Xenoraid: The First Space War

Random, tedious, and difficult in frustrating ways. The devs speak in the forums of their crafted design where they spent time weighing options and creating the best game they could. Too bad they couldn't be arsed to spend that time creating actual levels. Instead you get a total enemy count to deplete and some sort of enemy "heat meter" that spawns enemies from the remaining pool that match the desired threat level...

8 found this helpful, 2022-07-20

I hadn't heard of this game until I saw a friends review on the front store page in Steam and was immediately intrigued by the angular shooting mechanic. That's one thing that has always bugged me with shoot 'em ups. Having to only go head-on with an enemy the traditional way forced very linear battles, either vertical or horizontal. The big question I had was, would it work? https://youtu.be/iUrQ-uYjjGY A...

30 found this helpful, 2016-10-08

A fun, tense and pretty shmup with some twists. I very much like the way enemy ships react to player actions rather than just moving in scripted formations. Most alien ships have guns with a fixed arc of fire, and they actively maneuver to line up shots on you or to avoid colliding with asteroids. They even speed up and try to evade offscreen when you have them at a disadvantage! For a 2D game where you're...

13 found this helpful, 2016-10-01

Good game. The 'main' campaign is a bit short, but like other 10ton games the "main" game is really a prelude for the hard/harder modes that they intend for you to play. I quite like the 'tilt' mechanic on the ships, and the enemies aren't just brain-dead path followers but try to 'dogfight' you, which makes the game more interesting than normal SHMUPs.

16 found this helpful, 2017-11-26

Xenoraid is a very well made shmup. While the game is certainly not a bullet hell, the permanent death of starships can be a drain on money best used on upgrades. The enemies and bosses are interesting, with a variety of attacks, but in the late game, some larger enemies (the Destroyers) have somewhat cheap attacks that will almost always cause the end of one of your ships. The seven player ships themselves are also...

11 found this helpful, 2017-05-28

Just finished campaign on normal. Haven't tried hard or survival or co-op yet. tl;dr: Game is effing amazing, for sure worth the $10 or less. Very competently done shooting, with a couple little details that really click with me. For instance, the enemies don't just fly by you in formation, they often break off and circle around and try to hit you a couple times before flying offscreen. It suggests dogfighting...

16 found this helpful, 2017-08-15