https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKsTTu-SSHU&list=PLIb_a695uFXDx-PuwZwsXjw3HtLeq-QPH&index=1
[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote]
[quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote]
[h1]Overall Rating - Seriously Flawed ★★☆☆☆[/h1]
[h1]First Impressions[/h1]
I stumbled across Armored Evolution (AE) randomly, knowing very little about it, but saw the good reviews. Plus, I enjoy an overhead arena shooter from time to time. One aspect of AE that stood out before I even tried it was the achievement distribution, as the percentages only range from 15-16.5%. Some of them seem like they'd be hard to get, so I'm rather surprised by how tight this range is. Were most people who booted the game up going all in like this?
[h1] Gameplay [/h1]
The first game mode is Campaign, where you'll pit your avatar against waves of enemies, which tend to follow a general theme. For instance, the first world had quite a few rocket turrets, and the third one implemented turtles with flamethrowers. There are seven planets, each made up of eight stages, and every 4th stage is a boss battle. You start with a single avatar, but as you progress, you'll unlock a variety of machinery to pilot, along with different weapons and abilities you can equip them with. Also, you can upgrade both the items you equip your avatar with, as well as the avatar itself, which is necessary to survive against the stronger enemies you face. After beating the Campaign, you can try out Endless Mode. As expected, you try to survive through as many waves as possible, and based on the achievements, it can go to at least 100.
When it comes to the difficulty settings, there are three choices: Recruit, Soldier, and Veteran serving as easy, medium, and hard respectively. In addition to this, you can choose to toggle on Hardcore, which enacts perma-death. Instead of just losing an avatar if it is killed in combat, which I think would have been sensible since that doesn't happen normally, your entire profile is deleted if you die at all. So, be sure not to try out a new part or avatar on a late stage, lest you get wrecked with a set-up you dislike.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2276268765
[h1]Controls[/h1]
When looking at the trailers, I would have sworn this was a twin-stick shooter. However, you can't even use a controller to play the game, having to rely on mouse and keyboard controls. Though this wasn't the control scheme I'd have preferred, it works out well enough.
[h1]Story[/h1]
There's no story elements to AE. I thought there might have been some explanation as to why you're piloting an avatar against all these other machines across various planets, but there isn't one. As it is, this game plays like an arcade title, with RPG elements.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2276267525
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
AE certainly takes place in a space setting, with the backdrop of the night sky, and many arenas looking to be on asteroids. The walking mechs and turrets shooting out laser beams, missiles, and bouncing energy balls build up a futuristic, sci-fi world as well. However, I find the inclusion of tanks a bit of an odd contrast, as they always make me think of older games inspired by what was at the time recent, real-life wars. Regardless, with the consistent theming in place, I'd say the visuals are pretty good. The terrain looks like it has texture to it, embers and debris emanate from blown-up enemies, and the shadows from background objects make the environment look realistic. Some of the attacks and weapon icons look flat and uninteresting, but that's about my only complaint.
[h1]Sound Design[/h1]
It's a bit hard to tell since I didn't find a soundtrack, but I think each world has unique music. I also know that there's specific boss music. Either way, there isn't much variety in how the music sounds, as it seems to use similar instrumentation for each song. Overall, though it has a theme that fits space-oriented combat, it doesn't stand out very much.
[h1]Pros[/h1]
🌟 You can play this title with three other people through online play. However, this is because of the control scheme and lack of controller support, as otherwise, you'd theoretically have been able to do so locally as well.
🌟 There's a decent range in weapons, so you'll likely find something that suits your style.
🌟 If you manage not to be hit or get chain kills, you're rewarded with extra money.
[h1]Cons[/h1]
❌ I wouldn't say the game is particularly hard, but some enemies can devastate you if they get in close. With the way stages load enemies in waves, when playing a new level, it's easy to be caught in a bad location because you don't know any better. For this reason, I'd never try hardcore mode, as it'd be far too easy to get wiped out because you forgot where a cluster of enemies spawn.
❌ Seeing as how you can have several avatars at once, I don't see why the Hardcore option wipes out all of your progress instead of simply destroying an avatar that loses its battle. It's entirely optional, but it seems rather severe.
❌ It seems like the rewards for beating a level are RNG-based. It'd have been preferable if they were based on how well you did in the fight, or pertained to significant events, such as beating a world boss.
[h1]Tips[/h1]
🔍 I found the Nova Bounce to be particularly effective, seeing as it'll kill enemies that I'm not even aware of. However, the game doesn't distinguish between your attacks and enemies', so if you use the same weapons, the projectiles look the same.
🔍 The rewards for clearing earlier levels is smaller in contrast to what's available in later worlds. However, there's no limitation on how often you can replay earlier stages, which is ideal for grinding credits.
🔍 Sometimes an avatar won't allow you to use one of the equipment slots. Otherwise, though it'll have a default equipped in each available one, you can switch it out for something you prefer more.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
Though I'm not fond of having to play with the mouse and keyboard, it functions well enough that it wasn't a decisive factor for me. Instead, the issue is how it doesn't entertain or engage me. I've played several games of this style before, and there's nothing here that makes this experience stand out. At least, not in a good way, and a lack of any story elements certainly doesn't help matters. For a while, I'd considered giving AE a cautious recommendation, but as I considered its design in greater detail, I realized how many flaws there were. I don't recommend this title, because it makes quite a few missteps.
[table]
[tr]
[th]PC Specs[/th]
[th]Performance[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ryzen 2700
RTX 2070
16GB RAM
ADATA SSD
1920x1080
[/td]
[td]The game ran without incident on default settings.
💖 - AE is healthy
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
SKILL-BASED