Huzzah for optimism!
I’m sure, dear readers, there’s been many a time when you’ve prepared yourself for a small gaming session – cup of tea by your side, controller in hand and raring to go. You hear the faint whir of the 360 in the background (did I say faint? I meant aircraft carrier, sorry), the obligatory blue boot up screen of XNAness appears and disappears in moments and you’re left with the thought of “oh cock” within moments.
Revenge Of The Evil Aliens pretty much played out that scenario for me. Initial impressions weren’t the best, the controls felt ever so slightly slippery – was I really just going to be shooting the same reams of flying saucers forever. Yes, I know folks, this isn’t especially Revenge Of The Evil Aliens fault that when this happens I begin to fear the worst. It’s 8 months of conditioning that did that. The often sorry display of shooters on the service has a terrible habit of beating one down after a while.
And y’know, it all felt too easy. So I ducked back out, upped the difficulty level and went back in and what? It’s still all too easy. Bugger. Time to root out the laptop and start making notes… wait, hang on one second, was that a giant floating brain? Woah, woah, woah, back right up here. That was. It was a giant floating brain. That’s a bit odd. “Ah, hang on, you know what? Sod the notes, I’m going to play this bugger a bit more” thinks I. I’m glad I did.
The slow start does the game a great injustice as if you can persist through that it actually gets to feel really fun in no time. Had I bothered my backside into reading the plot first then I should have been able to work out that it was going to ramp up the silly in no time, and ramp up the silly it does. In fact, it’s a game so utterly stupid that I can’t help but adore it. Not for one moment does it take itself even remotely seriously – I mean, if it did it wouldn’t be a silly cross between Geometry Wars and a vertical shooter would it? That’d be such a crazy thing to do!
My advice folks? Give it a punt. It’s not going to come home with the greatest game of the year award and it’s a bit short all told, but it’s lovely in its own little way. In its own little world, even. It made me smile with its utter stupidity, it cracked the hard shell of “oh god, not another blummin’ cack shooter” that I’ve protected myself in and pressed its crazy little face up against the glass and stuck its tongue out at me.
I didn’t kiss it, honest guv.
This title was 200 Points at the time of writing this review but has since been reduced to 80 Points.
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durrrr!
I enjoyed this as well, but the first few minutes are horribly judged as far as the trial are concerned.
Shooting multiple waves of the same saucer is tolerable, but immediately following that with what seemed like an endless stream of rocks that you can’t shoot and just have to avoid is no fun at all.
The later sections are a lot more interesting, but you know most people will have made their minds up long before that which is a real shame.
That’s interesting, I actually also got some positive feedback on the stream of rocks bit! But yeah, it is sort of samey. Maybe it would be shorter if you just DIDN’T DIE SO MUCH ON IT!! ZING!
But enough silliness. This is truthfully the best review my game has gotten yet (and I mean that in terms of quality of writing). I love this blog
And to people who make their mind up before giving a game its proper chance I say “mbleh!”. “Mbleh” to you, sirs!
Hi Harry,
“That’s interesting, I actually also got some positive feedback on the stream of rocks bit! But yeah, it is sort of samey. Maybe it would be shorter if you just DIDN’T DIE SO MUCH ON IT!! ZING!”
It wasn’t so much the stream of rocks that was the problem so much as their placement. If you die a couple of times then that’s almost as far as you get in the trial period. You’ve got a lot of good variety in the game, so, as I said earlier, it’s a shame nobody gets to see it. In the context of the full game and in the interests of progression, starting with some simple saucers and a few rocks makes perfect sense, maybe not so if that’s all you see in the trial.
“And to people who make their mind up before giving a game its proper chance I say “mbleh!”. “Mbleh” to you, sirs!”
I agree completely, but unfortunately that’s the attitude of the majority of people these days.
Anyway good luck with it.
For the record I didn’t mind the flying rocks. Though I agree that the quantity could have been toned down initially to make it more accessible. But it was all high res 2D artwork that perhaps bedazzled me to the point to not worry about such things. Then the brains…
I thought the trial was pretty good.
Hardest part for me was the jumping bugs combined with two huge saucers and no powerups. Died there roughly 43 times. Rocks were never a problem.
There is a trick to that bit! Use the Motherships’ lazers as a shield.
Ooh, I had fun with the Trial! Only 200 Points? Guess I’ll have to snag another CG.