained brawl scenarios with Arena and endless challenges, plus Beneath, a large roguelite campaign. The PC version adds online co-op matches and a set of tools for custom levels to this core.

After an early prototype, Paint the Town Red entered its Early Access phase on Steam on October 13, 2015. Over several years, the originally small scenario game grew with additional locations, the level editor, multiplayer and the standalone Beneath campaign.

The full version 1.0 was released on July 29, 2021 on PC; at the same time, the developers released native versions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. The console versions include the core scenarios, Arena and Beneath, but not all PC tools and co-op features.

The main game is available natively for PC (Windows, macOS and Linux), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch. The console editions are standalone releases from 2021 and not just predecessor versions playable through backward compatibility.

The main differences concern the extra features. According to the developer, the PlayStation, Xbox and Switch versions offer single-player scenarios, Arena and Beneath, but no level editor, no Steam Workshop stages, no sandbox mode and no online co-op. The PC version has these additional systems. The solo focus of console versions should not be confused with the broader PC feature list.

Paint the Town Red treats almost everything in its environment as an improvised weapon. Chairs, pool cues, bottles and knives can be picked up, swung or thrown. Hit direction and weapon type determine which parts of the voxel enemies are destroyed in combat.

Fights take place in first-person and demand agility, quick decisions and an overview of several enemies. The pronounced, stylized depiction of violence is part of the game concept.

On March 14, 2024, Paint the Town Red VR was released as a paid virtual reality expansion on Steam. It requires the PC main game and enables motion controls in scenarios, Arena and Beneath. You can grab objects directly, throw them and wield weapons with both hands. According to Steam, the VR expansion does not support co-op, even though the regular PC version has online multiplayer.

There is also a separately available soundtrack with music from the game modes. Both offers are additional content and not separate new platform versions of the regular main game.

For the Windows version, Steam lists a minimum of a dual-core processor at 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, a DirectX 10.1 graphics card with 1 GB VRAM and 2 GB free storage. Recommended are a quad-core processor in the Core i5 class at 2.5 GHz, 3 GB RAM and a DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB VRAM.

The original game requirements list Windows 7 SP1. However, the current Steam client has only supported Windows 10 and newer since January 2024. Besides Windows, the store page lists macOS High Sierra and later and Linux or SteamOS as PC versions. The VR expansion has significantly higher hardware requirements of its own.

The classic scenarios are compact, separate locations. They include a biker bar, a disco, a prison, a pirate cove and a Wild West saloon. Each place offers different enemy groups, routes through the rooms and objects to fight with.

The scenarios are not a continuous campaign but clearly defined brawls. Their changing environments set them apart from the longer Beneath runs.

In Beneath, you descend into underground areas, fight creatures and boss enemies, and try to work your way from section to section. The campaign offers playable classes with different stats and abilities. Unlocked upgrades open up additional options for later runs.

While the classic scenarios deliver self-contained fights, Beneath focuses on long-term character development and changing dangers. This mode is included on all regular main game platforms.

Alongside the locations and the Beneath campaign, there are Arena challenges with set combat tasks. Endless mode shifts the goal from completing a scenario to surviving waves of enemies for as long as possible. Both modes are part of the main game and are not sold as paid expansions.

These variants use the same melee combat mechanics but change the pace and success criteria. Leaderboards let you compare results.

The Steam version offers online co-op for nearly all game modes. It also includes a level editor, Steam Workshop support, custom textures and music, and a sandbox level for free experimentation. Self-made locations can be published and explored together.

PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch lack these PC extras. South East Games explicitly confirmed at console launch that the single-player mode has no co-op, Workshop levels, editor or sandbox. The main content with scenarios, Arena and Beneath, however, remains.