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Some games try to convey a story. Some games press the boundaries of the hardware just
for the sake of it. Some are just a vehicle by which you express your dominance. [engo]
strives for the latter. Because who doesn’t like tachikoma-looking quadrupedal robot tanks
blowing each other to pieces while avoiding various and sundry deathtraps and environmental
hazards? I know I do. And if you can do it all on the indie channel for a buck, so much
the better. Unfortunately, I’m all by my lonesome in the studio today, so I’m left
trying to express my death wish to a bunch of computer-controlled opponents. And I don’t
think they care very much for my opinion. In fact, they preferred to just blow me up
repeatedly. But I suppose that’s to be expected of ruthless computers.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out this egregious - yet entertaining - mangling
of the English language that poses as a help text. I was somehow able to glean that I needed
to collect stars! So collect stars I did. The blue ones are worth one point apiece,
the red ones from destroying environmental hazards yield ten, and the green ones left
behind when an opponent (or yourself) blows up are good for fifty points. So it’s not
just enough to spray death at every turn, you also have to pick up the pieces before
some schmendrick swoops in and steals ‘em. Speaking of spraying death, there’s a bevy
of weapon upgrades to improve your (admittedly pathetic) starting weaponry. And, as you’re
probably going to be dying a lot, it’s important that said upgrades are plentiful. You’re
going to need every missile, flame thrower, and laser you can get your manipulator arms
on, though, as the CPU’s alarmingly accurate in its attacks. I’m fairly decent at twin-stick
shooting, but on the later stages my automatic opponents were ridiculously good shots. You’d
think they were part of the machine, or something.
There are six maps, featuring various combinations of teleporters, lightning-spewing balls, projectile-spewing...
uh... projectile-spewers, and some decent visual effects despite this being an indie
game. Unfortunately, the controls feel a bit too slippery and ill-equipped for the fast-paced
action. Subjectively, it felt like the AI in the first few maps was much easier to outwit
than in the later ones, though it’s not at all uncommon for enemies to be firing upon
you whenever they have a clear line, regardless of whether or not you can see them on your
screen or vice versa. You’re just driving along, minding your own business, when there’s
just lightning from out of nowhere and you’re driven into a panic. Well, let’s be fair,
you’re never just minding your own business here; you’re trying to shoot down enemy
robots. But you get the point, even if it is rather poorly translated.