CounterAttack: Uprising

It makes me sad with how awful it is. You go up, you go down, everything dies... Bosses in seconds, boring upgrades and ♥♥♥♥♥♥ music.

横スクロールシューティングゲームでグラディウスのようにパワーアップアイテムを拾って装備を強化していく。 ●良かった点や気になった点(ハードステージに入ったばかりの状態での感想) ・ステージは分岐になっていて上ルートに進むと難しくなっていくが、ハードになった途端に急に難しい。 ・敵が固く撃ち負けることがよくある。特にスタート時のパワーアップしていない状態だとひどい。 ・パワーアップアイテムがあまり出ないせいか、中々パワーアップできずにしんどい。 ・上記の敵が固いことから爽快感を感じにくくストレスになる。 ・背景の色が敵弾(赤色)に近いと見えづらい。 ・自機の当たり判定が大きい気がする。「今のって当たったの？」と思う時が何度かあった。 ・モジュールや武器を集めるために何周も同じステージをプレイすることになる。強力な装備がないとハード以降はお話にならない。 数時間程度プレイしてみただけだが、ちょっとばかりイマイチな印象だった。

无限“致敬”宇宙巡航机（或者说沙罗曼蛇）的打飞机游戏，系统上有些许创新，允许你自己搭配想要的模组之类的，还增加了一些大招啊什么的。 因为价格便宜，买来玩玩挺不错的，就是那个音乐太难崩了，大部分时间像是塞着P眼在崩闷屁，有一种来自牙买加大喇叭的破音hardcore节奏的美感，不行你让 AI 做几首曲子也行啊。

CounterAttack: Uprising is a modern reinterpretation of the classic horizontal shoot-’em-up that successfully blends old-school arcade intensity with contemporary systems focused on customization, replayability, and cooperative play. Developed by Relative Games and published by Relative Software LTD., the game drops players into a desperate defense of Earth against the relentless Automaton invasion, using a framework that feels immediately familiar to genre veterans while steadily revealing far more depth than a traditional arcade shooter might suggest. What initially appears to be a straightforward side-scrolling action game quickly expands into a feature-rich experience designed to reward experimentation, mastery, and long-term engagement. At the heart of CounterAttack: Uprising is fast, responsive shooting that captures the essential rhythm of classic shmups. Ships glide smoothly across the screen, enemy fire patterns are readable yet demanding, and survival depends on constant movement and split-second decision-making. The game does not shy away from filling the screen with projectiles and enemies, but it balances chaos with clarity, ensuring that success feels earned rather than random. Every explosion, near-miss, and narrowly avoided death reinforces the adrenaline-fueled flow that defines the genre, making even short play sessions feel intense and satisfying. Where the game truly distinguishes itself is in its expansive customization system. Instead of relying on fixed power-up paths, CounterAttack: Uprising offers hundreds of ship attachments that dramatically alter how your craft behaves. Weapons, engines, defensive modules, drones, and special abilities can be mixed and matched to create wildly different builds, encouraging players to tailor their ship to their preferred style of play. Some configurations favor raw firepower and screen-clearing offense, while others emphasize survivability, speed, or support capabilities. This depth transforms each run into a strategic exercise, as players constantly refine their loadouts to better handle escalating threats. Progression is structured around a branching campaign map that gives players meaningful choices about which stages to tackle and in what order. With dozens of levels and multiple routes through the campaign, each playthrough can unfold differently depending on risk tolerance and build strength. Easier paths allow for steady upgrades and safer progression, while harder routes offer greater rewards at the cost of increased difficulty. This design adds a layer of tactical planning uncommon in arcade shooters, reinforcing the sense that preparation and decision-making matter just as much as reflexes. Combat variety is further enhanced by the roster of playable pilots, each bringing unique abilities and ultimate attacks into battle. These characters add personality to the experience and subtly influence how ships are best built and used. Combined with escalating enemy designs and increasingly elaborate boss encounters, the game maintains a strong sense of momentum throughout its campaign. Boss fights in particular stand out as memorable skill checks, often demanding precise movement, intelligent use of abilities, and a deep understanding of your ship’s strengths and limitations. Multiplayer is one of CounterAttack: Uprising’s strongest features, dramatically amplifying its appeal. The game supports both local and online cooperative play, turning the already chaotic action into a shared spectacle of coordinated firepower and mutual support. In co-op, strategic synergy becomes crucial, as players can build complementary ships that cover each other’s weaknesses or amplify shared strengths. The screen-filling mayhem becomes even more exhilarating with multiple players, and the cooperative systems encourage teamwork rather than simple parallel play. Visually, the game embraces a vibrant, arcade-inspired aesthetic that prioritizes readability and impact. Explosions are bold, weapon effects are colorful, and enemy designs are distinct enough to remain recognizable even amid heavy action. While the art direction may not push technical boundaries, it serves the gameplay extremely well, ensuring that critical information is always visible despite the constant on-screen chaos. The audio design complements this approach, with punchy sound effects and energetic music that reinforce the pace and urgency of combat. Beyond the core modes, CounterAttack: Uprising offers additional longevity through survival challenges, leaderboards, and creative tools that allow players to design and share their own levels. These features extend the game’s lifespan well beyond the main campaign, appealing to competitive players and creative fans alike. The inclusion of user-generated content and score-based challenges reinforces the arcade spirit while providing modern avenues for community engagement. While the sheer volume of systems and customization options can feel overwhelming at first, the game gradually eases players into its complexity. Those willing to invest time into understanding its mechanics are rewarded with a deeply flexible and replayable shooter that grows richer the more it is explored. Players looking for a simple, one-button arcade experience may find it denser than expected, but for those who enjoy tinkering, optimizing builds, and chasing mastery, this depth becomes one of its greatest strengths. Ultimately, CounterAttack: Uprising stands as a standout example of how classic shoot-’em-up design can evolve without losing its core identity. By combining tight arcade action with extensive customization, branching progression, and robust cooperative play, it delivers an experience that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly modern. For fans of shmups, co-op arcade action, or games that reward experimentation and skill in equal measure, it offers a rich and enduring battle against overwhelming odds. Rating: 8/10

