Platform: PS4              

Developer: Housemarque

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Genre: Arcade Shooter

Release Date: 11/15/2013

Rating: 8.5

-Reviewed by the Watchman

It’s ironic that the first must-have game for not just the PS4, but for the new generation of gaming as a whole, is a game that has it’s feet firmly planted in the past.

Resogun is a superb throwback in time to a more simple era, yet it’s forward thinking and addicting enough to be relevant today. It’s an old-school side-scrolling space shooter in the same vein as classic titles like R-Type, Defender, Gradius etc. The hook is that each of the levels is set up in a giant side-scrolling circle, allowing you to fly left or right at will. You are able to see what’s going on on the other side of the level, so you can see enemies as they approach which forces you to think in a three dimensional manner.

The levels all loop around, forcing you to wrap your head around what’s coming around the bend.

Controls are simple. The left analogue stick guides you around the screen in any direction, the right stick used for firing. You are able to shoot left or right and you can fire in the opposite direction from which you are flying. There is a speed boost available and an overdrive move that charges up your regular gun for a brief period. You can also collect bombs which will clear the entire level of enemies.

In a nod to the classic Defender series humans are trapped at various points in the stages. You are tasked with blasting your way through the waves of alien attackers to try and rescue them. Extra points are earned if you can pick up a human and return him to one of the waiting rescue ships. The catch is that the only way to break the humans out of their holding cells is by defeating a specific wave of enemies called “keepers”. A voice played through the Dual Shock controller alerts you: “keepers detected”. It’s a great game play ploy because those Keepers are likely popping up on the other side of the level and they are only around for a limited window of time. When you do manage to to shoot them down, the human released is likely on the side of the level where you just came from, forcing you to quickly fly all the way back. This adds a great sense of frantic tension as you race around the playing field, dodging and blasting enemies to rescue the little human dudes. They maybe little green cube people, but you still feel compelled enough to rescue them.

Check your six!!

Graphically the game pulses with energy and some decent particle effects as you blow apart the insane amount of enemies they throw at you. Bosses are large and defeating them usually requires you to blast apart outer shells in order to reach an inner core. Once they fall the screen gets absolutely pummeled with particle effects as the entire level disintegrates in an “Armageddon”. Those moments kind of made me wish that 3D technology in televisions had caught on more in the mainstream instead of being the expensive fad that has seemingly passed. Oh well.

The soundtrack is an enjoyable, futuristic techno beat. It keeps everything moving along and is good enough to listen to on its own.

The game gives you three initial levels of difficulty, ranging from scrubby rookie to pull your hair out and invent new cuss words expert.

You can buy the game on the Playstation store for $15 which is well worth the price, however anyone with a Playstation Plus membership can download it for free. So there is no excuse for anyone with a PS4 to not own this game!

The developers enjoyed a Black Friday sale on particle effects

Resogun is about as solid a shooter as you could want. It successfully remixes classic shooter conventions, and introduces new ideas that help keep the genre fresh and interesting. If this is any indication of the type of indie games that we can expect on Sony’s new machine, then we are in for some amazing games! Highly recommended.

-Rating: 8.5/10