Grid Ranger

TL;DR: 5/10, might be worth giving a try if you are into such games. The game isn't very good, but it's not that bad either. For quite a long time I wasn't sure if I want to give this game a positive review and I wish I could give a mixed one. Let's start from the good: ● Fast paced ● Smooth movement ● Autofire to save you from carpal tunnel syndrome ● Nice graphics ● Simple, challenging gameplay Now, there are few things that are rather questionable game design decision, mostly regarding game's clarity and difficulty. So, here we go. The bad: ● Clarity: - It would be very nice if enemy projectiles and bonus pickups had different colour palette. Right now they share purple and sometime both will swap to it at the same time making it really hard to tell them apart. - During open space segments like bossfights there is an invisible wall on both sides of the level. It would be great if there was any visual indicator telling you how far you are from it. I had a lot of situations where I wanted to dodge something only to find out that I am already blocked by a wall and I can't go any further in that direction. - Destructible cubes outlines often merge with indestructible ones. Sometimes it's really hard to say which one is which ● Difficulty curve: The game is difficult. Well... that's the whole point of such games. While first two levels are rather chill and well designed, the 3rd one gets real messy. There is a massive difficulty spike at second half of it. The problem is that since each run is procedurally generated it often becomes really chaotic. Very narrow spaces combined with high speed and lots of projectiles ofter result in situation where the only possible one block-wide path is blocked by projectile that is too big to be dodged there. So, in some runs you will clear one segment without any problem, next run you will get close to impossible patterns repeatedly. And the final boss... First of all, since guy's invisible and ultra tanky I wasn't even sure if I'm doing any damage to him. I had to check friend's video to make sure that the boss is just a huge bullet sponge and there isn't any other way to fight it. The fight is also very chaotic and rng heavy. Sometimes during the first phase it will just stay in one place letting you to deal massive damage without even moving. If this happens you actually have some chance to beat it. Otherwise, well, have fun... All of this leads to pretty stupid situation where it's actually easier to clear the entire game in 1cc mode than to just go for level 3 separately. Why? Because you can stack a lot of extra lives. It results in gameplay loop where you will spend most of your time going through first two levels trying to get as perfect run as possible, stack lots of spare lives and pray for good rng in stage 3. Well, that's all of it.

I like the vector look of this, but the gameplay doesn't do it for me. I find it too hard to dodge enemy projectiles. I tried a trackpad and an Xbox One controller. Both worked. For something similar but better, see Race the Sun. https://youtu.be/hLd6OxWITi8

The constantly shifting play field means that I never felt like I was actually in control of where I was located or where I was going, which made dodging feel frustratingly random. Pass.

No controller support but more importantly no way to lessen the mouse sensitivity below 100% in game. No level select or check-pointing so it's 1 cc all the time. Never came across life regains.

This is so ridiculously fantastic. It's like a film was made in 1986 which featured fantastical and impossible gameplay and music, and someone then just made that game for real. It's hard and nostalgic and amazing.

This game is very retro pretty, and I do like the engine style. Vector graphics are nostalgic, that classic arcade feel. What I don't like is... the game. It is not fun. At all. What so ever. The controls are stupid. I feel like I have to fight the wonky movement more than the enemies in the game. This really needed more time in the oven before releasing to early access. Maybe I'll check it out again after it goes full release, but for now it gets uninstalled.

So this is more of a request and I wanted to see what people think. This is made by the same people who made "Utopia Must Fall". Another "retro themed/stle shooter game". In there, there is a visual option to simulate various styles of monitors from around the world and in history. I particularly like the Orange CRT monitor version and the "Sharpie" version, where it looks like you are playing on a white-board and it's sooooo cool. Can you guys do that same thing with this game? I would absolutely adore the option to change the appearance of the game the same as "Utopia Must Fall" ------ Now, as for the review for the game...sure, seven minutes but it was smooth. I say you get it because even though I only evolved my ship a tiny bit, it was still cool. And in my honest opinion, games like this are so simple...so either it sucks or it doesn't. Not much needs to be said. This is good, and a solid game. And if it's the same finished quality as your other game, then we should all be in for a treat. I have only ever done an "early access" purchase a couple of times, and one of them was just bad. Be careful with those early access games, some of them will just never get made, but don't be afraid either. Have a good one, and good luck.

This game shouldn't come with an epilepsy warning. It should come with an epilepsy threat.

Neat mouse-controlled shmup that is short but quite hard. There are 3 levels that once unlocked, let you restart from them, so no worries about beating the entire thing in one sitting — though, you can for the 1cc achievement if you want. Also has a hardcore difficulty in the settings that offers a nice difficulty bump and second set of achievements *without* resorting to a 1hp limit. Easy recommend at full price, even more so on any sale.

initial review: yikes that was a very difficult experience and i doubt i'll be able to improve much with a game as punishing as this one. (followed by a lot of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ regarding the difficulty of the game) UPDATE: i wanted accessibility options. i got accessibility options. other mechanics were improved as well. now i can enjoy the game. its friggin awesome. hopefully we can get some similar changes for UTOPIA MUST FALL? perhaps we already have. i'll have to check. to the dev: thanks for the changes...this game is bloody awesome and i'm really grateful that i can now enjoy it.