Zero Strain

Turns out, I’ve developed a habit of picking up review assignments that are bloody difficult to explain. With that in mind, let’s talk about Zero Strain. It’s a top-down neon-wire shooter with Tron-like graphical stylings, and various MOBA elements. Those are things that don’t mix very well, so I should awkwardly mention that its MOBA-ish sensibilities aren’t present at all in the gameplay, but instead relate to how each character is designed from the ground up. But this is not a MOBA; it is a shooter, so they’re not characters - they’re fighter crafts. Only they’re not even that in Zero Strain; they’re actually constructs. It’s all unravelling before I’ve even got past the first sodding paragraph. The MOBA comparisons come from how your constructs offer up their offence. They have a basic attack, which is fine in basic circumstances, but rarely contain the power to put down bigger threats as quickly as you might need to. Constructs also each have a passive ability which synergises with their style of play and, hopefully, helps you make the most of the three special abilities. If you’ve played a MOBA, such as League of Legends, DOTA or Awesomenauts, this all probably sounds familiar. In such games, you clash against human-controlled opposition and have to rely on your particular skillsets in order to get the upper hand. Only, there, these skills are on a cooldown to stop you spamming them non-stop; you have to hold onto them until it’s the right moment to strike. Get it wrong, and you’re often left defenceless against an almost always fatal counter attack. Zero Strain is very similar to that while, at the same time, being completely different. There’s no human versus element, for one; it’s just you against generated waves. And there’s no cooldown for Zero’s skills. You can spam them as much as you like, only, you have to earn them first. You do that by staying active, destroying enemy targets with your base weapon, and keenly collecting the scattered power-ups they leave behind in death. So, while you can waste a skill or two on a weak collection of drones, it might mean that, when the bigger threats drop by, you don’t have enough firepower to down them. Is this starting to make sense yet? I feel like it should be starting to make sense by now. One of the reasons this is proving to be a hard game to talk about is, with this unique approach in mind, each construct is purposefully completely different to the last, and they each mean tackling Zero’s stages in a completely different manner. Some offer versions of pretty standard shooter tropes: an area-of-effect bomb, or a short ranged but very powerful plasma burst. Others are more adventurous. One gives you the ability to plant energy orbs, which sit benign until triggered into action. Their most common use is to be summoned to the construct, where they will cause heavy damage to any enemy they’re dragged through. Another is to catch them inside an energy wave, where they’ll break apart like billiard balls, locking on to the nearest hostile target. Full review // http://www.honestgamers.com/14479/pc/zero-strain/review.html

Full disclosure, the dev contacted me after seeing me play like absolute trash on Astebreed. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised since I'm normally bad with these types of games, but lets go with it anyway. This is from my little bit of playtime in general. Honestly, I just think two things. The game is a bit of a odd duck, but also it's honestly pretty dope. Normally with these types of games you would think of it like a dual stick shooter (or mkb) with one part controlling movement and one controlling aiming. Needless to say, I was very surprised when I kept shooting at nothing thinking I was aiming with my mouse, so that was a fun little moment for me. Thankfully the game does have a feature that when you aim directly at a enemy, if you keep shooting at them typically you'll stay on target. So that's nice. I think in general the game does a lot of things right, but it's definitely one of those games that takes some time getting used to. The ability stuff is about what you'd expect, it's not the most best or unique thing I've seen, but that doesn't mean it's bad either. It's just pretty cool in its own way. All the ships and whatnot having a different play style was also pretty cool, and I appreciate the fact that stage ranking is on a ship to ship basis. I feel that a lot of games fail to do this, time and time again do I see games release with characters/ships/whatever with varying play styles, but all share the same leaderboard, which ends up becoming this thing of "why not just use the best ship for that particular stage". I find that pretty wack. In the end, if shoot 'em ups in general are your type of game, I definitely say give it a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised with what it has to offer.

