![]() ![]() Still, these are minor asides for a game that is, at its core, a fun time-waster, especially for those who like to grind away on high score leaderboards. Saving aliens becomes a near impossibility once you're peppering your foes with a ton of bullets at a time, rendering this interesting feature somewhat moot and half-baked. But capture him, and you'll earn some extra cash for your digital wallet. Shoot him, and you'll negate a possible monetary bonus. ![]() Likewise, every so often, an alien pilot will bail out of his crippled ship. Every so often, a ship you destroy will crumble into wreckage and fall towards you, allowing you to shoot it again for bonus points. Interestingly, the sheer chaos your upgraded ship can unleash does interfere with one of Titan Attacks' unique components. The real challenge comes from the busier levels with lots of crossfire and aggressively-roving enemies, but even then, you're usually only in danger of dying during one of the game's five boss battles (unless you've neglected to buy more health for your ship, at which point you could die just about anywhere). By the time you've maxed your ship's guns, bullet capacity, and speed, you'll be smashing your way through some late-game stages in literally seconds. Unfortunately, such upgrading slashes the difficulty perhaps too significantly. Indeed, much of the experience revolves around stashing away hard-earned loot to spend on increasingly significant alterations to your craft, like the addition of new guns, the ability to shoot more bullets at a time, and - perhaps most critically - the hording of defensive energy that allows you to withstand endless barrages of enemy fire (and the occasional ill-timed ship collision). Apart from the speed of the game and the overall mayhem on your screen, a major differentiator between Titan Attacks and Space Invaders is Titan Attacks' emphasis on earning money to buy ship upgrades. It's easy to develop a rhythm while playing, and part of Titan Attacks draw is that you're likely to see a demonstrable increase in your own skill level after only a little bit of practice. It's a simple and undeniably fun premise, one that doesn't take too much thought or require too much attention. Enemies will rove back and forth atop the screen - and some will even shoot back at you with all manner of lasers and bombs - and it's up to you to move along with them, dodging their assaults while obliterating them as quickly as possible. You'll see everything it has to offer in only a couple of hours of play, but that's because it moves at such a fast clip. ![]() Unlike Space Invaders, Titan Attacks isn't plodding and deliberate. You shoot and you move, and that's pretty much it (unless you want to demolish your enemies with the occasional Smart Bomb, that is). Its depth isn't hidden underneath a litany of obtuse control options. The beauty of such an easy control scheme - another hallmark of old-school arcade shooters - is that it's accessible. To play Titan Attacks, simply abuse the X button on your DualShock controller or Vita while using either the left analog stick or directional pad to move your ship to the left or to the right (there is no vertical movement allowed). Its sound effects and musical accompaniment aren't all that impressive, though I found the experience most fun on Vita while watching hockey on TV… so muting it is certainly a viable option. Titan Attacks looks both retro and modern, with simple graphics befitting a game like this, and it looks the part whether you're playing on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, or PlayStation Vita (Titan Attacks is cross-buy, and it plays virtually identically on all three platforms while sharing a Trophy list). Except this time around, those high scores are global and online instead of on a single machine in your local pizza parlor. Titan Attacks isn't as difficult as Space Invaders - nor is it as quintessentially excellent - but it does encompass the same spirit as Taito's coin-gobbling classic, keeping you engaged with its endless cycle of high score-chasing. As such, Taito's timeless arcade shooter Space Invaders - first released in 1978 - is the blatantly obvious inspiration for Titan Attacks, and developer Puppygames wisely decided to run towards the comparisons instead of trying to hide from them. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |