Circuit Breakers

[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'm trying to remember which bundle I got Circuit Breakers (CB) from, but it must have been from a while ago since I can't seem to figure that out. Due to it having local coop available, it was one I had set aside for when I had a friend over, so that would make sense. Having tried another game earlier that day, which he hadn't liked very much, it wound up that after trying CB, I was the one that wasn't so thrilled by the experience. Playing the other game on my own, I found it just as fun by myself, but when I gave this game another shot to see if I was being too harsh, my initial reaction didn't change any. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Starting off, there's two main game modes. Arcade, which is the stage clearing, roguelite portion of the game. Wavebuster is CB's take on a TD game, and although its functional, the game wasn't originally designed around this idea, so it would only be there to pass some time if you got bored. Score Attack is an additional mode under the Extra menu, where you play through a handful of stages with more enemies spawning than normal so you can get a high score. However, no matter which mode you play, you will only have access to one gun at any time, based on what character you picked. Stages can spawn power-ups, such as health refills and even a gun upgrade, but you'll always rely upon a single weapon. When killing enemies they'll drop white pellets called energium, and if you collect enough of them, your weapon will increase a level up to a max of three. The reason this doesn't work is that energium is also used as the ammo for your gun, and upgrading the gun requires you to fill the magazine to the top and get a few more pellets for the level up. If the upgrade included some bonus ammo or you had a weak secondary weapon with infinite ammo to swap between, you could make this work. However, with the upgrade system overlapping with your ammo, for the sole weapon you can use to kill enemies, you're constantly undermining yourself. Not killing enemies isn't an option, as they won't time out or die to stage hazards, so you have to use your upgrade potential to shoot them. I really dislike this system. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800439491 [h1]Controls[/h1] Although you can play CB like a twin stick shooter, you don't strictly have to, as the face buttons will also fire your weapon. Either way, your character can only fire in eight cardinal directions. I won't pretend that twin stick shooters always have great aim when you can shoot freely, but this strict limitation favors a certain movement and approach on how you face enemies, especially since you'll try to be conserving your ammo instead of constantly firing. So it's functional, but I can't say I love how it pairs up with the gameplay. [h1]Story[/h1] I would have expected some storyline behind the game, but you just jump in and start killing robots. The lack of framing or a significant sense of progression makes the gameplay all the more repetitive. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800439215 [h1]Visuals[/h1] Considering the name of the game, along with how arenas and bosses look, CB has the appearance of taking place within a computer or a system like it. Although they're a bit simple looking, I appreciate the stylized appearance and aesthetic that the developers were going for. I'll admit though, this theming seems underutilized since it could have easily developed into a story about a task force that attacks hostile forces in the digital realm. Since they probably have their own concept of what's taking place, why not expand on it and share it with the players? [h1]Sound Design[/h1] Frankly, I had to really go out of my way to notice the music because the gunfire drowns out most of it. I believe there's a few different tracks available, and the order they're played in might be randomized, but it's hard to tell. Since the audio balancing is askew all I can really say is that the songs sounded alright when I could make them out, but is largely irrelevant since few will likely notice it at all. However, it did have a tendency to drone on when I was able to make it out. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800439768 [h1]Pros[/h1] 🌟 There's a handful of starting characters to play as, each with their own unique weapon, such as a missile launcher and laser beam. More can be unlocked by completing challenges (basically achievements) through the game, such as killing 20 bosses. From some of the terms used, it may also unlock different variants of the main game modes. 🌟 The character challenges give you something to focus on while playing. 🌟 It has local and online four player coop available. [h1]Cons[/h1] ❌ The upgrade system makes you second guess your instincts to shoot enemies and protect yourself. After all, if you can hold back, you might be able to power up your weapon, but you've gotta carefully conserve your ammo and shots to make that work. It's one thing to reward accuracy and ammo management, but I don't think this is the right way to do it. ❌ I really dislike the enemies that rocket toward you, because when you're being cornered, it's hard to pick them off amongst all the other enemies. ❌ Some of the stages you fight in are small and cramped, which really puts you at a disadvantage. [h1]Tips[/h1] 🔍 It's tempting to not fire your weapon, but that's a fool's bargain. Shooting your weapon as enemies are around will help keep their numbers manageable, and you can worry about your ammo and upgrading the gun when you're in a more favorable situation. 🔍 No matter what, you'll lose a gun level if you take any damage. Therefore it's always ideal if you can avoid that. Better to make use of a stronger gun by firing it than trying to be too stingy, getting hit, and losing the level anyways. 🔍 If you play coop, you can stagger respawns to keep all players in the game. However, doing this will lead to everyone being weak, and may not be very feasible. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] It might sound extreme to state that one mechanic can make or break a game, but choices like this can and will change how the entire game plays, as well as what attitude the player takes towards it. For instance, Heavy Bullets (HB) places a strict bullet count on the player, which is more harsh than how CB plays. However, that game very carefully designs the stage layout and enemy encounters around that system, and makes for intense, skill focused gun fights, where every shot counts, and determines whether you'll love or hate that game. To be fair, HB isn't for everybody. The same is true here, and unfortunately wasn't a decision that made for gameplay people really appreciate. I don't recommend it, as though people can overcome and master it, it's not made in a way that invigorates the player. My play time has been inflated by card farming, as I got bored of it before too long. [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. 💖 - CB is healthy [/td] [/tr] [/table]