Jamestown

Jamestown

First off, if you are interested in this game, I recommend getting Jamestown+ instead. It has two more stages and more ships.

Jamestown is a shmup with its stages primarily designed around co-op gameplay. However, enemy HP does scale so that enemies don’t become sponges if played solo. More about solo gameplay on higher difficulties later.

Jamestown doesn’t provide you with a bomb mechanic. Instead it has a hyper-like mechanic called vaunt. It will greatly increase dealt damage and create a shield which absorbs bullets upon activation. The duration of the vaunt can be increased by collecting the golden items. If it runs out, you’ll gain a significant amount of score, especially after a long vaunt. Cancelling the vaunt manually will provide you with brief invincibility and only provide you with a fraction of the score you’d get otherwise.

Real player with 200.5 hrs in game


Read More: Best Bullet Hell Shoot 'Em Up Games.


HO-LEE SCHNITZELS IT’S THIS GAME

BETTER BUCKLE INTO YOUR SPACESHIP BECAUSE WE’VE GOT ALIEN SPANIARDS TO KILL

DO YOU LIKE GAMES WITH TONS OF BULLETS? DO YOU LIKE VERTICALLY SCROLLING GAMES? DO YOU LIKE GAMES WITH ROCK-AWESOME MUSIC? DO YOU LIKE GAMES WITH ALTERNATE RE-TELLINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY? DO YOU JUST LIKE FREAKIN' SWEET SHOOT-EM-UPS? THEN JAMESTOWN IS THE GAME FOR YOU

IF YOU’VE PLAYED ANY SORT OF SHOOT-EM-UP BEFORE THEN YOU’LL PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW HOW THIS GOES DOWN BUT I SWEAR TO THE ALMIGHTY EMPRAH HIMSELF IF YOU PASS THIS UP BECAUSE OF THAT I WILL PERSONALLY COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND TAKE A MASSIVE DUMP ON YOUR FRONT LAWN

Real player with 11.4 hrs in game

Jamestown on Steam

Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron

Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron

Not z good Shmup.

  • Long loading times

  • The action is hindered by text overlay at times

  • The zoom in zoom out effect adds nothing to gameplay but interfere with the action

  • The whole squadron thing is more a nuisance than anything else4

  • Grindy, you’ll eventually get all upgrade

The first AotL was better as a simple SHMUP, this one is boring

Real player with 39.9 hrs in game


Read More: Best Bullet Hell Shoot 'Em Up Games.


Very fun game. My only complaint is that sometimes with all of the firepower from you and your squadron as well as boss fire, it can be a bit hard to see where you are sometimes. Overall, the challenge is fair in most cases, the voice acting is entertaining and I appreciate how the story looks at both sides of the conflict with the DLC added. I hope to see more in this series!

Real player with 32.3 hrs in game

Aces of the Luftwaffe - Squadron on Steam

BlastZone 2

BlastZone 2

My Grandfather smoked his whole life. I was about 10 years old when my mother said to him, ‘If you ever want to see your grandchildren graduate, you have to stop immediately.’. Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake. He gave it up immediately. Three years later he died of lung cancer. It was really sad and destroyed me. My mother said to me- ‘Don’t ever smoke. Please don’t put your family through what your Grandfather put us through." I agreed. At 28, I have never touched a cigarette. I must say, I feel a very slight sense of regret for never having done it, because this game gave me cancer anyway.

Real player with 208.4 hrs in game


Read More: Best Bullet Hell Shoot 'Em Up Games.


Apparently the blast zone is actually quite large. BlastZone 2 is a short indie side scrolling shooter (ala R-type but I wouldn’t say this game is that similar to R-type) made by solo developer Mat Edzenga. It features a number of different ships with different load outs, 8 stages filled with enemy ships, interesting 3D graphics and a few extra modes to try your hand at once you have beaten the main game. It also has local 2 players, controller support and costs only a few bucks.

Good

Real player with 9.6 hrs in game

BlastZone 2 on Steam

Sky Force Reloaded

Sky Force Reloaded

If you’re into scroll shooters with amazing graphics, hardcore player…. well this game is for you. It is a classic ported from android/IOS if I recall but runs smooth with no issues at all.

The positives:

  • Amazing graphics, the art is really well done, so crispy, rich and just amazing, love when these type of games get that superb graphic art and effects, ultra settings running at 800+ fps no hick ups, job well done

  • Awesome 8bit music to accompany and really up the enjoyment

Real player with 49.0 hrs in game

92 / 100

A modern shoot ‘em up reminiscent of the classics!

Sky Force Reloaded (SFR) is a pure sequel which encapsulates the great gameplay & features from Sky Force Anniversary (SFA) , & expands or improves on them. Along with SFR having half a dozen more levels & an additional Nightmare difficulty tier, there is a range of new ships to unlock, technicians offering various power-ups & new enemies to challenge you.

Real player with 48.8 hrs in game

Sky Force Reloaded on Steam

Infernal Radiation

Infernal Radiation

This game is really something else.The gameplay is conceptually different from anything i’ve ever seen,it is a form of rhytmic bullet hell where you get to attack and defend and must choose wisely everytime before you make a move.The enemy variety is pretty wide and the game also benefits from an intriguing story that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The current length of the game is somewhere between 3-4 hours and it has a lot of replayability value.I enjoyed it greatly and the price is fairly cheap.

