By Sean Perryman on January 29, 2015 at 1:30pm
FULL DISCLOSURE: We reviewed the beta for this in June of 2014 (link). Also their screen shot mechanism is broken at the time of this writing, so the pictures contained within come from the game's website.
Introduction
The first thing you notice when starting this game is the absolutely gorgeous color pallet. Vibrant reds, blues, and greens permeate against an impossibly dark purple back drop. This smorgasbord of color continues throughout the whole game; with enemies bathed in spectacular neon goodness.
Controls
Though you are fully capable of playing through this game using only a keyboard, I cannot emphasize the necessity for analog control enough. The game features built in game pad support (I only tested it with a wireless XBox 360 remote) and it comes in really handy. By default you control the ship with the left analog stick, and fire with the right trigger. Along your journey you can pick up power-ups that are automatically mapped to the four buttons (A, B, X, Y).
Game Play
The game is structured in such a way as that you will never experience the same game twice. Each time you complete a section of the game you are awarded three choices from the vast pool of available power-ups that enhance the capabilities of your ship. As I said earlier some of the power-ups are active, requiring you to press a button for them to perform their duties; while others are passive, granting you their powers during the course of play. My favorite so far is the "Rainbow of Doom"; a passive ability that adds a deadly tail to your ship that turns rainbow colors while it is annihilating your enemies.
I did notice that through each successive play I would get a higher and higher score, indicating that the way they've implemented their game mechanics and control scheme facilitates learning as you go; something that is often missed in games of this nature. I also found that the random disbursement of the wide selection of power-ups to be very engaging in general, allowing the player to experiment with various combinations of enhancements to suit their particular play style. The power-ups run the gamut of functions from simple shields, a volley of missiles, and even a black hole that you can detonate on command (be careful not to get sucked in yourself!). Each of the active power-ups have a timer that is triggered upon release, meaning you can’t just spam missiles at the enemies like your brain is telling you to.
Conclusions
I did experience some set-backs when first starting this game. As has been mentioned on their Steam community page, their screenshot mechanism is not currently working. This is almost certainly a problem on their end, because X-Split (game play recording software) doesn't recognize this game when launched; meaning I couldn't record any of the game play. Trying to play with the keyboard alone was also troublesome, as it uses a non-standard layout for controls (arrow keys, and various letters and system keys for weaponry) that I am not used to.
Even with these slight ripples I still am a big fan of this game. I think it would be even better if it was running in a full-sized arcade cabinet with a joystick and buttons, rather than an XBox 360 controller (or keyboard). For something that started out as an experiment in 2013, this game has really matured in to something the developer can and should be proud of. I look forward to seeing what comes next from amulware.
