"Beautiful Destruction..."
Resogun is the newest PlayStation exclusive digital title from developer House Marque. They have built a solid reputation with the PlayStation nation through stellar games such as Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation. Resogun draws much stronger similarities to Super Stardust; another old school arcade shooter that was reimagined for the current generation. Super Stardust HD is most comparable to the classic Asteroids on a spherical map while Resogun is more of a Defender clone on a cylindrical map.
Resogun is the newest PlayStation exclusive digital title from developer House Marque. They have built a solid reputation with the PlayStation nation through stellar games such as Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation. Resogun draws much stronger similarities to Super Stardust; another old school arcade shooter that was reimagined for the current generation. Super Stardust HD is most comparable to the classic Asteroids on a spherical map while Resogun is more of a Defender clone on a cylindrical map.
In a nutshell, Resogun is all about saving humans from alien captivity and getting them back to your home base. Each of the five maps within the game has ten savable humans. They are being held within visible cages around the cylinder. In order to release a human from one of the cages, a group of keepers must first be destroyed. Their entrance onto the level is marked by the announcer's statement, "Keepers Detected." As opposed to normal enemies, the keepers will either have a green or red glow to them. If both green and red enemies are within the group of keepers, the green glowing enemies must be destroyed first. When all keepers are eliminated, a green beam will shoot off to the cage that releases a human. You must then follow markers to get to that human as quickly as possible to pick him up and bring him to a designated area for rescue to your mother ship, all while trying to survive the onslaught of alien enemies. If you don't get to the released human fast enough, an alien craft will suck him up with a tractor beam and he will be lost forever. The end of each level is marked with a boss battle. On normal mode, the boss battles are a bit too easy with the exclusion of the final boss. There are some good ideas buried within each, but I feel like the addition of an extra phase onto each boss would have gone a long way.
All in all, it's overwhelming, but that's what makes Resogun so satisfying. Even with all of the above bombarding you into sensory overload, Resogun never feels unfair. You always feel in complete control of your ship; so much so that any death can only be blamed on yourself. It is when you truly master each level and its enemy patterns that you will appreciate Resogun to the fullest. In order to master a level, it is all about saving every human, never dying, never using any bombs, and never losing your multiplier. Of course none of that is necessary. However, if you want any shot at hitting near the top of the leaderboards you better strive for a few of them.
To best have a shot at mastering a level, you must take advantage of every tool at your disposal; most important of all is the boost. Boosting not only gets you out of tough moments since it allows you to kill anything in your path; it also opens up the opportunity to collect some major points and build your multiplier quickly. The thing about boost is that it builds through the destruction of enemies. So as you're boosting through alien ships, your boost is building back up. If you're able to push through enemies swiftly enough, you could achieve a boost that sends you around the full map twice or even more. Of course another way to quickly get out of a jam is to set off a bomb clearing the entire map. However, as said earlier using bombs destroys your perfect run. Your score at the end of each level will take each bomb left in your arsenal and add big points onto your final score. But if the choice is between losing a bomb from your arsenal and death, choose the bomb every time; especially to see the beautiful destruction that will result.
The visuals in Resogun are very attractive, but it takes something like the detonation of a bomb to see the magic behind Resogun's graphics. This magic is also known as voxels. Every single element in the game environment is constructed from tiny little cubes; think Minecraft on a massive scale. With each enemy that you attack, the voxels will fall and collect on the floor of the cylindrical level. With larger enemies or bosses, the voxels will pile up to the point that they actually fall off the edges of the platform. This might not sound like much but in motion, it is wildly impressive; and when you think about the technology behind such a foundation to the graphical engine, it is plain to see that this simply wasn't possible in the previous generation.
However, Resogun is a game that would succeed even if it were developed for the PlayStation through or even the Vita. It succeeds because it is addictive. Battling your friends for the top of the leaderboard will keep you going at it for hours at a time. There are only five levels, but with four difficulty levels and different modes such as arcade and co-op, you will find plenty of reasons to keep coming back. On top of that, there are three different ships you can pilot in the game; each dramatically altering the way you play.
