[b]SUMMARY[/b]
"7 Days Heroes" is a retro-styled 2D platformer in which you strategically control up to 4 different characters, each with their own unique abilities.
[b] STORY & PRESENTATION[/b]
- The game's story is about three friends and their pet pug who must save the world from an AI that is turning people into zombies.
- Following the completion of each world, you will be presented with an animated cutscene that advances the storyline. These are satisfying to watch and also feel very rewarding.
[b] CONTROLS[/b]
- Overall, the basic controls are pretty smooth.
- In terms of movement, all 4 characters can perform double jumps, wall jumps and wall slides.
- Weapons and special abilities vary between characters, as will be described later.
[b] GAMEPLAY[/b]
- The core gameplay is that of a 2D platformer but instead of playing as one character, you are responsible for guiding up to 4 characters across the level.
- Essentially, you choose one character to control as the "active" character, while the others remain "passive". You can either make the passive characters follow you (if you are close enough) or wait in a spot (and control them individually later). Your decisions regarding this will impact your experience and overall progress. You'll need to be careful as your friends don't always follow you accurately. What I did most of the time was play as the main hero and made the others wait in a spot. And once I cleared the area of enemies, I switched to the other players and moved them forward safely. Thus, you will need to adapt to the layout of the levels and devise strategies to clear the level.
- Only the character you're controlling takes damage from enemies and hazards while the others are unfazed by enemy bullets and hazards. However, switching to a character that's standing in a hazard can have lethal consequences.
- In some levels, the focus is on run & gun action. In other levels, you'll have to perform jumping challenges. In yet other levels, you'll need to do a bit of exploration. This variety keeps the game feeling fresh throughout.
- Lives are unlimited, but you need to clear a level in order to save your progress. Exiting the level before you beat it will erase all your progress on that level and you'll have to re-start from the beginning of that level.
- The game has above average difficulty.
[b] LEVEL DESIGN[/b]
- There are 32 levels (including boss levels) set in 7 zones that are accessed through an over-world map.
- There is a wide variety in level design.
- In order to beat a level you need to find a key that is hidden in a container somewhere in the level and then guide all the characters to the exit point. But beware! if one of them dies on the way, all characters will have to restart at the beginning of the level, or the checkpoint!
- Regarding their layout, most levels follow a simple and linear path. However, some levels feature multiple branching paths that lead to items or rewards.
- Occasionally, there are doors that can be opened by either activating a switch or a key obtained from a different level.
[b] ENEMY AND BOSS DESIGNS[/b]
- The game's enemies and bosses are either humanoid (zombies of various types, soldiers, cave monsters, mummies), machines (helicopters, tanks, drones, robots), animals (rats, boars, eagles, fish, monkeys) and fantastical (slimes, mythical beasts).
- Bosses have 1 or 2 attacks that are pretty simple. Most bosses spam bullets and projectiles. They can feel rather repetitive and sometimes even difficult but can be defeated once you learn their patterns and keep a "safe distance" from them.
[b] ITEMS[/b]
- The primary collectible is a "nano-bot" which is dropped by defeated enemies. It's basically functions as the classic "gold coin" and can be used to upgrade weapons.
- Each level has a crate that contains a "treasure", which is either a weapon or grants a useful special ability. These abilities can only be collected by the player that's designated to use it.
[b] WEAPONS[/b]
- Each of the 4 characters (main hero, girl, second hero and pug) can acquire and use numerous weapons and abilities by collecting items found in crates.
- The main hero uses various guns (pistol, SMG, Assault Rifle and Shotgun). While guns have infinite bullets, they need to be reloaded once the magazine is emptied. This means you need to keep an eye on the number of bullets you're carrying while engaging with enemies. Bullets have a rather limited range in the sense they don't travel to the end of the screen but disappear after a while.
- The girl can shoot orbs and teleport players to her location (which is an extrmely useful power to have).
- The second hero can operate a magnet that attracts collectibles. He can also use a flamethrower and throw grenades.
- The pug can dash, stick to walls and jump extra high.
[b]VISUALS[/b]
- The game uses simplistic retro pixel artwork that are consistent and pleasing to look at.
- The character sprites are minimalistic looking and have a "cute" look to them.
[b] SOUND[/b]
- Lovely background synth music.
- Good SFX
[b] FINAL THOUGHTS[/b]
"7 Days Heroes" is a fun platformer from start to finish. Sure, some aspects of it such as the 4 player control might initially feel cumbersome but in my view, they contribute to the gameplay experience by encouraging players to strategize and contemplate their actions before impulsively proceeding. It also has fairly good replay value as there are plenty of hidden items to be found. Overall, I'm glad I added it to my collection of 2D platformers.
End of the day, I had a good time playing this and I highly recommend it to fans of platformers and 2D games in general.
Thanks for reading.
(End of Review)
