Droid Assault from Puppy Games brings that same classic retro feel that we've come to love from all their games. It uses simplistic arcade combat and online high-score challenging to capture our attention. Are there enough spare parts to build ourselves a decent robot, or will we sell our droids to the Jawas?
Presentation:
When the game starts you're playing in a matter of seconds. That's how arcade games work, and Droid Assault doesn't stray much from the formula. The first level explains a few key functions and then the rest you discover on your own. There is not much to know. Your droid can transfer and capture other droids to add to your army, or use his equipped blaster to attack.
Gameplay:
The action is fast paced and if you blink your eyes at the wrong time, you'll end up dead. There is no fog of war, but you cannot see an enemy unless it is in your line of sight. This makes the game extremely difficult. Just going around a corner can lead to a an easy death.
Your captured droids run on Ai when they are not in use, but they don't help much at all. You cannot see the targets they see, and they often die from friendly fire. This makes weapon powerups like bouncy bullets, and piercing bullets (that let you shoot through walls) completely useless. In my play-through, I'd kill the majority of my captured droids before getting to use them. You need extra droids in your army so when you die the game doesn't end.
One aspect I really liked was being able to upgrade my favorite droid with armor and weapon attributes. You can't change weapons but you can get a +1 to armor, +1 to battery recharge, etc... that makes your droid more powerful. Unfortunately, do not get attached to your droid. Their chases (health), slowly deteriorates. So no matter the armor upgrades, you will die in one hit. You can pick up health drops to increase your health, but those drops are far and few between.
Closing Comments:
I liked experimenting with different droids and the action survival feel of the gameplay. It was also nice to see I scored well in the online community on my first play through. The games unforgiving nature makes it hard for me to give it a better score. It punishes the player far to often with depleting health, friendly fire, and line of sight deaths.
Competing for high-score placement is really fun, I just need another incentive to keep my droids online.
Rating | Description
8 - Presentation
Insert a coin 'here'. I really feel like I'm playing an arcade game
7 - Graphics
The graphics are good, maybe slightly better resoultion would be nice. Puppy Games uses the same graphical style for all their games.
7 - Sound
Just one song and decent sound effects. I didn't feel like anything more was needed, but it would be nice to have some intense music come on with boss battles.
6 - Gameplay
The rewards for completing levels and gaining powerups, are short lived. Controls are decent. Take out line of sight please.
6 - Lasting Appeal
I may try to get the highest online score. Even when you die, you can start at the level you were last, but you have to start with new droids and a score of 0.
6.6 - Overall
The overall score is not an average, but it does reflect how much we enjoyed the game. Games between the score of 7 - 9 are favorable. Games that get a rating of 9.0 are a must buy.