《Zero Strain》是一款非常酷炫的硬核俯视角弹幕射击游戏。简洁而充满设计感的UI，充满科幻感的机体和场景，女主[spoiler]引导员[/spoiler]精致的日系立绘，科技感十足的开场动画真的，足够酷炫的转场——破碎的场景、下坠的机体和归于机体的光点，弹幕击中的良好反馈，很符合游戏风格的BGM，极尽华丽的各类特效与鲜明的各种颜色的对比……这些都让这款游戏足以称得上“精致”[spoiler]虽然有点伤眼[/spoiler]。 而游戏的玩法也很有趣。闪避，射击……同时，游戏将传统的道具改为了技能——虽然商店页说自己是结合了MOBA游戏的战略和战术，但是无CD无蓝条全靠杀人回技力还和平A/闪避共享能量条，这实在太不MOBA了.jpg 玩家更多的需要规划能量条的使用，依靠走位和技能击杀敌人。 但是这个规划……并不像说起来的那么容易。首先，游戏的能量条并不像真男人那么持久，而是非常的……有气无力，而且从闪避到射击到技能都要消耗这个能量，这就很容易出现一时射击上头结果没能量开闪避躲光炮的情况。其次，游戏的地图很狭小，一旦飞出去就会开始掉血，而敌人会在这个地图里发射大量的追踪弹幕和瞄准你的光炮，这就很大程度上逼得玩家只能不停绕圈，但是这款游戏的调头并没有这么容易，也就是说玩家很难边跑边打——敌人的弹幕追踪，玩家的不追踪啊。最后，主角机真的是心比天高命比纸薄，护甲都是纸，血条消失术，而对面个个是血牛，这就使得玩家在转圈圈的时候非常容易被打爆。 商店页说“At first you'll struggle, but before long, you'll be slinging around enemies and unleashing perfectly timed weapon combos in a spectacular dance of destruction!”但问题就是作为手残，我连一开始“struggle”的阶段都挣扎不过去，我太难了.jpg 简而言之，这是一款非常酷炫，但是蛮硬核的STG游戏，建议有兴趣的玩家尝试。 [code]欢迎参观我的： [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7421824]双鱼星✪ω✪皇家飛机场[/url] 如果你喜欢这篇评论，也麻烦点个赞，让更多人能够看到。[/code]

[h1]序引[/h1] Zero Strain是一款俯视角弹幕游戏，玩家在游戏中可以控制多艘不同的飞船进行战斗，每种飞船都拥有3种不同的攻击技能。玩家需要控制好自己的飞船清理干净当前关卡的所有小兵与BOSS，通往下一关，如此直至通关。难度上比较困难，需适时的控制好自己的技能与冲刺能力，其次需要一定时间来进行解锁新关卡，下面细谈。 [h1]游戏概况[/h1] [b]🔶[u]游戏玩法：[/u][/b] 玩法上虽说作者标明MOBA设定，但实际游玩体验来看，基本可以认为就是个弹幕游戏。玩家需操纵飞船使用普通攻击消灭敌人捡取能量或等时间自动回复，同时需要走位并适时使用带CD的无敌冲刺技能来躲避弹幕。游戏中拥有自动回复的护盾设定，但护盾的厚度并不够。每艘船都拥有不同效果的3个技能，攻击技能与冲刺技能都需要消耗能量。有不同种类的关卡，比如普通的小兵关卡，BOSS关卡，以及守护关卡等等，每关通关目标都不相同。每个关卡都是场地略显狭小的不同地形，地形外也可以使用机体穿梭，但会有能量风暴来损伤飞船。 [b]🔶[u]游戏画面：[/u][/b] 画面上是比较酷炫的科技风格，虽线条简单，并未添加过多模型。但各种色彩缤纷的弹幕，场景外变化多端的能量风暴，不同技能爆炸后的声光效果。每次清干净小兵后的场景破碎与关卡结束后的虫洞穿梭等都自成一格。 [b]🔶[u]难度颇高：[/u][/b] 虽机制看起来很善待手残，比如自动回复的护盾，无敌的冲刺等，但实际上来说真的难度非常高。因第一个每关的地形很狭小，躲避的位置真的不够，有些地形还额外的在本就拥挤的空间内另外加入了空间风暴，导致玩家走位上并不是很好移动。另外护盾的厚度基本小兵几下普攻就破盾了，冲击技能的CD之类就更不用提。血厚群殴的小兵们，配合上狭窄的地形，非常难顶。游戏又是自动由朝向锁定攻击目标，玩家移动的时候，攻击目标时不时就自动切换了。弹幕的攻击朝向大部分时间不会如玩家所愿，而且更惨的是普通攻击居然是消耗能量条的，所以基本上是打成消耗战。玩家打一轮输出没能量后调整位置，绕一圈回来捡取能量如此反复。对手残而言真的噩梦，容错率太低了，一个不小心就很容易被群殴一轮直接爆机。另外不得不提的一点是本作的新关卡解锁都是解锁点限定，解锁点则需要玩家用不同的飞船刷同一关来获取，这点个人并不是很喜欢。 [h1]优缺点[/h1] [b]🔶[u]优点：[/u][/b] 📈酷炫的画面 📈 多样化的机体与关卡 📈 近战刺激的战斗 [b]🔶[u]缺点：[/u][/b] 📉 难度较高 📉 解锁新关卡需重复刷同一关 [h1]推荐人群[/h1] 推荐弹幕高玩尝试，逗M也可以尝尝鲜，普通手残玩家慎入 1 [quote]欢迎关注[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34829721/]策略游戏[/url]和[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34835215]彗星评测[/url] 专注于游戏的闪光点，一起发掘好玩的游戏吧~来游戏里走一遭，记录你的游戏旅程~[/quote]