Real player with 12.4 hrs in game

At the time of review I have 5.7 hours on record. This is a difficult rhythm game with RPG elements, where the character progresses between demon encounters and, in order to defeat each demon, has to learn the rhythm of the attacks.

There are NPCs which offer opportunities to level up and purchase items to improve the character’s attributes. Items involving slowing the demon’s attacks are quite useful!

The graphics are effective in reflecting the demon-infested island and the darkness wrought upon it. I particularly like the comic-style text boxes which impart much of the story. The NPC and demon encounters are well-scripted and humorous.

Real player with 8.0 hrs in game

Infernal Radiation on Steam

Lazer Cops

Lazer Cops

Using a tether tied between you and your buddy is an interesting gameplay mechanic i havn’t seen before. Trying to coordinate with a friend (or two cars by yourself) can be challenging but you get the hang of it pretty quick. The levels introduce new senarios and mechanics at a nice pace to keep the game fresh. Enjoyed my playthrough of it.

Real player with 5.3 hrs in game

I’m a fan of good coop games, and Lazer Cops fits the bill for me. There are quite a few games that claim to be coop that can really be played just as well single player, but Lazer Cops is not among them. The cool lazer tether mechanic in this game really favors having a buddy cop or two at your side, and the way it makes you work together can lead to some fun moments.

The game has a varity of different levels that give you the chance to explore the different ways in which the lazer tether mechanic can be used. Some of them are harder than others, but fortunately you can skip to any level within a zone at any time, so you aren’t blocked on the levels that don’t appeal to your playstyle.

Real player with 4.5 hrs in game

Lazer Cops on Steam

Rogue Star Rescue

Rogue Star Rescue

Rogue Star Rescue is a fun top down twin stick shooter that really shines when it comes to multiplayer. There are a variety of guns, each with a fairly unique feel, to find and use to blast through the levels. The main story mode features a variety of levels connected in a branching map (think Starfox 64). Each different path has a potential way to reach one of the 32 different endings. This coupled with the randomized room layouts, guns, and items gives Rogue Star Rescue a fair bit of replay-ability. The core gameplay loop is fun, and there are multiple higher difficulties where enemies are more numerous to keep things from feeling too easy. There is a whole trap system, but that only comes into play during boss battles at the end of each stage. There is a wave survival mode focused around those boss rooms if you want to focus on the tower defense aspect of the game.

Real player with 88.7 hrs in game

This is a great multiplayer game. I had plenty of fun with friends on this one. It can be challenging but not alright unforgiving. A good game to pickup for professionals looking for a slightly more relaxed time and some laughs, or for a new player to this genre to pick up this style of game.

There is multiple routes, a few characters, unlockables, and difficulty selector for one to want to replay the game multiple times. There was some quirky moments like somehow I’m inside a room and my friend will teleport into the room and land right into enemy fire, or on rare occasions where the door won’t open for them at all causing me to have to clear the room by self. Overall, no too devastating bugs that is a deal breaker. I am sure they will be smoothed out over time.

Real player with 41.5 hrs in game

Rogue Star Rescue on Steam

Space Drift Squad

Space Drift Squad

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Real player with 4.5 hrs in game

Space Drift Squad on Steam

Super Retro Fighter

Super Retro Fighter

This review is not final as the game is still in Early Access (v 0.9.7 beta at the time of the review). It may change to a positive review, depending on future changes, rebalancing and additions and I do believe that it has the potential to become a very fun game.

Super Retro Fighter is an individual stages vertizontal shmup that is intentionally designed to be frustrating. So far, it only has one mode. While it’s called Arcade Mode, it lets you select an individual stage to take on. You unlock one after another and gain upgrade points based on your performance that you can spend on extra ships, bombs and shot power. These will certainly aid you but the trial and error remains.

Real player with 19.2 hrs in game

Really fun game. It has an 80’s retro vibe to the music which is pretty awesome.

There is 3 ships to choose from and each one is unique for different guns to accomodate different playstyles.

Some stages that can get pretty frustrating but at least you can stage select to retry same stage as often as you want.

Also, there is a system to make your ship stronger , buy more lives, etc.

Controls: It feels responsive using a gamepad.

I use a Dual Shock 4 wired with USB cable and game recognizes at a PS4 controller.

Real player with 14.8 hrs in game

Super Retro Fighter on Steam

Wish Project

Wish Project

Wish Project is surprisingly good. Bullet patterns are varied and well done, challenge is good (if you’re playing Harder; less experience players will prefer the lower difficulties), each of the characters plays differently and there’s a decent scoring system laid over the whole thing. I don’t care for the character designs, but that’s a tiny complaint (I immediately turned dialogue off, so I only see them in menus anyway).

Wish Project is a better game than most of the indie shmups on Steam, and almost certainly cheaper. Worth your time.

Real player with 19.8 hrs in game

If you like the internet, you will like this game, both have an abundance of naked bodies with no genetalia and horse heads.

The GOOD:

+solid gameplay with fun bullet hell patterns. consistant FPS with no lag issues for me.

+interesting main character designs

  • each character plays differently and has unique skills and bullet patterns

+Co-op(Local only)!!!! Co-op works good in this game, its not as balanced as jamestown, where you can instantly revive fallen allies by reaching them, but it works like binding of issac where you can sacrifice lives to revive fallen allies if you really need help.

Real player with 18.4 hrs in game

Wish Project on Steam