Run and gun your way through the masses of Dr. Omega’s mutant army in this side scrolling shooter that will have you hooked from the start. Take control of Sarge, Bear, and Dex as they each use their special abilities to traverse the many varying worlds like the mountain tops, jungles, scrapyards, and underground bunkers. Upgrade your characters by increasing range and the firepower of your weapons if you hope to defeat the multiple bosses this action packed game has to offer.
Travel back to the mid 90’s where many companies tried a hand at the side scrolling run and gun genre, but very few perfected. This game is the latter, with smooth visuals, masterful soundtracks, and most importantly, extremely fun and fast paced gameplay. The story is minimal but is in-depth enough to set the stage for our protagonists to begin their adventure. Boss fights at the end of each area will test the new skills you’ve picked up on the way as well as test your ability to adapt and try new tactics.
Instead of picking your character like most games would have you do, this one allows you to switch on the fly with the press of a button. You take control of all three of our heroes from the start, each with their own abilities. Sarge is the strong leader type and sports a machine gun. As you progress he will learn to perform a combat roll to maneuver beneath objects. He also learns to hang and shimmy along raised poles and bars to circumvent a falling death. Next up is Bear, the strong, balding type. He rocks the rocket launcher and can fire at enemies on a lower leveled platform. He gains the ability to move heavy obstacles that block the path as well as deploy dynamite to blow up stones that hide passageways. Finally, but most certainly not least, is the futuristic Dex. The high flying member in this trio is the only one who can double jump and blows enemies away with his shotgun. In much later stages, he gains the ability to dash through time and space, only a few feet or so but cool nonetheless.
Over the games eight maps you will battle multiple bosses in an old-fashioned arena style boss fight with the enemies health bar on the bottom of the screen. Along the way you will also find hidden collectables, one a chest filled with gold to spend on upgrades, the other a health block. Once you have collected 4 health blocks, you can return to the town of Tumbleweed where you can speak to the priest who will increase your maximum health. While in town you can also speak to the weapons vendor to increase each characters weapon respectively in range and damage. It’s also smart to pay a visit to the butcher in town and buy some meals that you can eat later to restore health, even during a firefight! Overview: This game is awesome. I could not pull myself away from it and played it from start to finish in roughly 7.5 hours, finding every collectable on the way. I never found it too challenging but I did play it on normal and not hard.
Overall Score: 9/10
Developer: Woblyware
Publisher: Digerati
Release Date: 15th June 2018
Price: £9.59
Xbox One copy provided for review purpose.