Steredenn

I had been aware of this game from Wanderbot’s YouTube/Twitch channel and got it when it first came out on iOS with version 1. Since then, I’ve been a fan of the game. So far, I have access to the 4 ships and they really do add major gameplay changes. New power ups, new weapons and improvements on the old weapons too. Right now I have only one complaint is with the Specialist ship in later stages because I have observed performance drop with lots of bullets on the screen. It is especially bad if the device goes into night time mode and dropping bots and swapping them sometimes doesn’t take with the touch controls. Movement also is buggy only for the Specialist with two booster drones and max bots. But this is just one of the ships and doesn’t detract from the rest of the game.

I really want to like this game. The gameplay is right up my alley. However, it has drag to move controls and, unless I’m missing something, there is no way to set it so that movement matches 1:1 with the position of my finger and my ship stays where my finger is. This may not bother everyone, but it renders the game almost entirely unplayable for me. Precise movement is very important, and my brain absolutely refuses to adapt to this control scheme and allow movement to feel tight, predictable, and intuitive. If I were basing my rating entirely on how much enjoyment I get out of the game it would be 1 star. I just can’t enjoy playing the game at all due this issue. However, that seems pretty unfair to the devs of what otherwise seems to be a great title, and I know this won’t bother everyone, so I settled on a middling 3 stars. I really hope a future update adds a 1:1 movement option, but until then, this game will sadly have to hang out in the ‘not on this iPhone’ section of my purchase history :(

Not usually a big fan of this genre, but this game is awesome. Some of the guns I avoid 99% of the time or even start a run over if I see something awful for my first gun drop. I’d say I put in 10-12 hours before getting the #10 iOS score. It gets progressively harder the farther you go, in a very balanced, good way. Fun-to-learn patterns give this high replay value. If you’re skeptical about the controls, this is also available on Steam, but I rarely had problems with the intuitive touch controls.

Should I start out by saying “I never leave reviews, but for this game...”? Umm nah 😝. In short, this game is pretty amazing so far. Old-school mixed with some enticing new weaponry, phenomenal pixel art, and a metal soundtrack? Sign me up! Two super minor complaints and then I’ll shut up. 1) The Arena seems to be just one boss fight and done? A “Boss Rush” mode similar to Beat Hazard would be gosh dang swell. 2) We’re in space. Bullet casings don’t just fall straight down in space I’m pretty sure. C’mon devs 😁. Seriously though very nice work with this!

It’s a 4.75 stars for me but that’s not an option so 5 it is. It’s really fun and the controls are easy enough but they can be a little inconvenient and times with the accidental weapon swapping. Adding more ships would be great and even more weapons would be awesome too. I give it 4.75 because there is an RNG aspect and some bosses are harder than others and also depending on their attack pattern it can be harder or easier. Otherwise excellent