[quote] 加入[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ADZZW#]爱の榨汁屋[/url]&关注[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34815366/]爱の鉴赏家[/url]，用爱品鉴世间作品，用心流淌真情实感。 [/quote] 《Zero Strain》是一款太空飞行的弹幕射击类游戏。玩家将跟随一个美丽的宇航员少女前往未知的遥远太空进行一次前所未有的太空历险，玩家会跟随维度的升降进入各个不同的空间进行战斗，在那里有各种形状各异的奇特外星舰队守卫，你得击败它们才能成功逃离。与以往固定弹道方向的射击游戏不同，这款游戏中玩家可以360度旋转式射击，你的敌人可能会从各个角度向你袭来，你不仅需要非常迅速的闪避，同时你得让你的飞船变得更加坚固才行。 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820469479 [h1] 弹幕射击游戏中的佳作 [/h1] 这款游戏，作为一款弹幕射击游戏，无论是从画面、音乐、人设、还是游戏性上来说，都可以说是相当精良的。另外，由于具备一定的策略性和养成性，使得内容具备一定的新颖性。游戏讲述的是玩家从昏迷中觉醒，身边除了一名美丽的少女外，所有人都丧生了。而玩家，将要跟随这名少女，驾驶飞船深入宇宙，从而开启一段历险和求生并重的旅程。 游戏开始有一段简短的操作教程，作为开篇剧情，通关完成后，便迎来了正式剧情。剧情的每一章，玩家需要在一个较小的空间内，躲避和消灭来自四面八方的敌人。游戏开始将赠送玩家一艘飞船，随着游戏进度的推进，会有新的飞船解锁，可供玩家使用。每种飞船，配备了三种武器/技能，以及一种被动技能，操作起来有点类似于MOBA游戏。但是技能并没有MOBA类的冷却机制，取而代之的是能量系统，当能量耗尽后，玩家需要充电来补充能量，从而再次释放技能。 游戏中的飞船和武器系统非常多，所以可选性也很强。面对五花八门的敌人，适当的组合和优秀的操作，能够打出让人意想不到的效果，画面的刺激感也能随之得到升级。可以说，这套系统的设计，是本作最亮眼的地方，也是其游戏性的新奇之处。 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820469508 [h1] 成也操作，败也操作 [/h1] 熟悉《尼尔：机械纪元》中9S战斗的玩家朋友，很可能会从本作的操作里找到许多熟悉的地方。与以往的弹幕游戏不停往前推进不同，由于是在一个小空间内进行每次关卡，所以躲避需要更强的技巧性，而且会发现，简单的“↑，↓，←，→”键很难达到这款游戏的操作要求，而且由于既要掌握好技能的能量，又要控制好攻守时机，所以随着游戏流程的推进，这款游戏的难度会大大提升。 可以这么说，虽然本作支持键盘操作，可是以往的弹幕游戏，能用键盘玩的轻松上手，可是这款游戏的后期，简直是键盘党的噩梦。不过相应的，如果能采用手柄操作，整个游戏体验将会大大增强，而且有更多的精力去欣赏酷炫的画面。可是，这样的特点，几乎就逼着所有玩家不得不选择手柄操作，不禁让人有点无奈。在此，强烈建议制作组能够将游戏难度细分，这样既能够调和众口，满足不同玩家群的需求。 总的来说，有特点，有创新，而且机制多样，画面优美，特效爆炸，内容精良，这款游戏真算得上弹幕射击中的佳作。但是由于键盘党在游戏中难度过大，加之游戏的难度系统设置不够科学，让许多不用手柄的玩家望而却步。所以，如果制作组能听取玩家意见，稍做改观，这款游戏未来的前景是非常美好的。 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1820469431 [table] [tr] [th]游戏体验[/th] [th]7[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]上手难度[/td] [td]6[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]质量水准[/td] [td]9[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]推荐程度[/td] [td]8[/td]

