Excellent fun!
I know the 10/10 rating is cliche, but if my enjoyment level of this game could be put into a rating, that's roughly what it would be. This game was fantastic on all counts!
All of the art is true to the Madness form, with little bits of humor dipped in here and there for extra measure. While perhaps not the best animated game out there, the art accomplishes what it needs to very, very well. Kudos! :)
The music also works well, enhancing the atmosphere of the areas you explore in Madness Retaliation superbly. It's a shame it isn't music made by Newgrounders, though! Maybe for the sequel?
And then, of course, the most important part of any game, the gameplay! I thought it was great. It has that right balance of not too easy or too hard. It's strategic without being a headache or a memorization game.
Things I particularly liked;
The variety of gear to pick out for your characters. It's quite a healthy selection! Personally, I think a little bit more would've been even better, but with the selection I did get, I'm not complaining. :)
The variety of enemies and their traits was pretty nice, too. It's not fun killing the same dudes 20 billion times in a row. (and, while we're on that subject, the Savior Head blocking spawns at places you've already been was a HUGE help. Thank you, thank you, thank you for that!)
Things that I'd like to see for the sequel:
Even more items and enemies. Yeah, I know, but, I love a variety. I really do.
Some way to get items besides lockers or boss fights. After all, you fight all these people who have stuff. Perhaps one of them could have like a 2% chance of dropping what they have for you to pick up, or a shop where you can buy stuff or something?
More ammo upgrades. The JHP upgrade was excellent, but all the other weapons missed out. It'd be nice to see another one, too. :)
Would it be possible to have a setting where it skips the fade-to-black between rooms and just gets you there instantly? It's an okay effect, but it slows the gameplay down a bit, especially when backtracking. Something that could've taken about 20 seonds to do took more like 40. It'd be nice to make that optional.
I wouldn't mind some kind of level system for the characters, so that equipment isn't the only thing buffing them up throughout the game.
Likewise, I'd also like to see a "party creation" mode, where you can pick out the basic equipment for your four guys and what classes they are. It'd allow some more fun variety! (not to mention some stuff for the more masochistic. Hi, four heavies!)
Perhaps a bit more variety between the four classes, too? Sure, a buff for specific weapons they use is nice, but couldn't a few other bits occur too, like heavy having a higher base health and having a nerfed pistol effect (more AP use?), while the close combat guys have higher AP and having a nerf with machine guns? It's a minor touch but it'd be nice.
And then, perhaps, various difficulty settings, affecting the base enemy stats? Those who struggle with the game can play on easy, while those looking for a challenge can select MADNESS or something. Just a thought!
Well, that's all I have to say about this game. Thank you very much for the entertainment! This was a great game and I really enjoyed it. :3 Sorry for the TL;DR, too. XD