Gameplay is very similar to Galaga series minus the ability to move in a second dimension (up and down.) I am a fairly experienced gamer and had some trouble getting through even the first stage. It seems there should be an introduction stage to acclimate the player to the controls before the real fun begins. As far as I got, nice story mode and nicely rendered.
Reviews for "Amber Helix"
Hey.
Gameplay and design:
- Interesting game, even though I'm not into bullet-hell and flooding the screen with enemies. In the game, it seems that my shield regenerates when I am not firing, although in the author comments, it states that my shield regenerates when I fire (unless I am missing something here). Which brings me to my next point - assuming the former is true, you don't get much opportunity to recharge them, because you're constantly firing at the hordes of enemies coming at you.
- The ability to direct the speed and direction of your shots is nice, but I wish you could toggle that. Sometimes, I find it difficult to lead my target.
- Grinding: The levels are too long, and include too much of the same thing, and it seems like you're trying to increase the length of gameplay with the upgrade system, It does take a while to be able to upgrade your ship to a decent level.
- Explosions: The bland white leaves them a bit lacking. There is definitely room for improvement here. With crisp, clean graphics like these, consider adding more fiery explosions and a particle system.
- Is there any way to see the menu (controls, etc.) without having to kill yourself? (:
- You should not be allowed to move behind the HUD at the bottom of the screen. It's too easy to lose track of your ship (and other enemies there, especially proximity mines, because you're thinking they have already moved off screen).
- Not a dram llama, so I'm glad we're allowed to skip the dialog. (:
- When you're looking to purchase upgrades, I noticed the values used on some of them. For example, "Increase armour by 5". Ok, what is "5"? Does it show our stats somewhere? Is 5 good or bad? the same with percentages: I don't see my current stats anywhere to be able to determine if I'm getting my "money's worth" out of them. (Although I suppose, eventually, one would buy all the upgrades, but in the beginning of games with purchasable upgrades, sometimes, some earlier upgrades are better than others).
Controls:
- The controls are solid. I like using the keyboard much better than using the mouse, as I have more control over how my ship moves.
Graphics:
- As I mentioned, the game's pixel graphics are nice, clean and crisp. Just need polishing up.
- The player's ship looks a bit dull. Perhaps that's because it doesn't have any or few upgrades on it. (: Although, having a dull-looking ship from the beginning may turn some players off. This is the thing they;re going to be looking at the most, so it should be appealing to them, regardless.
- I like the font used. Looks like a direct throwback to the NES / SNES days.
Audio:
- Sounds used are pretty solid. I also like how you included more than one sound for many different events, so that it doesn't get monotonous.
- Normally, I'd say that the music used doesn't fit for a space shooter, but this game seems to have a bit more of a casual aspect to it (other than the hordes and bullet hell (: ), that it seems appropriate.
Good skill on your game.
* salutes *
______________________
- Ziro out.
AmberHelix responds:
Thank you for the review. =)
About when the shield regenerates: It seems I dropped a word there. It's supposed to say that the shield only regenerates when you don't fire.
EDIT: And about your other points and what PoesRaven brought up below: I think I will be making an update soon which will address some of them. I do really appreciate your thoughts.
if you were going to make the levels so dang long at least let us play the game in the background so i can still work whilst i trounce the training level.
I cant say its bad, the music is really good and it looks like a lot of work was put into it. But i cant say i like it, it really wasnt very fun but thats just my opinion.
The game is really great but I only give 3.5 / 5 for these reasons.
I plaid this game for so many hours but the game getting really repetitive and very slow to get upgrade and experience.
Graphic is cool if you like the retro style, but it could be a little bit more polished.
Lack of varieties of weapons.
Salvage upgrade don't seem to change so much after more than 50%.
Overall, really great. I suggest you to try this game, but you need to grind ALOT. This is not a Korean MMORPG... but just a flash...
AmberHelix responds:
On easy i can play through the game without grinding, no need to repeat levels, in fact it gets too easy as I am overpowered after a while. I will not make it easier.