Developer: Black Shell Games
Publisher: Black Shell Games
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Cosmic Rocket Defender – Review
A game a day can keep insanity away. This is the concept behind a lot of retro-inspired games. They allow for players to have that much required, extendable 15 minutes of relaxation. Be it on a train, in your office or even on the toilet, a game like Cosmic Rocket Defender allows you to put that stress aside, or rather replace it with a hard-core, retro style adrenaline rush.
Story
The night sky is lit with enemy laser beams and bombs as hordes of alien ships position themselves strategically to launch an attack on the planet. You are a line of defence against these foes, swooping down as they attempt to dive-bomb you into oblivion. Your Mobile Armoured Defence Rocket Launcher acts as a giant flyswatter that fires high end explosives, creating fireworks that are nicer than Americans celebrating Independence Day. Other than that, there is little storyline built into the game, but in all honesty, we are still not sure whether this is really required for this Space Invaders revival.
Graphics
Visually, the game is not bringing much novelty to the field. It has a strong polygon feel to it with some updated graphics, but this makes it so the entire game looks a bit rubbery, which at times seems too simple especially when considering the era it is being released in. The playing field is very monotonous, if not better described as static. Along with the low variety of enemy vessels (unlike what was the case in the original precursors such as Space Invaders) this creates a repetitive atmosphere. Overall this can probably be resolved quite fast when the developers would improve the uniqueness of enemies, rather than just having a recoloured version of what you’ve been fighting since the beginning of the first wave.
Sound
Just like we noticed with the graphics, the retro soundtrack is too repetitive to keep us captivated. If the intention is to enjoy short bursts of gameplay for example during a bus ride home after a long day at work, then it would still work out nicely. However, we personally decided to blast some Daft Punk through our speakers while trying to achieve a new high score. The rocket fire and explosions somewhat make up for the tedious soundtrack, as the effects are more or less in line with what one can expect from a defender game, simple yet effective.
Gameplay
Cosmic Rocket Defender is a clear throwback to fixed shooters. By pressing left and right, you position your tank beneath enemy formations while they rain down enemy fire. By clicking your mouse button, you counter this by launching explosive missiles towards your foes. In the chaos, an enemy ship occasionally swoops by trying to take you out. In summary, you dodge left and right and fire up to destroy waves of enemies and advance to the next level with, more of the same enemies in a slightly different configuration. After a while, you get the chance to prove your skills against an overpowered boss. After several continued attempts (there is no save function available), we gave up as the bosses truly are challenging. Unfortunately, they are so difficult to reach that we doubt they will be pleasing the majority of players.
Gameplay-wise, Cosmic Rocket Defender isn’t too spicy. The gameplay peeks back all the way to the original Space Invaders. Agreed, great concepts are built to last, but when you think about the age of the original game (Space Invaders dates from 1978), you’d expect at least a few modern additions. Apart from some power-ups that seem to only increase your rate of fire or replenish your health and a minute customization shop in between waves this is completely lacking. Despite being ancient lore, the gameplay should still be deemed intuitive.
Conclusion
Cosmic Rocket Defender brings back memories of a game whose legacy has spread to beyond legends. Games like Space Invaders were and still are so popular, even modern calculators have some version of it installed. In fact, it has even appeared as a mini-game in dozens of other games! The game is a modern variant of this genre, but unfortunately it got stuck too much in the arcade-style repetitiveness. Despite we have encountered no bumps along the road while playing, the flow of the game is so monotonous and simple that we hardly think the game has any replayability, apart from the overpowered and unbalanced boss fights. The graphics could’ve made a big difference here, but the very limited variation and almost static backgrounds ensure players will not get stuck to the screen for too long. In summary, if you are into short burst games that won’t take up much time and you are a big fan of retro games, Cosmic Rocket Defender might be worth the effort.
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