ALLTYNEX Second – Review
ALLTYNEX Second is the third and last game in “The Tale of ALLTYNEX” series. While its development was the last of the series, it’s actually the first game chronologically and after it comes RefleX and KAMUI. Get ready for the final chapter of this legendary trilogy.
Story
ALLTYNEX Second takes place in 2192AD. About 40 years ago, the highly advanced ALLTYNEX computer suddenly tried to perform a genocide upon mankind. With armies of unmanned weapons at its command, 85% of the world’s population was killed within 72 hours of the start of the incident. A small number of people made it out alive and escaped beyond the solar system. Now, with steadily declining population due to the hard living conditions, they gamble it all and begin their first and final attempt to reclaim Earth.
Graphics
This game differs from the rest of the series because it uses 3D sprites instead of 2D. Some might not like it, but it’s actually pretty cool looking. Of course, the graphics aren’t the greatest but it still looks “okay” for a game like this.
While ALLTYNEX second and other games in this genre usually look outdated, it really doesn’t ruin the fact that they’re really fun games. You might argue that more modern graphics would be in order, but a lot of these games are ports from the Japanese or arcade versions and it would just ruin the originality and nostalgia.
Sound
SITER SKAIN has once again made a very good sound track for their game. It’s extremely awesome and very fitting for the game, and as usual, it’s very fast paced and will get you ready for battle!
Sound effects are pretty straight forward, they’re not too crazy but not boring as well. You do have an awesome laser of course! Who doesn’t love the sound of lasers?!
Gameplay
ALLTYNEX Second is a classic shoot’em-up, they usually follow the same strategy, you’re in your spaceship at the bottom of the screen and enemies come from the top. You simply keep going without dying until you kill all of the bosses and completed all of the stages (ALLTYNEX Second has 5 stages). It sounds pretty easy, but it gets really hard over time!
The game has a couple of attack and stances to talk about, as well as the energy bar. The normal attack (fighter stance) is simply a rapid fire shot, which gets stronger as your energy bar levels up. Your other attack is the blade (armor stance) which can destroy enemy bullets and devastate mid-to-large-sized enemies. You can simply swap stances by pressing the attack button of the stance (rapid fire or blade). While in fighter stance, your fighter craft is fast and collects energy chips automatically, while in armor stance, you’re slow and you don’t automatically collect chips.
You also have 2 special attacks which both deplete the energy bar: the homing lasers and the buster rifle! Your homing laser can be activated by holding your normal attack in fighter stance and then holding your armor stance attack. This releases a volley of missiles which automatically lock onto enemies and kill them. Your buster rifle can be activated while holding your attack in armor stance and then holding your fighter stance attack, this unleashes a devastating laser! Firing the buster rifle negates enemy bullets and knocks your craft back a little bit due to recoil.
When it comes to your energy bar, you simply have to keep a good balance between energy and special attacks. Your energy bar fills over time as you collect energy shards, up to a maximum of level 5. Your normal attack in fighter stance gets stronger as your energy reaches higher levels, so trying to balance your special moves and energy requires constant attention.
The game is also somewhat forgiving, while a lot of games in this genre are a 1 hit kill when it comes to your craft, ALLTYNEX Second gives you an extra chance and makes you able to withstand 2 shots. But while the other 2 games in this series were very mild when it came to continues, this one is far from it. You only have 2 continues and each continue gives you 2 lives, so essentially you can only die about 6 times before you get the “Game Over” screen. This might look like a lot of lives, but newcomers will struggle a lot before getting used to it.
Another interesting mechanic is the combo bonus, every time you kill enemies within 0,6 seconds of each other, you obtain a combo point. The bonus only begins after the 4th unit is destroyed, so killing a lot of small enemies in quick concession can rack up a lot of points. Your basic scoring method will be killing all the small enemies as quick as possible and then going in head first to kill the mid sized enemies with your blade.
And of course, if you’re looking to bring a bit of competition, you can always try to rank yourself on the online Steam Leaderboards!
Conclusion
ALLTYNEX Second brings yet another great game to the ALLTYNEX storyline by SITER SKAIN. It’s a very enjoyable game that has a lot of cool features, but it might be a little too hard for casual players. The game feels very balanced and it’s extremely satisfying once you get good at it. After playing all the games in the series, this one takes the cake!
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