Good Game!! ur best yet!!
First, a nice THOROUGH STRATEGY GUIDE:
WARNING: Do not read if you like figuring tactics out on your own!
*(1)* You can't get through with just shooting
-A LOT of this game is about thinking out how you will attack, or, if all else fails, waiting out your enemies' ammo supplies.
(2) Take cover
-In this game, getting out of harm's way is almost an art form. Try to slide into crevices, and plan to end your jumps behind something.
(3) Kill from behind
-While it takes patience, sneaking up on one or two enemies and quickly killing them not only keeps you safe, but leaves you with full weapons to pick up.
(4) Explosives will indiscriminately damage everything in their blast radius
-This means that grenades, rockets, or plasma balls will hurt both you AND your enemies. The downside of this feature is that you must be careful with attacks using those weapons, but on the upside ENEMIES WILL KILL EACH OTHER AND THEMSELVES IF YOU PLAN PROPERLY. It is vital to take advantage of that aspect of the game in later levels.
(5) Leave a nice, full, gun sitting around while you complete the first two levels on each moon, then go back and pick it up when you finish the stage
-If you do not, you'll promptly die in the next area, lacking any means of defending yourself. At the very least, you'll wind up using grenades which you'll sorely miss later. Also, keep in mind that while you can use a code to return, armed, to the last checkpoint you made it to, there's no way to save or get a new gun mid-moon. The only weapons you can get are from dead guys.
(5) Grenades can be tossed in mid-air, almost vertically, or both
-The first trait lets you get a much better range on your throws, the second allows you to deal with enemies hidden by steep slopes. Jumping directly above a clump of enemies (if they have ammo) is an action of last resort; it will almost always take a toll on your armor.
(6) Jump above the hill-line to get a clear shot, but don't take it until you're almost behind cover
-Even with artificial gravity to help pull you down, it takes a while to move in that direction.
(7) Make your firefights quick
When you do go on the offensive, make sure you kill your enemies with a fusillade of gunfire. Keep the crosshairs on one (or a strategic patch of ground) at all times.
As you said in your comments, this ISN'T like most run-and-gun games. In spite of the simple control scheme and range of options (as I see it, the only logical interpretation of interactivity for games should be 'customizability' or 'alternate features'), or perhaps because of them, it takes quite a bit of thought to win. Properly utilizing the terrain and weapons requires the sort of attentiveness and logic required by many puzzle games, while the actual processes of aiming and moving have been made so straightforward that they require almost no skill in and of themselves. That's why I found the game worth playing until I won. As proof: the first and third codes start with "WEL" while the second starts with "SHI" [as a previous winner said in his (or her) review, revealing them in their entirety would take the fun out of the game - and, I'd add, sully the acheivements of the people who won by honest means after that]. I offer the following statement as further evidence of my win: the last line in the denouement is "The Moonsweepers had succeeded."
While I loved this game and long for a sequel (with a still harder mode, perhaps...), it wasn't without its shortcomings. The physics were outstanding, the explosions were good and the sounds were well-done, but the avatar and enemies seemed rather boxy and moved a bit awkwardly. You are a great game-designer. If you collaborated with a top-notch animator, I think your product would be truly awesome.
If you'd like any more advice , feel free to send a private message. I doubt I could help you much, but it's my policy to extend the offer to those artists whose works I critique. Should you decide to respond to this review, please separately rate its helpfulness and clarity on a scale of 0-10. Thanks, Dafydd!!!!
