*This is a mixed review, read on to find out why*
At first glance, I added this to my wishlist instantly when I saw it. What more could one want than a modern Retro styled Arcade Machine like Space Invaders on Steam? However, upon finally buying it, I found out quickly that it lacks expected features beyond bare bones Space Invaders. With that said here is what I thought of it:
Pros:
♦ Retro Arcade Machine feel
♦ Decent Retro Graphics
♦ Great Space Invader feel
♦ Sound/Music was decent
♦ Keyboard controls worked (You can only use keyboard, see cons for more)
♦ Great for killing time (If you have nothing to do or little time, this will suit you)
♦ Multiplayer is cool (Take turns playing on the same pc to see who can get the better highscore, really good if you want to settle a bet or something)
Cons:
♦ Doesn’t add anything new to Space Invaders
♦ Needs local and global highscores for each game mode (Adding this will give you a reason to play as people love competing against others)
♦ No Achievements & Steam Cards (This game would be much better off with achievements to give people something to aim towards when playing)
♦ Doesn't tell you the number of waves you have cleared (I'd personally like this out of own preference)
♦ Claims to be intense retro space shooter but has no difficulty progression (There are no bosses, waves don't seem to get more difficult due to being randomly generated and enemies don't change in variety. Therefore, difficulty relies on the five or so randomly generated variants of enemies to how difficult a wave is, which isn't really that difficult)
♦ Enemies that give powerups are randomly generated (You can get them on any wave and don't have to do anything to get them. I would have expected hitting x score, clearing x waves or killing x units etc would trigger one, but you get them randomly which makes them pointless)
♦ No ingame options (Can't change controls, graphics, sound levels from within the game)
♦ Lack of enemie variants (Seems to be about five different enemies and that's it)
♦ Can only use keyboard (Can't use controller, mouse or anything else)
♦ Lack of Steam Features (Such as achievements, cards, highscores etc)
Overall, despite the large number of cons over pros, this is a game I'd give a mixed review to if I could. It's not terrible but it's not good. You will get your monies worth if you like the basic bare bones Retro Arcade styled Space Invaders. However, it lacks anything more than that and doesn't add anything new to the Space Invaders game which you can play for free on almost any flash game site. Also, it has nothing other than the game score to keep you playing and lacks any sign of Steam Features. Lastly, for the price and what it is, you'll get a bare bones Retro Arcade Machine styled Space Invaders and nothing else. Therefore, if you like Space Invaders you'll get your monies worth and this is for you. However, if you don't then this isn't for you as you'll be disappointed with the lack of features.
