Void Gore | PS4 Review

Void Gore should be a prime example of what not to do when designing a competitive shmup. Hear me out. The game itself relies too heavily on a currency focused upgrade system, and rogue-lite features. It makes you grind for an hour or two just to get to a point where your ship is competitively viable, but at the same time injecting random enemy elements that are usually stacked against you in their many forms. The experience is wholly inconsistent in many areas in regards to said randomness including that of damage output, bullet hell patterns, and enemy spawns. It also suffers from what I like to call a serious case of Satan's sucker punch. Meaning that a lot of your game overs will be due to things out of your control. Being blindsided by floating organs, chased down by chomping teeth, and singled out by sinister skulls is all too common. Speaking of which, the enemy variety leaves a lot to be desired. It shows laziness, and in it's lacking variety offers up no real boss battles at all outside of the one boss locked behind a currency paywall. The only upside I see is the easy to earn platinum trophy which is standard issue with this developer's games.

When it comes to gimmicks there are some borrowed mechanics, and some unique ones thrown into the mix. It's not overly complicated though. Basically, your ship has a ring that encircles it, and offers a devastating area inclusive blast that will aid in the clearing out of waves of approaching enemies. This ring refills, and expands until it is flashing red. Only when it is flashing red can you press the designated button to ignite it, and send the enemies within the circled area back from whence they came. Aside from that you have a single rapid fire shot that can be upgraded via dropped currency with added speed, damage output, number of bullets, and secondary homing missiles alongside their numbers and damage output. These shots can be amplified further by power-ups collected from fallen enemies as well. The same enhancements somewhat goes for the ring which can also be upgraded via the shop, and collected currency. With the ring the upgrades though come an expanded area of effect, and boosted refill speed. Last, but not least is the ship's heart health which can additionally be upgraded via the shop menu. Something that matters significantly in regards to the longevity of a playthrough.

As far as the playthroughs go they are potentially never-ending encounters against short lived waves of lesser and mid-tier enemies on a repeating and themed background stage. The enemies themselves randomly spawn along the vertically ascending corridor that is the stage's muli-layered background space, and try to either collide with your ship to chip away heart health, or shoot you with variations of bullet hell shots. As you face the enemy waves they will drop power-ups, and coins. Enabling you to both make it further, and bank coins that can be spent on the main menu shop for upgrades. In replaying the game, and exceeding your high scores you'll also unlock 8 different stage designs. The designs are enhanced by screen shaking, and a chromatic effect. Both of which can be toggled on or off in the main menu's settings/options menu. 

Along with the gimmicks, artificial difficulty, and Satan's sucker punch you'll also find a leaderboard as well as an extra shop menu that offers single use bonuses for a playthrough. The leaderboards, for example, are global with numbered rankings and the players PSN ID fully displayed for all to see. Helping in that leaderboard placing effort is a x2 multiplier boost that can be bought in the shop as well as a Satan lvl 10 mode which offers the only boss fight in the game when you reach level/stage 10. Of course it costs $500 coins each try.

The Verdict ...

Void Gore is a shmup made artificially difficult, unfair through rogue-lite elements, and inconsistent in player damage output. It is flawed to an extent that it is not so much a proper test of skill as it is a test of luck surrounding the randomness of a given playthrough. I feel the grind to get the ship to a viably competitive state is a waste of time. That the limited assortment of enemies, and lack of a fairly achievable goal is this game's Achille's heel. Even though it does sport the easy to earn platinum trophy it is still an example of what not to do when designing a competitive shoot 'em up. I cannot recommend it, even at the lowly price of $4.99