Developer: Element Games, LLC
Publisher: Element Games, LLC
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Sky Cannoneer – Review
Recently it has become a hype to remaster older games. On some occasions a developer takes an old idea and makes a nice new game, for them it was Rampart. This fun and tactical game will have you build, maintain and destroy other castles while fending off different enemies. Sky Cannoneer feels like the spiritual successor to Rampart, with the same core gameplay, but with a slightly more modern twist.
Story
Life wasn’t doable anymore on our planet, therefore humans have risen to the skies to live on floating islands and man-made airships. There are two groups of people, those who believe in the Sky Lord and those who are Faithless. A war wages between the two factions and the youngest believer is Rain. Together with her staff, she will have to discover why the Faithless are opposing the god and stop them in their tracks.
During the gameplay you will have many interactions with the opposite side, telling the story slowly but at a steady pace. Naturally, Sky Cannoneer is more focused around gameplay, this makes the story come second.
Graphics
Early arcade games always had pretty simple graphics back in the days. However, Sky Cannoneer was able to capture the charismatic simple graphics of Rampart and place them into 2020. The game still has its simple layout and while graphically it doesn’t have many details, it has just enough details to look smooth with an easy overview. During the gameplay everything is explained clearly and thanks to the user-friendly U.I. you will always have a clear line of sight. At first, battles are slow, but rather quickly the pace picks ups and before you know it, there are twenty rockets flying and dragons attacking. The overall frame rate is very smooth and ensures that the player will have a great time.
Sound
In Sky Cannoneer there is decent music playing in the background, but nothing that winks back to the early days. Sound effects are really decent and enjoyable, impacts are heard, rockets audible soar through the sky and explode. Basically all the things you want to hear in an action game are widely represented with the sound effects.
Gameplay
Sky Cannoneer is an Arcade game that has a strong resemblance to the classic Rampart game. The goal is to defeat the enemy while keeping your fort healthy. The game starts really easy with only having one fort and a few cannons in your arsenal. You must destroy the opponent’s walls to lower the defenses on his power core. To win, you must destroy their power core while keeping yours working. When the walls are connected and your base is linked up (no holes in the walls) then everything is powered and you can battle. Once there is a hole in the wall left after the building phase, everything will power down and the power core is highly vulnerable for strikes.
The most memorable feature about this game is the way that you rebuild your base. After each attack round, you get to rebuild walls with Tetris-like bricks, so it is a mix between action and puzzle. While making progress through the story, you will unlock perks that allow overlapping walls to be placed. What makes Sky Cannoneer stand out between the old Rampart is the leveling and base building system. You always start with a one selected fort of four available (that is the same as Rampart) but forts can have special abilities like an extra cannon or speed loading rockets. Next, you also have small generators that give bonuses to nearby walls or cannons. Lastly, you also get base upgrades that change things such as ammunition and improving the way you can place your walls.
The story mode is pretty elaborate, there will be many fights and you will have to unlock certain upgrades to reach some floating forts. Not only will you have to face off against the Faithless, but also dragons. These fights can be really difficult but will grant you the help of the dragon in-game. When you combine your turrets, the dragon, and other items, you will notice that your firepower can become quite overwhelming. There is no moment in the game where you have absolute control as the opponent’s difficulty slightly raises each raid and this is nicely in balance with story progression.
In some battles you will have to defeat the power core, in other battles, such as boss battles, you must find the weak spot and destroy the enemy. After every few normal levels, there is a hard boss stage. All these stages are unique and post different challenges such as multiple hostiles at the same moment, or a destructive laser beam. There are a lot of levels to play and to increase the replay-ability you can play missions again to complete all the bonus objectives. You will unlock stars and parts to purchase new upgrades needed for your base or simply for progressing in the story.
Conclusion
Sky Cannoneer is a great successor to the Arcade classic Rampart. The core gameplay is the same and while adding some cool new features, they actually make the game even better. Graphics are charismatic and while the sound is just normal, this isn’t all that bad. There is an interesting story mode that you can either follow and enjoy or skip without losing too much information. The puzzle/action combination feels fluent and thanks to the available upgrades, it also respects modern gaming standards. If you either loved the classic Rampart or like action and puzzle games then you should definitely give Sky Cannoneer a try.
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