Steam and Metal
Context
Steam and Metal is a shoot ‘em up/bullet-hell game, set in a Steampunk universe, with a Grieg-inspired soundtrack!
This is a very good example of an amateur, yet very solid game! I was happy to play it, and it doesn’t have too much that’s wrong with it, which is surprising, as many people tend to ignore crucial details. This game does not.
However, it doesn’t add anything to the genre, and while it’s a solid game, it pains me how similar it is to Jamestown! Not just in setting and general vibe, but also in the way it fills the screen with little cogs, and some other details. In the credits, the developer says the game has been slowly “baked” in 4 years, and looking at his youtube channel, there were prototypes as far back as 2010, so it doesn’t seem to me like a rip-off.
– Real player with 5.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Shoot 'Em Up Female Protagonist Games.
An enjoyable bullet hell game, not unduly hard on the normal setting, with aparodic, self-referrencial steampunk setting/plot. The dialogue is outrageously histrionic and hilarious–whomever wrote this has a great command of the English language and 19th C. style. there are eve nods to shoot-em-ups like Zero Wing and Star Castle and some referrences that I know I’m not getting. Graphics get the job done nicely; there’s even a stylishly illustrated intro and ending sequence.
The biggest frustration is the controls, and I’m kind of miffed at the developer for not giving us the option to reassign keys. Space bar is always shoot, and on a lot of laptops, whether you use the arrow keys or WASD, at least one will be on the same circut as the space bar. In other words, you can simultaneously move up left, you can move up and shoot, and you can move left and shoot, but if you try to move up-left and shoot the keyboard won’t acknowledge the last key you pressed. The simple solution would be to use the mouse, only this game’s mouse movement feels imprecise, sluggish and then erratic. The best way to play it, then, is use WASD/arrow keys to move and the mouse button for your primary weapon. You’ll loose the odd life by accidentally moving the mouse, is the only downside. I imagine playing it with a gamepad would be fine.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Steel Empire
The war between your nation, the Republic of Silverhead and the Motorhead Empire has been fought for many years. The Empire has maintained superiority over you because it is a wealthy nation with many resources. The Republic is known for its brave warriors; now it is time to take the war to the Empire. Lead the Army south to liberate the city of Rahl and drive out the Empire once and for all. Time to choose and board your Airship Captain. You can choose a lighter, faster, less-armored plane or a heavier, slower, more-armored plane, depending on your preferences. Choose your level of difficulty; there are 4 to choose from. Now take to the skies Captain, and lead your nation to Victory.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Shoot 'Em Up 2D Games.
-=The Good=-
Nice-sounding battle music
Upgraded visuals over Genesis version
Good control and hit detection
An extra sub-boss near the end
Detailed spritework
Cool Steampunk setting
Extra parallax scrolling added to some backgrounds
-=The Bad=-
Noticeable artifacts in movies
Lots of typos
Odd mix of sprites and non-sprite effects
Strange sprite outline issues
Some stuttering at times
-=The Details=-
Steel Empire was a game originally released on the SEGA Genesis back in 1992, when the influx of shmups for the system was dying down. It made a name for itself by being a well made game with a Steampunk setting that differed from a lot of the other shmups coming out at the time, along with a somewhat movie-like presentation. In time, the game was ported to the GameBoy Advance in 2004 and the DS in 2014. And this game is more or less a port of the DS version.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
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 Shoot 'Em Up Local Co-Op 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
Broken Sky
Broken Sky is a heck of a lot of fun. I was ready to review this several weeks ago but glad I waited; it’s come a long way since then. The core mechanics were already solid but he’s put tons of work into balancing and added loads of cosmetic and QoL touches.
A great little retro shooter that faithfully recreates the arcade experience. A series of challenges and frequent ship and equipment upgrades keep the game moving and feeling fresh. Very moreish.
For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/
– Real player with 11.9 hrs in game
I’m really enjoying this game, it has a nice retro Arcady feel to it with loads of options and achievements. The game has loads of unlockable content and challenges with addictive gameplay that gives you that “just one more go” feeling when you succumb to the alien forces. The first page of the game is interactive and allows you to set up you plane and game options using the terminals. And yes! You can pet the dog! 😉 Enjoy your flight!
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
Nordenfelt
challenging game
( ﾟДﾟ)＜!!
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
Meh it’s another generic shoot em up with a flash game art style. Nothing really noteworthy about it, I found it to be pretty boring.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
Evorales
I’m not a big enthusiasthic about danmaku shmups, however I think this game is gonna make me enjoy the genre more and more from now on. Very simplistic but pleasing to the eye graphics, a great soundtrack and a tight gameplay.
