In Soviet Russia

Ohayo,

And it isn't even morning. I'm such a rebel.

So, you might have noticed a relative dearth of activity around your beloved TNG for the past month and a half and think to yourself, "Why do these gaming gods hate us so to starve us of their witty and insightful entries?" Basically, internet, it is because you suck and we've all moved onto bigger and better things.

Just kidding!

I have been conscripted to write reviews for a very local newspaper and since they don't steal my copyright away from me, our loyal readership gets to reap the benefits. Here goes.

Since the end of the 16-bit era and the decline of the American arcade, quality 2D games have been increasingly hard to come by outside of handheld consoles. Two-dimensional scrolling shooters, beat’em-ups and fighters have all but disappeared from current generation hardware, much to the dismay of old-school gamers. Luckily, Archangel Studios’ recently released PS2 effort, The Red Star, proves not everyone has forgotten about that glorious age.

The Red Star is best described as a Devil May Cry-influenced Gauntlet, crossed with a shooter like Castle Shikigami or Ikaruga. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the game pits players against hordes of varied enemies, each type requiring different combinations of melee and ranged attacks to overcome. The camera adopts a slightly angled overhead perspective on the action, pulling back further to give a more perpendicular view during boss encounters. These fights generally take the form of shooters, forcing players to bob and weave through an arena awash with enemy projectiles while simultaneously returning fire. At the end of each level, performance is graded and the game awards experience points which are used to purchase armor or weapon upgrades. This allows for a fair amount of customization and lends the title some replay value; unless the highest rank is achieved every time, it is impossible to obtain all the power-ups offered to each character.

Speaking of which, The Red Star features three playable characters, each controlling uniquely enough to enable gamers to find one that suits their style, while also offering incentive to play through multiple times. Additionally, it has a robust two player co-operative mode throughout the entire campaign, which enhances the experience greatly. Unfortunately, a co-op game can only be selected from the outset, rather than allowing players to jump in at any point. While this is somewhat understandable given the upgrade system, the title benefits so much from having two people that it becomes an inexcusable oversight. Archangel should have included standard, usable characters of various levels so as to ensure that neither partner becomes deadweight.

Unfortunately, this is not the game’s only flaw. A story is unnecessary in an arcade-style, action-heavy title such as this, yet the burden of the license dictates that it must present one. This having been said, the plot is entirely forgettable and seems to otherwise exist only to mask loading times. The text interludes can be skipped, but the pauses between stages still break up the action too much. Levels themselves are overly long and numerous, without enough variety to remain engaging. These types of games are meant to be short, sweet, and hard, offering incentive to master the tight gameplay and steep difficulty through well-crafted encounters and excellent pacing. Unfortunately, The Red Star lacks these qualities, as well as the overall polish of an arcade classic or a game by Treasure.

Visually, the game is nothing special. The graphics serve their purpose without being distracting, and enemies are mostly easily identified on sight. The framerate holds up well with only a slight slowdown during the most intense battles, a necessity when the smallest movements mean the difference between surviving and having to restart a level. The game’s sound design is similarly utilitarian, with serviceable sound effects and music that barely registers most of the time. Despite these complaints however, the presentation does not really hold it back.

The Red Star unfortunately does not herald a second coming of 2D or the rebirth of the hardcore. It is however a loving, if flawed, homage to old action games and, at $20, definitely worth a look from beat’em-up and shooter fans.

How was that? Comments, as always, are appreciated. Sorry for the strange formatting, blogspot isn't cooperating.

Don't Tase Me,
John Kerry