Last Encounter sees another futuristic setting for the twin stick shooter genre, and let's face it, they go together like strawberries and cream. The genre itself, is one that has seen many games come and go over the years with many stand out titles that have made a cult name for themselves. Now it's an attempt from Exordium Games with their latest title, Last Encounter.
The story behind Last Encounter feels like it hasn't just been tacked on at the last minute in a bid to give the game some depth, but rather they spent some time creating a world with which you offer some interest in. Humanity has gained new and amazing advancements in cloning technology, furthering themselves until one day an alien race that is technologically superior invades Earth and causes wanton destruction, leaving mankind on the verge of extinction. Not a species to sit back and take a beating, they respond the only way they know how; with more violence. Why don't aliens ever come peacefully?
Offering up to 4 player co-operative play across procedurally generated galaxies in which to combat the alien menace, Last Encounter offers the player plenty of weapons to collect and each pilot offering differing attributes. A must in any game that sits comfortably in the genre. Nothing worse than being limited to your arsenal, and allows your to share with your team mates, and even experiment with crafting new and improved weapons.
The game is a bullet hell, rogue-lite game, and whilst I was eager to get stuck in, it just didn't live up to the hype I had created for it. I love a good twin stick shooter, they are one of my favourite genres that I have invested many hours in over the years aside from a good story driven RPG. But with Last Encounter, the gameplay just felt like it was a bit of a drag. Tough to get into and tough to like as well.
The visuals help redeem the gameplay, and I never encountered any drops in frame rate when playing. A bright palette of colours and no retro graphics in sight, which is a refreshing change from what has become a popular trope in video games these days with many games harking back to the 8 bit and 16 bit era. It does the job, and looks better than quite a few games.
I really tried to like Las Encounter, I really did. But I just wasn't enamoured with it. I don't hate the game, nor do I think it's worth avoiding, but I'd recommend looking into it first before making any kind of purchase. You may end up loving it. But I just can't say that about my personal opinions of the game.
Overall Score 5/10
Verdict
While it's not an inherently bad game, Last Encounter doesn't shine brighter than a lot of other titles in the genre. Average, and does it's job but nothing else.
Developer: Exordium Games
Publisher: Exordium Games
Release Date: 7th May 2018
Price: £11.39
Steam copy provided for review purpose.
Available in Q3 on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.