I don’t think I’ll get good enough to finish the game on “Nightmare” difficulty any time soon, but one day I might get lucky and destroy the Gnuferno once and for all! 💣🐃💥
– Real player with 7.6 hrs in game
its a pretty good and well polished game. the only flaw i have is that you are overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to learn when you start. perhaps a tutorial level where you could try out and practice those mechanics would be good. but apart from that great game. by the way, what engine / language did you use to make the game?
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Tragedy of Prince Rupert
I love this game. I like the look of it, and the soothing music, and the difficulty curve…everything is fantastic. I already bought it for one friend, and I’ll probably buy it a few more times in the near future to give to other friends as gifts. Go get Tragedy of Prince Rupert, for yourself; you won’t regret it.
– Real player with 25.3 hrs in game
EDIT: I said that the extra crew members were just cosmetic. Well, after reading a post from developer, those actually have an impact on the gameplay (they give you more HP, slow enemy bullets, etc.). But them again how can you blame me for thinking those were just cosmetic, if the game doesn’t give you ANY information?
When you first start up this game, it feels like just another Twin Stick shooter with unique art style. But actually it’s got more depth than most Twin Sticks I’ve played. You play as Prince Rupert, who’s flying a Montgolfière, that has the fastest shooting cannon in the world. You’re on your quest to prove yourself to be worthy groom for some princess and everybody else who wants to marry her is after you. And your balloon is capable of flying into space and dive 20 000 leagues under the sea. That in itself is the most awesome concept for a game I’ve seen in a while.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game
Sine Mora
Sine Mora and I have a pretty unique relationship. I first played it just before I really started to get into shmups, and a lot of the unique mechanics really hooked me, despite the incredibly high difficutly. However, after having broadened my horizons to a greater variety of traditional shoot ‘em ups, a lot of the fondness I once had for it isn’t there anymore. That isn’t to say Sine Mora is a bad game–not at all, I still find it to be quite a unique, enjoyable game–but it doesn’t convince me its time-manipulating mechanics are as refined as they could have been, or provide as much a benefit to the gameplay as they could be.
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
This is a spoilerfree review of the game played on the easyest difficulty.
This was easyly the best shmup I have ever played.
The story contains time manipulation so it is rather hard to follow, after you beat the game you get an encyclopedia though that gives informations about the game world. that kind of makes it easyer, the wikipedia article on the game erases any questions that should have remained.
Anyway, aside from time being part of the story it is also a game mechanic, as you can slow down time when the hell the bullets put you in is to big. it has a meter though so you cant just slowmo yourself through the game. There is also a limited amount of time you have before dying that gets a few extra seconds every time you kill an enemy and that gets reduced when you are hit, so its also kind of your health.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Sine Mora EX
What I can appreciate about Sine Mora is how the central plot element becomes the central game mechanic in a very fluid and innovative way. Sine Mora is a game about time control, and its central game mechanic is that you never lose health, but time. If you take damage, that’s time off the clock. If you kill enemies, that’s time added to the clock. You are essentially invincible, but lose powerups and the game if you ever get hurt enough times that you run out the clock. A clock that is always ticking down, but either gains or loses time as a penalty or reward in combat.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
While it may be a unique take on the bullet hell formula, Sine Mora’s attempts at being its own thing put it at odds with the notion of being well balanced, and it ultimately ends up flawed to the point that it’s an active struggle to enjoy.
To start off by giving praise where it’s due, the game is gorgeous, the soundtrack is high-quality, the controls are mostly fluid, the story has some really cool twists, the boss design is fab, and the Hungarian voice acting is pretty dope (no idea about the English, as I switched to the original voice track from the get-go).
– Real player with 6.7 hrs in game
Skycadia
This is by far the most exciting thrill ride of a highscore leaderboard battling game I’ve played in many years.
At the start, you are set to begin unlocking the other pilots and weapons (3 of each). It may seem like a huge hurdle, but once you get your mind past the unlocks and just concentrate on the leaderboard, it becomes all or nothing.
Set in a retro 90’s look with it’s vibrant landscapes and scan lines, you feel right at home. (Well I do).
The chiptune music sets the scene for the 3 stages the game throws at you. First a light tune as the first wave of enemy ships spawn in, then a faster arrangement as the flying centipedes swoop around and finally the boss music kicks, and you know by then, things are gonna go down.
– Real player with 34.4 hrs in game
“Pixelized, Fast paced, Action packed flight shoot em up’”
The more and more i played the more challenging the game got, keeping me at my toes with it’s rouge-like enemy system, as soon as i had overcome a difficult enemy a new enemy would appear and kill me several more times.
The controls are simple and easy and the smoothness you can achieve once you’ve mastered the plane is awesome. I did have to toggle the inverted vertical controls, as flying felt much better that way.
The daylight cycle makes the game more interesting as the environment changes with the lighting. At night you can watch your bullets light up the clouds and environment as you blast enemies. and vice versa
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game