While it looks and feels fairly unpromising in the first few minutes, once the surprisingly robust power-up and customization systems in the game (some of the most extensive I've seen outside of R-Type Final) begin to unfold it quickly gains interest. The campaign, while always the same, offers a wide selection of difficulty depending on which path you choose, with upper missions being more difficult a la Star Fox 64, and while enemy types are not the most varied, the stages themselves offer enough diversity that the slightly limited enemy selection doesn't stale too quickly, with some being planet-side or outer space fights against your standard enemy waves, while others feature dangerous terrain to navigate. It's certainly worth the price on sale, and probably worth it off sale too.

Guns guns guns! We have more guns! Brilliant fast paced shooter - easy, difficult and insane difficulties, really balanced!

It takes something special to standout in the SHUMP genre. While this isn't it, it's not awful either. It just is. The upgrade system seems a little worthless at times, at others almost distracting. The system and weapons unlocks probably have some meaning behind, but I'm just not interested. And that's the problem there's nothing interesting about this game, even the levels are kind of bland. You just hold down the fire bottom and everything seems to die. But it isn't awful. And its one of those games that I'll probably return to on the Steam Deck, as it runs really well without eating the battery up. I wouldn't have paid the £13 it's asking for though. Framerate holds up well on the Steam Deck on around 7 watts. Ideal for Deck: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43052238-Ideal-for-Deck/

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Best in genre

A straightforward shoot em up. Nothing special about the gameplay, the boss fights are fairly simple and the some of the attachment loadouts either hinder or do nothing at all, so far as I can see. The music is mundane, but it is satisfying though ploughing through wave after wave of enemies.