I've been playing this for the last week or so and this game is 100% juice and polish. It's really a joy to see it unfold. I've hit a point where I've maxed out (I even spent money on some permanent boosters) and all that's really left is a grind of restarting with some stuff unlocked. Not THAT interesting to grind, but it's been enjoyable so far. Mostly 'cause of the juice. So juicy - almost literally, since you spend most of the game flying through the air squishing gummy bears. (game also available here: http://www.kongregate.com/games/JuicyBeast/burrito-bison-launcha-libre)
I've particularly enjoyed:
a. In order to keep gameplay fresh, there are some things you can run into that "trigger" a short in-game mini-game. For example there's a pink airbag thing you ride and have to tap fast to catch a green gummy that runs away. There's also a giant key you have to aim at a lockbox three times, and a dune-style worm that burrows and you have to (only by tapping, for all three mind you) direct to eat moles and, after a bit, a giant diamond.
b. At the end you collect recipe sheets. Get enough and you can unlock/pay for actual recipes. Bona fide recipes. There's 4 (or 5?). I don't think they're fake, but I've only unlocked one.
a. This game looks amazing. I'm really surprised by how good it looks. Still surprised.
b. It seems a bit slow at times? Maybe I'm just too accustomed to the fast and snappy action in Destiny?
c. Mixing on-screen actions (swipe this way, swipe that way) with an intense action shooter has always felt a bit unfair/hard for me. This game is no exception.
d. So far, the game feels like a Call of Duty game, but with Helghast and their cool/iconic helmets. I'm not feeling the Killzone vibe yet, but we'll see how it evolves. Otherwise, here's another example of CoD design ideas influencing other games (e.g. Follow an NPC teammate around, he tells you where to go and what to do)
e. You play a mercenary, so it's all about the money. Literally. You get credits for kills, picking up ammo, etc. You have to buy ammo if you run out, and you have to buy new/better(?) weapons. It's not clear to me why you can't pick up enemy weapons...and it seems weird that you buy/upgrade your stuff from crates that are lying around INSIDE the building you're infiltrating? Where they there before? Do the Helghast use them? Confused...
I've really been enjoying this game. It's been recommended to me so many times I've lost count and, well, it's all pretty much deserved.
I'm not sure how it works "solo", but I've been playing co-op with my son and we've enjoyed the hectic nature of running around to the different posts and deciding out loud who should be doing what. I'm often the one attacking the enemies (combat stations) while he does the engine (flying around) and shield (defense).
We've reached the first boss and I'm curious to see if/how things change in later levels/worlds... I get the sense that, we've sort of tapped out to an extent? Each station on the ship has space for gems that modify what the station does - and we've unlocked the possibility for each station to have two gems installed which broadens the possibilities even more. However, I've noticed that we're sort of comfortable with our current options and all our stations are chock-full with gems already. In fact, we have gems lying around that we don't like that much (the steel ones). So, what will happen next? Will we get a different ship? Different kinds of gems? More of the same?
I'm curious to find out... (and no, I don't want to research this either, I want to be surprised!)
Short, fun. Not that deep. Well, as much as I played, to be fair. I played on Normal and cleared the first world, almost cleared the second and then realized that, although it was an entertaining experience - the small vita screen doesn't really help and I didn't feel there was all that much variety in the game. More enemies, sure. And there are powerups, but it's really mostly the same... There are some gameplay subtleties I did enjoy though...
a. You press L/R to toggle the facing of the ship, which is the direction you fire in. Movement is independent, so you can fire to the left while moving (retreating) to the right. However, you move faster if you move in the direction you're facing. I only noticed this when I realized that I was taking hits because I was moving too slowly...and that turning around helped a lot.
b. The powerups change color, depending on their color when destroyed is what you get. I was able to use this "tactically" to get hearts instead of the "cool" but somewhat useless bomb (the bomb is good, but it triggers on collection rather than as a choice - so sometimes it would detonate in a mostly empty space...)
c. Paying attention to the minimap is important, since you can tell if the aliens that steal the cats are around and thus get to their location faster (rather than once they've lifted a cat and are escaping)
Overall? Yes, fun. The kind of game you need to practice a lot to get better at - but with so little overall variety in the levels I played I'm not sure it's really worth my time?
