[quote]Just saying, but I do have a curator page. If you somehow like my remarks about games, you can find more of them here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44130985-TDP%27s-Gaming-Escapades [/quote]
A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX is one of my longest owned games. I remember buying it, playing it for an hour or two and then just putting it aside. As I was going through my backlog, I wondered "Why not revisit this game as well?". But I don't think I was expecting to be literally clueless after playing it. And not because it's a bad game, but because it feels so normal. So I implore you to read on as I really need to explain the "Not Recommended" rating.
One thing I have to address is that prior to reviewing this game, I had no knowledge of the major changes the devs made, going from the original to the EX version. I would have loved to get the previous version and cover the differences between the two; However, as I do not currently have the means to do that, I need to postpone it to the future and update this review if I ever decide to play the other one as well.
[h2]Mega Man X8? Is that you?[/h2]
Okay, I need to get this out of my system first.
This game highly reminds me of MMX8. As if the devs saw that game and went "Yeah we can make something like this but better" and made their own version of it. The hit combo system, the metal parts that fall out of enemies, the areas where you get locked in with pre-set patterns of enemies and get rewarded afterwards, the animation that plays while obtaining new powers, strict and trial-and-error-based autoscrollers and hazards that OHK you upon making a tiny mistake... all of them are highly reminiscent of MMX8. Not to mention some specific environment design in the final level that really remind me of Optic Sunflower's stage.
Is that a bad thing? Not really. Granted, I never finished MMX8 without cheating because of how BS the platforming got on final stages, but I liked playing it while growing up as a teenager. Now let's get to the actual part of this review.
[h2]Just your usual 2D action game...[/h2]
You know, I really cannot describe this game in detail. The game is just... alright. That's it. It's just your usual 2D action game that doesn't bring anything new to the table and doesn't blow you away, but is not a awful game either. It just does every established and accepted thing in the genre to make for a decent experience.
The game consists of 7 levels, with one of the playable characters (Ares or Tarus) progressing through them, fighting bosses at the end of each of them and aqcuiring new weapons or abilities, which in turn can be used to get to previously inaccessible areas in past levels. When it comes to controls, it really feels like a touched up mixture of the main cast's moveset from MMX8: You can fire your weapon freely in any direction, with two methods of firing giving you the choice of either running and gunning whatever is in front of you, or having more precision. You can also double jump, hover in mid-air or use vertical and horizontal dashes to get around (which the last two are character specific). After defeating the enemies, some items will drop out of them that not only act as the game's currency for purchasing upgrades (which unlocking all of them requires grinding), but also charges up the characters' super bar in order to unleash their special skill.
See? The game seems very normal for something in this genre. The character designs are nicely made, the music is really good and I commend the developers for going with decently-made animated cutscenes for their game, but the gameplay itself really doesn't have anything that makes it something you would like to recommend everyone else to play. It just feels like more of the same thing you probably have played in the past, but better in some aspects.
[h2]It does have issues though...[/h2]
Unfortunately, there are moments in the game when stuff don't work as you expect them to. Sometimes I failed to activate Ares' ultimate attack, with the animation suddenly getting cut off. Sometimes my super attack did zero damage to the bosses as their temporary shields cannot be broken and nullify all damage. Sometimes I get hit while attempting to use an ability, as the start up animation takes a while to finish and the enemies can attack you during it. Trying to jump off from the edge of a platform is incredibly janky, leading to my button presses not getting recognized and the main character falling to their doom. The reverse happens sometimes as well, with the jank making me unable to jump over an obstacle and getting crushed by the hazards or autoscroller events. None of these are game breaking, but are really annoying when you encounter them.
But by far, the biggest misstep of the game is the implementation of the new playable character being highly lackluster. The new playable character, Tarus, follows a "what if?" scenario story-wise, has a different moveset and even their weapons have different firing modes compared to Ares. For example, The first unlockable weapon is a rapid fire machine gun for Ares, and a short-range stream weapon (something like a flamethrower) for Tarus. However, the level design doesn't change to accommodate for Tarus' abilities and everything (even the location of upgrades) will be the same for both of the characters, ultimately resulting in Tarus becoming the inferior character and the unfun way of playing the game. The very first noticeable instance for this issue shows itself in the third stage, when the game introduces switches that require rapid fire to be activated and while Ares can breeze through them, Tarus doesn't have such leisure thanks to limited range of his weapons.
[h2]TL;DR[/h2]
It's a game that's "alright" and never goes beyond or below that. It might provide 4 hrs of fun for those who haven't played a lot of games, but others will find it to be just another normal action game.
