6 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 9.8 hrs on record (0.6 hrs at review time)
Posted: Jun 5, 2016 @ 11:12pm
Updated: Jun 6, 2016 @ 2:43am
Product received for free

If there's one genre of game I just can't get enough of, it's arcade-style twin-stick shooters. Especially ones which innovate and bring something fresh and exciting to the table in some creatively disctinct way. So upon noticing such a compelling new title named Blue Rider, an indie Unity Engine single-player game developed & published by Ravegan, I just knew that I had to quickly explore what it had to offer. Because it was apparent that this was one where I was actually able to enter lush 3D worlds with my ship while having full freedom of 360 degree movement to explore its every nook and cranny on my own terms...ferreting out every last enemy hiding in wait for me through its many winding paths & corridors.

Upon spending some quality time with it, it become immediately obvious to me that this was a hidden gem with so much potential for hours of addictive fun, the kind of experience which causes time to melt in between the hypnotic sounds of pew-pew bullets and thundering explosions as your enemies quickly become fine-sized shrapnel before your very eyes.

To begin, I will expand upon what the game gets right, which is quite a significant amount of positives I might add. Firstly, the sense of immersion within the game was breathtaking since it felt like I was inside an actual place brimming with intrigue & wonder....replete with dense vegetation, bodies of water, and charming old-world enigmas like stone pyramids and pillars. This creative artwork style is stellar and impressed me immensely, soon capturing my imagination with ease. It all tied seamlessly together in bringing me a palpable sense that I was inside of some strange land awaiting for me to explore & discover its many foreboding secrets while fighting off an endless array of distinctive enemies and even monster sized bosses found waiting for me at the end of each stage.

Which then quickly brings me to another positive attribute, it showcases nine full sized stages and undoubtedly feels like a full game. One with which you can sit back for several hours and enjoy to the fullest. Because you must complete each one first before advancing to the next...and you only have one single life & health meter to do so...so making sure to steer clear of the enemies' firepower is crucial for success here. And that involves continuous deft movement of your ship which also has a dynamic sprint ability to increase your speed (as long as the button is pressed). I will say however, that I kind of wish that the sprint speed was simply the default speed for the entire duration of the game since you pretty much need this kind of continuous agility in order to make quick movements at any given moment. But nonetheless, the current setup more than suffices.

Your firepower consists of both primary (bullets) and secondary weapons (missiles) which can be swapped in-game with captured power-ups from destroyed enemies. It's your basic straight-forward system here, nothing fancy or overly complicated, and pretty much just what you'd expect from such a game with very minimalist controls. This all makes it to be very accessible for both casual and hardcore gamers alike I might add.

Now onto the actual gameplay...I felt that it was overall quite solid because it's imperative that you continue to strategically move about in most sections where enemies are present, since their bullets keep aiming in your general direction. This certainly makes for edgy and tense encounters when several of them are simultaneously gunning for you. And I found it to be a thrill in methodically clearing the screen of their presence, picking them off one by one until the threat gradually subsided. Additionally, they each have their own individual health meters to display how much more damage they require for complete obliteration, which was quite a nice touch I thought. I will mention here as well that your bullets do curve as you rotate the ship/screen which adds to the aiming challenge somewhat. Some may or may not prefer this, but for me personally I didn't mind it at all.

There was one facet of this title which I found to be lacking however, and that was the very unsatisfying number of configuration options...which consisted of only 3 (resolution / graphics quality / mouse sensitivity). I'd have loved the ability to remap my controls, change difficulty settings, as well as an option to disable controller support completely so that my non-Xbox360 controller could be used via a third-party keyboard remapping program. As it was, I was relegated to using the mouse/keys for controls which isn't really optimal for such a game. And if not for this issue, I would certainly rate this as being a nearly perfect twin-stick shooter in a heartbeat. It is my hope that more such configuration options will be added to it by the developers in a future update, which would be most appreciated!

Verdict

All in all, this is a very impressive addition to the genre, one which will be sure to delight those who enjoy high-quality shooters with a thoughtful design. And if you already own a 360 controller, you'll be able to experience the full satisfaction that it has to offer in a heartbeat. Because where it shines is in its fantastic sense of immersion, its inspiring artwork, its sense of discovery, as well as rock-solid gameplay. It will hook you in hard and not let you go until you've finally completed all of its very challenging stages, rewarding you with Steam achievments the entire way through as your gritty Blue Rider ship conquers these vast worlds and comes out on top to claim victory over these tamed lands.

This impressive twin-stick shooter receives a well-earned 4 out of 5 stars from me.


Pros:

- Addictive & very challenging arcade-style gameplay
- Stunningly beautiful worlds with a distinctive artwork design
- A full 9 stages of gameplay plus bosses
- Full controller support
- Weapon power-ups
- Scoring system
- Steam achievements

Cons:

- A lack of robust configuration options
- Non-remappable controls
- Only 1 difficulty setting
- Inability to disable controller support which interferes with controller-to-keyboard remapping programs


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3 Comments
👽🐬 Old Black Nerd🐬👽 Jun 6, 2016 @ 5:54am 
Good. About time someone made games like this again rather than stupid bullet hells
Hyperduel Jun 6, 2016 @ 5:20am 
@Sleep Tight, Pupper ●•٠ツ
Nah not really, plus the enemy bullets are fairly slow actually...so it's more about maneuving your ship properly : )
👽🐬 Old Black Nerd🐬👽 Jun 6, 2016 @ 5:13am 
It's not a bullet hell, right?