Techno Chopper (XBLIG): "A Simple Prismatic Chopper Survival Game"

There is actually a method to my madness when it comes to my requesting of XBLIG/XBLA games for review. For the most part I look to see if the game offers a solid gameplay experience. I also tend to go by how visually impressive the game appears to be. On rare occassions I will overlook the visuals, because the gameplay itself looks really impressive. Techno Chopper attracted me with it's visual style as well as the score based gameplay that it offered. I'm definitely drawn to games that are based on high scores due to my very competitive gaming nature. I immediately sent 'GZ Storm' my request (the developer behind this unique game) in hopes of securing it for review. I was glad that they allowed me to review the game, because I thought it looked like something my readers would be interested in knowing about.

Techno Chopper is a game where the title pretty much explains what it's all about. As the gamer you control a simply designed chopper (using only the 'A' button) while trying to avoid obstacles for as long as you can. The longer you survive the higher your score will be. The game also keeps track of the last place where you crashed with visual name markers. This lets you know if you have passed your highest score or not. The game itself has a pulsing prism appearance to it. The colors are featured in multiple layers that pulse to the sound of the three available music tracks (Hyper Gupple, BitterSweet, Techno Max) in the game. The music tracks will slow down, and speed up as you progress further into the game in a random manner. The music tracks also effect the game's visuals causing blurs, and different types of pulse pounding effects to the obstacles in the game. Techno Chopper also offers a 'Visualizer' mode where you can listen to each track while speeding it up, and slowing it down as you watch the in-game backgrounds. This game takes a simple concept, and enhances the experience greatly through techno music, and prismatic visuals.

After playing 'Techno Chopper' for a while the visuals actually began to wear on my eyes. I had a brief talk with another reviewer about how some games' visuals will effect those who are seizure prone. Those kind of visuals (pulsing, flashing ...) have never really had an effect on me, but I found playing 'Techno Chopper' for an extended amount of time actually did. I think it was a mixture of the pulsing, and the layered prism colors that caused it though. Other than that the game was ok. I just wish that the developer had included an online leaderboard in the game. I have said it in many reviews before that if a developer adds online leaderboards/scoreboards to a score based game it will greatly improve the replay value. Maybe someday they will listen to me? With that being said, if you are seizure prone I would probably stay away from this game. If your not effected by such visiuals then this game is definitely worth the 80 msp.