Space Mercenary Defense Force | PS5

Space Mercenary Defense Force, EastAsiaSoft's latest out of this world indie, adopts survivor-like genre mechanics set in arena based shmup gameplay modes that's all about planetary defense against aliens and modified challenges for score, EXP, and currency. 

Utilizing one of several ships with set stats pertaining to on deck module slots, shield, speed, and damage you must kill off the perpetually pursuing alien swarms and their boss-like leaders as you improve upon modular offenses, utilities, and your base turrets using an EXP leveling system to do so. All in a 20 minute long excruciating fight for survival wherein the wrong setup decision can lead to a premature demise. 

From ship choice to Astral and Celestial Upgrades you'll be able to custom tailor your classic mode or challenge mode experience to your liking to some degree. Ships, themselves, come with unique base stats that pertain to the number of onboard module slots as well as ship health/shields, speed, and damage output. Weighing the pros and cons of each unlockable ship is part and partial of the gameplay formula as in an actual gameplay scenario each ship, dependent upon module placement/position, changes the overall playstyle. 

In most cases ships harbor module slots located in the four cardinal directions or with diagonals included. Numbers vary. It is with these modular slots you can equip modules, or added offensive weapons, which can be upgraded multiple times across branching synergy paths. Building upon module effectiveness, reload speed, damage output, and reach among other things the more they are upgraded. 

Each module offering becomes available via randomized selections alongside optional utilities, turret upgrades, or survivability related items. With utilities comes extra evasion options including speed boosts, and evasive maneuvers. Turret upgrades on the other hand are your base shot, and will extend upon reach, change the projectile in various ways, and increase reload speed. Selecting any of these keystone features will change the functionality of the ship, and in turn alter how you approach the constantly swarming mob of aliens. 

Aside from the base stats, EXP upgrade options, and ship selection you'll also find permanent Astral, and Celestial upgrades that can be purchased using the alternate rewarded currency that is collected either after a completed run or a failed one. Wholly dependent on such variables as enemies killed, score amassed, and time survived among other factors. The Astral upgrades, in particular, improve upon base ship function, and include several increasingly pricier tiers of upgrades with multiple upgrade opportunities each. You'll be able to build upon things like base damage, base reload speed, base movement speed, and other helpful things that will make survivability easier with each new playthrough.

Alternatively there are Celestial upgrades that are associated with constellations that will further alter gameplay gimmicks. These can only be unlocked through required feats such as completing full runs or in completing the challenges in challenge mode. In a similar fashion performing certain milestone related goals with each ship will unlock passive perks for that ship which will further impact playstyle, and approach. Leaving the only cosmetic changes being that of pricey color palette swaps which also cost the same rewarded currency as that used on the Astral upgrade stat boosts.

When it comes to the Challenge mode it is as it sounds. Though playing out like the sectioned off and timed 20 minute arena experience of the Classic mode this mode comes with set modifiers with each challenge, and a hefty currency reward for completing a run under those imposing conditions. Modifiers are all nerfs or negatives that will impact your ship's modular options as well as stats. All while throwing in events and hazards that will greatly progress the more time ticks away. 

For bonus sake there is one last mode or option to unlock, but it comes with completing the game's previous two modes. That bonus mode is Turbo mode, and it is how it sounds. Everything is sped up when the toggle for turbo mode is marked at the main menu screen. This is the one and only bonus incentive outside of the tedious grind for upgrades, color palettes, and perks.

The Verdict ...

This was a nice spin on the survivor-like formula for the most part. The developer did good to innovate with the given features, and it made for an experience that was most definitely outside of the box in comparison to others in the genre. That being said I do think it is too reliant on the gameplay grind. 

It takes a lot of grinding just to get the player to a point where they can actually complete a run, and it's a design flaw I see quite often with these types of games. By adding stat based improvements to the permanent upgrades it artificially inflates the difficulty, and unnecessarily so. Difficulty would be better left to the player chosen adjustments allotted to modules, turret, and the utilities. That and the increasing challenge that comes with enemy evolution or the ship choice itself via handicap. Otherwise the scaling will always be against the player until the Astral upgrades are fully upgraded. Time and effort spent that could better be utilized on unlocking the ships' Celestial upgrades, and the perks. 

As far as a verdict goes "Space Mercenary Defense Force is not a terrible addition to the survivor-like genre. It's not overly impressive either. Where it stands is at a middle grounds of quality wherein it could have been better with a less demanding grind, and is still innovative enough to impress on that front. If you fancy something new from the survivor-like genre this is a competent addition and won't cost you too much as EastAsiaSoft titles are budget indies. I hope all that I've shared helps you to make a properly educated decision regarding this latest release. As always thank you for stopping by! Your support is appreciated! Thank you!