Title: Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut
Format: PS4
Release Date: April 8th, 2014
Publisher: Born Ready Games
Developer: Born Ready Games
Price: $19.99
ESRB Rating: T
Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut brings the once PC title to the PS4, and gives the new system a look at the classic space combat genre that has been absent as of late.
Story and Presentation: The game takes place a few centuries into the future, mankind has spread out across space by colonizing several planets. Battlestar: Galactica frequently came to mind while I was playing the game, and that's certainly not a bad thing. You're thrown into the middle of a war between Earth's military and the colonists. You control a silent protagonist, Adam, an Earth pilot who ends up being a huge factor towards the end of the game. The Strike Suit you pilot plays a pivotal role in battling the colonists, and over the course of the story, you find out some secrets regarding a mysterious artificial intelligence that dramatically changes the course of the battle. In terms of the game's visuals and art style, the futuristic backdrop provided some memorable set pieces, it sets the mood perfectly for space battle. The ship models aren't all that impressive, including the Strike Suit itself, but when you're in the middle of a battle you won't notice it all that much. The neon trails that follow the ships in space paint colorful trails on the black backdrop of space, this effect is the highlight of the game's sci-fi inspirations. When you choose to do battle in the cockpit view, the hectic action really shines through. However, the cockpit view can and will make many of you nauseous when you start pulling off barrel rolls and 180s, but that's too be suspected. Luckily, you can quickly switch back to third person mode in a snap. The soundtrack features electronic style music that compliments the action. It's a unique soundtrack in it's own right, but it will get repetitive over time that will quickly fatigue your ears. The cast is voiced solidly, and offer up some personality to go along with the narrative.
Core Gameplay:This is a classic spaced based shooter, not like Resogun, the missions take place in an open environment. Each stage comprises of different objectives that will change as the story progresses, so you'll always need to be aware of what you're supposed to be doing. Engaging a squadron of enemies and escorting an ally ship is a couple of the regular objectives, with more variety in the later stages. The main missions are well paced, and offer up a ton of large set pieces. There's an online leaderboard which gives you some incentive to revisit the campaign multiple times if you have the competitive spirit. You gain upgrades by completing secondary objectives that give you an edge during battle. This game is unforgiving to say the least, but with three difficulty objectives to choose from, the easy difficulty will be an attractive choice for many. You'll be using the right analog stick to maneuver and aim, while the left controls your craft's angle of flight. L2 is your thruster, pushing R3 will activate a further burst of speed, R1 handles your rockets, and R2 fires off your primary weapon. It's fairly simple controller layout, and it works well. It will take some time however to get the hang of it. After a few missions, the game can prove to be an intense shooter with a rewarding endgame. The Strike Suit gives you two different modes, Pursuit and Strike mode. Pursuit is your standard jet mode which lends itself to speed, and you have your Strike mode. This mode is particularly cool, because you can transform into a damage dealing titan. This mode obviously lends itself to power, while sacrificing speed. It's very reminiscent of that old Zoids anime, if you can remember that far back.
Final Thoughts:Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut is an incredibly engaging space shooter with a steep yet rewarding learning curve. The visuals could have been bit crisper, but the overall atmosphere of the game is great.
+Challenging Combat
+Nice Visuals
-Lackluster Story
S&S Rating: 7.5/10 @whatsPlay