This game is awesome. Unlike what the screenshots may lead you to believe, this game is not: - a twin stick shooter, instead, there is a lock on system. - a typical shump/bullet hell, you can dodge through stuff Hades style and many bullets can be shot down. In fact, it's more similar to a character action game like Hades or Furi. A big part of the game is the high difficulty bossfights, think Cuphead/Furi/Souls-like(without the need to travel back to the boss). Apart from the bosses, there are also other kind of stages with various enemies (think high-heat hades or some top-down arpg). Similar to how cuphead has platforming levels between bossfights. There are many ships to unlock, each with very distinct playstyles, you'll be clearing bosses and stages multiple times with different ships. The game is hard, expect difficulty walls (unless you're a god gamer or something :thinking:). Controls might feel awkward at first, since there are two modes: - When holding special weapon lock on or shooting, you move around with more control - Otherwise, you have a looser control with turning speed. But you quickly get used to the controls, Also, it is completely playable on keyboard. This game is also on consoles, but is balanced to be easier (in a bad way imo) and there's a boss that has an attack working completely wrong, idk what other differences there are. Recommend the steam version over it.

Zero Strain takes the intricate abilities of a MOBA and distills them into a hyper-fast top-down shooter. Descend into the depths of uncharted dimensions and destroy everything in your path!

[h1]何が面白いのかわからない[/h1] ＜昔買ってレビューを書いていなかった作品。通常のレビューより簡素＞ 内容は全方位STGで「ひたすらが画面のあちこちから敵が出てきてそれを倒し続ける」という一般的なものではなく、「画面内の敵をすべて倒すと次のフェーズへ移って新たな敵と戦う」というWAVE制に近いものになっている。 しかし肝心のゲームが退屈で何一つ面白くない。 2019年発売の割には2010年代前半に発売された全方位STGと変わらない遊び心地で何一つ革新性がなかった。 エフェクト周りは頑張っているがそれだけでゲームが面白くなければエフェクトが良かろうとどうでもいいことだ。 せめてキャラを前面に押し出すなどすれば多少マシになったかもしれないが、肝心のキャラがプレイ中にフェイスウィンドウ等で表示されるわけでもないので、何を表現したいのか、何を売りにしたいのかまったく伝わらない作品だった。

Not "that bad" but to be honest I still can't recommend. There's two major reasons let me to not recommend this, but these may be very personal so if you think both of this is not that serious for you, give it a chance. 1. Energy management Shot(normal attack in this game) and dodge both uses energy, which may have a great technique balance on choosing act on souls-like games, but it is not recommended for a fast paced game like this. Players can easily lose their attention on resource management, since attacks from enemies is too frequently, or too many to leave focus with. More critical moment you require an act(like dodge), it's more like you will not allowed to use it. "Shot not that often"/"it's by personal skill" may be right, but it slowed the pace and bothered the good feeling from this game's acting, like every time you start feels good on destroy enemy there's a hand slap into you face and shout at you "NOT SHOOT THAT OFTEN CANT YOU SEE THE ENERGY?". 2.Lock system is not really that "Lockable" Instead of using twin-stick, this game using a lock system, only when you're not leaving the button. That is, each time you shoot at a target, if you leave the btn, aiming will return to front(release the lock), so if you want to shoot at the same target again, you need to turn back, face it correctly and shoot again. And since reason of 1(energy management), you need leave your shoot very often, causing you "manually lock target again" very often; because of turning is not instantly and amount of enemies, for times it's very hard to lock your normal shoot to the target you want to shoot (even there's only one enemy, you still need a gap of time to turning back which lose your mobility, in a fast paced battle). Some boss are designed to be interesting to choose strategy form destroying itself or the spawnings first, but this lock system made it very hard to lock your normal shoot to just one of them. Due to the turning speed, at some situation you just cannot shoot to where you want to. I'll suggest using another lock button to keep the lock target or just shift to twin-stick system. Keep turning back just to aim to enemy(even there's only one) is just not fun.

This game is fun and the ships are very different from each other. It can be a bit tough at times and the ramping does happen fast but its still very fun Controls are pretty good for the most part aside from a little oddness on aiming at times. Music is alright enough, not amazing but pretty up there. The ships look pretty cool. The levels and bosses have been fun so far. All in all its a pretty fun little twinstick.