Like so many other indie developers in the industry Fantastico Studios tries to capitalize on 80's pop culture in their pixel populated game. Through a rogue-like shoot'em up called, "Black Paradox" they take the gamer on visually VHS inspired galactic bounty hunt in a spaced out DeLorean against seven lieutenants of an organized galactic crime gang known only as the Hellraisers. This flight, and fight for monetary compensation across the known and unknown universe has you manning in both single player, and two player local co-op a decked out, and upgradeable flying DeLorean, of all things. An unusual spaceship choice of sorts with the capability to not only utilize an impressive array of technologically advanced weaponry along with shields, and other add-ons of use, but also associated boosted stats that change accordingly to said equipped items.
As you fly from left to right as the infamous bounty hunter Black Paradox you will utilize a handful of defense, and offense options in the form of swappable weapons, power-ups, garage add-ons, and a Black Paradox super ability which summons a phantom duplicate of your ship with a random weapon fire for a short time to assist you in combat. With each enemy or obstacle destroyed on your path to the seven Hellraiser lieutenants you will bank money which can in turn be spent at the main menu garage on upgrade slots or upgrades themselves. Upgrades that are purchased can be swapped out among the four upgrade slots in the garage menu, and are stored in the inventory listing there when not in use, once purchased. Each upgrade comes at a certain level, and costs increasingly more for each higher level or rarity. Some upgrades last until you die, and others are single use items for the current stage playthrough. Until you start over again.
Stages, or bounties in the game are a left to right affair that is random in nature. You'll blast your way through obstacles, drones, and ships of all sorts with unique firing patterns until you get to one of Hellraiser's lieutenants at the end of a stage. A ship by it's lonesome, or a ship with a visually present antagonist and their accompanying life bar. Once you defeat said lieutenant by overcoming their multiple attack patterns, and accompanying drones you'll earn the bounty displayed at the main menu listing. The catch though is that when you die, when your ship's health bar is fully depleted, you will have to start over at the first bounty. This unfortunately forces the player to grind for upgrades, and upgrade slots until they can reach a build that will see them through to the final bounty.
A quick note to that end. I feel the grind at hand adds an artificial difficulty that cannot be passed outright by skill alone as the bonus stat increases helpful stats pertaining to ship life, and other crucial things meant to help sustain you through to the game's end. That being said once you get upgraded properly the bounties are more doable, and the PSN trophy rewards more obtainable. If anything this is a shmup that will bank you some fairly easy PSN trophies for the committed grind. As a proper shmup experience though with earned replay value, and high scoring opportunities this isn't that type of experience. It's more about the behind-the-scenes story, and the artistic design applied by some talented developers.
The developers at Fantastico Studios, and their PR gave me detailed notes which boast, and brag about a sizable array of weapons, and various combinations regarding the garage upgrades. They also spoke of the impressive amount of enemy ship types, and their unique attack patterns which do make the gameplay more challenging for those of you shmup players who are into that sort of thing. Other things include a secret boss, and an unlockable Boss Rush mode. Along with the local two player co-op, no less. While all of this is definitely noteworthy the game still feels a bit small in size for something housing so many different features. I suppose to it's credit it is organized in such a way to be more gamer friendly, and easily accessible in that regard.
In the way of extras "Black Paradox" does have an unlockable Boss Rush mode, and the previously mentioned local co-op. It also has an on/off option for the "VHS" screen filter which does add some extra 80's feels to the experience. Also to note you'll find that the soundtrack is akin to 80's pop culture in that it is synth-wave in nature. Overall the visual design, soundtrack, and offered gameplay come together in a complimentary fashion for a shmup experience that is decent, but somewhat disposable after the grind is done, the trophies earned, and the seven lieutenants of the Hellraisers gang dispatched (including a secret boss). If you fancy something with 80's nostalgia that's nicely represented, and some easy trophies for the earning I think this might just be a worthy budget priced indie for your collection. The only downside if any is the lack of a proper highscore feature, and an accompanying leaderboard.
As you fly from left to right as the infamous bounty hunter Black Paradox you will utilize a handful of defense, and offense options in the form of swappable weapons, power-ups, garage add-ons, and a Black Paradox super ability which summons a phantom duplicate of your ship with a random weapon fire for a short time to assist you in combat. With each enemy or obstacle destroyed on your path to the seven Hellraiser lieutenants you will bank money which can in turn be spent at the main menu garage on upgrade slots or upgrades themselves. Upgrades that are purchased can be swapped out among the four upgrade slots in the garage menu, and are stored in the inventory listing there when not in use, once purchased. Each upgrade comes at a certain level, and costs increasingly more for each higher level or rarity. Some upgrades last until you die, and others are single use items for the current stage playthrough. Until you start over again.
Stages, or bounties in the game are a left to right affair that is random in nature. You'll blast your way through obstacles, drones, and ships of all sorts with unique firing patterns until you get to one of Hellraiser's lieutenants at the end of a stage. A ship by it's lonesome, or a ship with a visually present antagonist and their accompanying life bar. Once you defeat said lieutenant by overcoming their multiple attack patterns, and accompanying drones you'll earn the bounty displayed at the main menu listing. The catch though is that when you die, when your ship's health bar is fully depleted, you will have to start over at the first bounty. This unfortunately forces the player to grind for upgrades, and upgrade slots until they can reach a build that will see them through to the final bounty.
A quick note to that end. I feel the grind at hand adds an artificial difficulty that cannot be passed outright by skill alone as the bonus stat increases helpful stats pertaining to ship life, and other crucial things meant to help sustain you through to the game's end. That being said once you get upgraded properly the bounties are more doable, and the PSN trophy rewards more obtainable. If anything this is a shmup that will bank you some fairly easy PSN trophies for the committed grind. As a proper shmup experience though with earned replay value, and high scoring opportunities this isn't that type of experience. It's more about the behind-the-scenes story, and the artistic design applied by some talented developers.
The developers at Fantastico Studios, and their PR gave me detailed notes which boast, and brag about a sizable array of weapons, and various combinations regarding the garage upgrades. They also spoke of the impressive amount of enemy ship types, and their unique attack patterns which do make the gameplay more challenging for those of you shmup players who are into that sort of thing. Other things include a secret boss, and an unlockable Boss Rush mode. Along with the local two player co-op, no less. While all of this is definitely noteworthy the game still feels a bit small in size for something housing so many different features. I suppose to it's credit it is organized in such a way to be more gamer friendly, and easily accessible in that regard.
In the way of extras "Black Paradox" does have an unlockable Boss Rush mode, and the previously mentioned local co-op. It also has an on/off option for the "VHS" screen filter which does add some extra 80's feels to the experience. Also to note you'll find that the soundtrack is akin to 80's pop culture in that it is synth-wave in nature. Overall the visual design, soundtrack, and offered gameplay come together in a complimentary fashion for a shmup experience that is decent, but somewhat disposable after the grind is done, the trophies earned, and the seven lieutenants of the Hellraisers gang dispatched (including a secret boss). If you fancy something with 80's nostalgia that's nicely represented, and some easy trophies for the earning I think this might just be a worthy budget priced indie for your collection. The only downside if any is the lack of a proper highscore feature, and an accompanying leaderboard.
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