Tuesday, June 12, 2018

WoblyWare's "Omega Strike" Does Decently What Retro Does Best

If you fancy indie games, particularly the sort that take inspiration from the retro gaming era, you might not be disappointed with "Omega Strike" for the PS4. It's a game that borrows a lot from such an age, but that does so in a way that is, at the very least, aesthetically pleasing and unique visually. It's a mixture of 'Mega Man', 'The Legend of Zelda II', and even 'Metal Slug'. If I dare say so myself. Along with these obvious nods it features blood and gore with a super soldier project gone wrong theme to boot. Of course you'll find that you have two different scientists behind it all. Both malevolent, and savior-like in the guise of a good professor, and a doctor gone mad. No doubt inspired by Mega Man's famous two doctors. The trick, or what makes this game different than others though is not so much the base gameplay, the doctors, or the given plot, but more so the main playable characters' functionality. As the player you at times control one of three different freedom fighters in a fight against Doctor Omega, and his mutant minions. The diabolical genius who concocted the super soldier serum, and in turn created his own army of super mutant soldiers. Each freedom fighter which can be swapped out on the go via the good Professor's teleporter device gives the players different weapon options, and special character functions that aid in getting further into the game as well as help to solve puzzles.

The game itself plays out in a mission based sort of way through mapped Metroidvania traversal. You'll take your ragtag group of freedom fighters through maze-like platforming levels filled with hazards that come both in environmental, and enemy forms. Along the way you'll use the characters' innate/unlocked abilities, and military grade weapons to overcome obstacles. One character, for example, can roll through small cracks. Another can move large blocks, and the last can double jump reaching previously unreachable areas. It's more about using your character choices to get through to the end of each stage (ultimately to a boss fight), or getting to an objective point than it is to simply progress in a straightforward manner. When it comes to weapon use along the way guns for each character do differ, but they don't really seem to effect gameplay all that much in comparison to the characters' special functions. To make things interesting, and even more challenging beyond the basic back and forth travel formula the developer also added in scenarios where character access is sometimes limited due to abduction, and where the mission objective changes in accordance to that fact. There is a lot of backtracking to do in most cases, and even some level or stage secrets to find.

Along with the various mission objectives that include taking out minion bosses, rescuing characters, finding needed items, and ultimately putting an end to Doctor Omega's evil scheme you'll find that you'll be looting in-game areas for gold to buy vendor items as well as life cubes to extend upon your initially short lived health bar. Enemies that you kill will sometimes drop gold coins as will destroyed barrels and crates. On occasion you'll also stumble upon treasure chests that contain golden skulls that equate to a lump sum of gold. The life cubes, on the other hand, are hidden away in stages waiting to be found. When you find four of them you can take them to the proper town vendor, and trade them in for one extra life cube. The gold you collect can be spent on both weapon upgrades, and food/health items at the town hub.

In all honesty this game isn't all that complex. The story isn't some grand event, and the gameplay isn't massive in scale. Where it somewhat shines is in the character functionality, and how that effects your progress. Having three different characters to play as, and utilize both in the combat and puzzle solving sense enhances gameplay to an extent. When it comes down to the graphics I also feel that is one of this game's stronger points. The graphics presentation is of the indie sort as one might expect with plenty of pixels constructing every aspect of it. Along with the pleasant indie graphics comes an indie sounding soundtrack that isn't bad itself. With that said the game isn't without it's problems. The problems that are present include the unpredictable actions of the bosses that make for some truly frustrating fights, and result in the fact that stages don't really end in a conclusive manner, but rather transition as if you were still playing through a stage even after defeating a key mutant boss. It is in such situations where the options menu map becomes absolutely necessary. The map access and the ability to bring up the options menu to select health items while onscreen action is paused are your only saving graces a lot of the time.

The Verdict ...

Overall "Omega Strike" isn't profoundly great by any means, but it does what it does well enough. For the inspired budget priced indie Metroidvania that it is. I think it's alright for the asking price. Of course it's got some easy PSN trophies to earn on top of everything else. Key features I liked included the overall visual design, the soundtrack, the freedom fighters mechanics, and the hints of inspired features. The downsides, as I briefly mentioned, includes boss fights that do not adhere to the traditional 'Mega Man' formula. By that I mean the bosses do not stick to a pattern that can be learned, and this is off putting. There's also the fact that after you defeat a boss, or complete an objective you either have to back track all the way back to the beginning or to where the objective was taken on. I think the game could have benefited from a proper level ending, and an immediate warp back to the point where a mission objective needs to be fulfilled. That or more straight foward progression with a larger world where backtracking was kept to a minimum, and teleports made available near areas where backtracking is made more beneficial. Sort of like it is in "Castlevania: SotN where character EXP leveling was at play.. All that aside I think the game is alright, just alright.

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