Asterism: Apex of War

Formal Review of "Apogee: Apex of War" for Steam: Playability: -Pros: This single-player campaign focused 1st/3rd person shooter explores a futuristic series of worlds linked via an in-game portal looping system. The player may choose between views according to their preference (I preferred the 1st-person view mode in this game). Running/Sprinting/Jumping functions well, and does not glitch on take-off or landing. A summation of 15 boss fights is climactically overcome over the high-value ~20 hours of solid gameplay. The developer took their time to create a variety of worlds, each unique in their own regard, rather than being a single-environment game. I felt this was a strong point for Apogee, as I get bored with many games that trap the player in a single environment. A fancy feature I also enjoyed was how the powering up blinked me into the direction of my momentum without glitching (unlike other games I have played). Blinking made dominating my enemies possible, as this game forces the player to also be resourceful and strategic in their combat (much like one would imagine in real life). The variety in enemies (I counted ~49 unique enemies, and an uncountable permutation of color-variety based on biomes thereafter) was also a strong point. -Cons: I would like to see more guns added to Apogee in future development (I counted ~5 during my adventures); furthermore, I would like a last-stand weapon, and tertiary weapons. While this forces the player to be strategic in their combat (not having back-up weaponry), I could see where weaker-minded players may suffer frustration-fatigue. Sound: -Pros: I played Apogee with a nice Sony sound system for an immersive experience, and found the quality of the sound effects to be high quality, and the music to be supportive of the overall experience. -Cons: None noted. Graphics: -Pros: The main character is detailed and dynamic without notable glitching, and moves in a realistic manner that adds to the momentum dynamics mentioned earlier. The enemy NPCs are well-designed and do not glitch through the environment (unlike many brand games we all know). The cloaking, movement, and destruction effects are well-done! The environments are 4k but do not seem to tax the system, which tells me this developer spent time optimizing meshes (appears to be a system that loads the direct-vicinity objects seamlessly) …well done. I also checked on the core-usage and this game takes advantage of ALL of your cores; thus, Apogee was very smooth even on my lesser machines! I believe this game will play well on computer with a GTX-960 with only 8G ram. Apogee inspires me in the sense that an indie developer like this was able to make a beautiful game for basically everyone! -Cons: I’m a picky reviewer of games, and I really like customizing my playable characters. In Apogee the protagonist maintains the same looks throughout, and I would like to see more customizations beyond just the power-ups chosen at each level. In-game purchases: None (thank God). How Apogee stacks up against games in its category: -Pros: This game creates a niche for itself in the realms of physics and mechanics. While players will feel like they’re playing a Dead Space meets Halo meets old games like SOCOM meets Mass Effect, the game definitely has its own style versus these patterned machines. People play games for the story, much like reading a great book (whether they believe it or not), and Apogee has a well-crafted story of its own – I enjoyed “turning the pages” with each level and world. -Cons: The worlds could be bigger (with the exception of the Mars level). Maybe the developer could make worlds wider, and more explorable instead of just pushing the player towards their goals with occasional hunts for ammunition. Hallmark games in this category often feature this ability to get “lost” within the worlds we play. Let's hope for further games in Apogee's lineage, and maybe even some multiplayer! Disclosures and Recommendations: I am an individual player, I paid for this game, I was not paid to write this review nor was I contacted to write this. I have no conflict of interest to disclose. I love art, science, and supporting new ideas! I hope this game inspires you to buy, because I personally believe this game is a gift to the world of players and gamers – from the story to the care taken on the graphics and physics, this truly is a piece of art! As you can see, I am rather picky, and I do not hold back. Take this honest review for what it is worth, but if you ask me, my overall synopsis is to support this small developer and take this story for a spin!

Do you like EDF games? This is like that with robots replacing the bugs, and the enemies being slightly smaller, smaller locales too, but the action is just as much fun as those EDF shooters. The game is a little janky, but very playable, runs pretty smooth too, overall I was hoping this would be as fun as the trailer was, and it is. I hope it gets a little love and care so it can really shine, but I am glad to have supported this dude, he gave me a great gift, a fun game, nothing better than that. Thanks dude, I really love what you created. (Update, the game is very challenging but fun, however, one major issue does really hamper/ruin the experience, ammo does not drop nearly enough, so I end up dying due to a lack of ammo, instead of being bested by the A.I fairly.)