Critical Annihilation is an isometric twin-stick shooter with a voxel graphic style. Not only the graphics are made out of voxels, but the game itself is based upon a voxel engine, thus allowing for destructible environments and some pretty good looking particle and lighting effects when there is an explosion. It is also worth noting that the can be somewhat demanding on your computer, especially during big explosions due to all the particles flying and the big craters that appear on the ground. That said, the game already has a very detailed options menu so if you run into trouble running the game, you can do some tweaking and it will most likely run fine.
One thing I must say is that I’m not really one to play much of these top down survival shooters. Still, I was atracted by its rather unique look and was surprised that I found myself enjoying the gameplay as much as I did.
One other thing that surprised me was the soundtrack. I’m not much of a listener to this type of electronic music (dubstep?) but I must say that after playing the game for a few hours, it started feeling quite catchy and it kind of grew on me.
The core:
By looking at the game trailer and screenshots you can clearly guess what the game is all about, mowing down hordes of enemies. That said, I’m going to try to explain some other mechanics that the game has.
First and foremost, you have three different modes, one of which is not available at the moment. You have your campaign mode, that currently has 15 different missions, which allows you to unlock powerups, perks, weapons and the specific mission maps for survival mode. Survival mode, as you probably imagined, is just survive as long as you can. Last but by no means least, “classic survival” mode, which is unavailable at the moment, is basically survival mode but with no powerups and you select your weapon at the beginning, atleast according to its description. As with any other game of this genre, Critical Annihilation also features online highscore leaderboards.
Now, where the game gets interesting, atleast for me, is with the ability to choose different characters and improve them, unlock perks and different abilities. As of right now, you can choose between three different classes, Soldier, Engineer and Scout. Each one of them has their own ups and downs and you should try each one of them out and see which one better suits your playstyle. That said, the character progression is fast paced, every now and then you’ll be able to spend points to upgrade your stats (Life, Accuracy, Speed, Stamina, Regeneration and Shield). You’ll also be able to choose different perks and abilities for your current character.
Perks are basically passive abilities, such as increased life regeneration and the ability to make enemy bullets move slower. Abilities on the other hand are divided into two categories, offensive and defensive abilities. While playing you can activate your offensive ability with “Q” and your defensive ability with “E”. Examples of offensive abilities are things such as a sentry turret or an airstrike, while defensive abilties can be something like a plasma shield that makes you invulnerable for a short period of time or the ability to slow down time.
After killing them, some enemies will drop either weapons or powerups. Weapons range from your standard assault rifle, shotgun, laser pulse rifle, grenade launcher and minigun. The minigun particularly is really satisfying to use, since it completely obliterates waves of enemies. Powerups can be simple things such as medkits or life saving items such as nukes, turrets and rocket launchers. The nukes are my favourite because they cause a huge explosion and leave a hole on the ground.
One thing I also found out to be really helpful was the ability to jump, which is rather unusal for a game like this. Jumping allows you to shoot rockets above the enemies at the front so that the explosion hits the middle of a crowd, thus causing more casualties.
Verdict:
To sum things up, I do have some minor things that I think need to be adressed. One is the fact that the game has no story whatsoever. This is not necessarily a bad thing for some people, especially people who are die hard fans of this genre, but others like myself might find this to be a negative point.
One other very slight complaint that I have is the fact that the the sprinting animation is very hard to distinguish from the standard move animation. I believe that having a different animation for sprinting would allow new players to distinguish the two a little bit better. Maybe I’m just nitpicking.
Still, after looking at the forums, I can say that the developer is open and takes into consideration the ideas and suggestions given by the players and the community, so it wouldn’t surprise me if these small issues I have with the game would be adressed.
In the end, the game is pretty simple, and people looking for an in-depth shooter might not find that here. That said, this game is ideal for people who just want to have some mindless fun and have the satisfaction of shooting endless hordes of enemies in the face and, as I mentioned, the game has its fair share of perks, weapons and power ups, so if you’re into that sort of thing, I think you’ll find plenty of enjoyment here.