Ferox is the default spaceship, giving you the middle of the road in each attribute. Personally, I achieved the platinum by using Nemesis. As said earlier, the boost is your most important tool and Nemesis builds it up the fastest making it much easier to hold onto your multipliers. Its agility also helps tremendously with avoiding danger when overloaded with dozens of enemies on screen. However, that doesn't mean it's the best ship for attaining the highest scores. I know Phobos is quite popular for that due to its overdrive advantage. Overdrive is the final ability that I have not discussed. When destroying an enemy, they will drop glowing green cubes that can be collected. These help towards reaching overdrive, a charging beam that can swallow all enemies in its path quickly building your multiplier and points as well. Depending on your play style, this advantage might make up for Phobos lacking in agility and boost. Or if you're the guy that always chooses Mario in Mario Kart - the happy medium, maybe Ferox is the ship for you.
Verdict:
Resogun is the best launch title for the PlayStation 4. You might think that implies a poor launch for Sony's next generation console, but it doesn't at all. Resogun is just that good. The visuals are beautiful, the controls are tight, the music is solid, but most of all Resogun is fun and addictive. As someone who has attained the platinum and reached a #7 arcade ranking in the world, I still feel a desire to return here and there. The problem is that I feel like I've already gotten everything I wanted out of the game. Twenty or so hours with a free (PlayStation Plus) game is nothing to scoff at though. House Marque has once again taken a classic concept and perfected it for a new audience and generation.
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| Boost will be your best friend... |
The visuals in Resogun are very attractive, but it takes something like the detonation of a bomb to see the magic behind Resogun's graphics. This magic is also known as voxels. Every single element in the game environment is constructed from tiny little cubes; think Minecraft on a massive scale. With each enemy that you attack, the voxels will fall and collect on the floor of the cylindrical level. With larger enemies or bosses, the voxels will pile up to the point that they actually fall off the edges of the platform. This might not sound like much but in motion, it is wildly impressive; and when you think about the technology behind such a foundation to the graphical engine, it is plain to see that this simply wasn't possible in the previous generation.
However, Resogun is a game that would succeed even if it were developed for the PlayStation through or even the Vita. It succeeds because it is addictive. Battling your friends for the top of the leaderboard will keep you going at it for hours at a time. There are only five levels, but with four difficulty levels and different modes such as arcade and co-op, you will find plenty of reasons to keep coming back. On top of that, there are three different ships you can pilot in the game; each dramatically altering the way you play.
Ferox is the default spaceship, giving you the middle of the road in each attribute. Personally, I achieved the platinum by using Nemesis. As said earlier, the boost is your most important tool and Nemesis builds it up the fastest making it much easier to hold onto your multipliers. Its agility also helps tremendously with avoiding danger when overloaded with dozens of enemies on screen. However, that doesn't mean it's the best ship for attaining the highest scores. I know Phobos is quite popular for that due to its overdrive advantage. Overdrive is the final ability that I have not discussed. When destroying an enemy, they will drop glowing green cubes that can be collected. These help towards reaching overdrive, a charging beam that can swallow all enemies in its path quickly building your multiplier and points as well. Depending on your play style, this advantage might make up for Phobos lacking in agility and boost. Or if you're the guy that always chooses Mario in Mario Kart - the happy medium, maybe Ferox is the ship for you.
Verdict:
Resogun is the best launch title for the PlayStation 4. You might think that implies a poor launch for Sony's next generation console, but it doesn't at all. Resogun is just that good. The visuals are beautiful, the controls are tight, the music is solid, but most of all Resogun is fun and addictive. As someone who has attained the platinum and reached a #7 arcade ranking in the world, I still feel a desire to return here and there. The problem is that I feel like I've already gotten everything I wanted out of the game. Twenty or so hours with a free (PlayStation Plus) game is nothing to scoff at though. House Marque has once again taken a classic concept and perfected it for a new audience and generation.
SCORE CARD
Awesome arcade shoot 'em up concept +3
High replayability for those constantly striving for a higher score +2
Catchy music and clever sound design (human comments) +1
Addictive in the best way possible +4
Underwhelming bosses - .5
Five levels might be too little for some - .5
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