Another day and another Rogue-like arrives. But just when you
think you’ve seen everything, something new appears to show there is still life
in the genre. Orbital Bullet takes the action platformer approach to the live,
die, repeat mantra and is far more frenetic and intense than your average Rogue
title.
The concept is simple, you choose one of four classes and
try and blast your way around an enclosed arena in the form of a ring. Once the
ring is clear of enemies you hit the L button and zoom round and to the next
one to repeat the process again. Occasionally, you get to stop and buy supplies
and boost your skills or jump to a boss ring, but the gameplay loop remains the
same pretty much throughout. Once the boss arena is completed you get the choice
of moving to a new planet which brings a graphical change and a new set of
enemies to blast.
And what a loop it is. Pounding music, a frantic pace and not
a second to breath permeates the entire experience of an Orbital Bullet run
through. It’s akin to someone taking Black Future 88 (what do you mean you
haven’t played it?) and fusing it with some kind of side scrolling Tempest
game. Add a sprinkling of Resogun and you’ve got it.
You’ll have access to a ton of weapons, with more
continually unlocking and a grid of skills and buffs that you can unlock at the
end of each run. This of course means that the next time you play you’ll likely
get a little bit further through the rings and pick up some more points to feed
into your unlockable skills, and thus the loop continues.
There are of course secrets to uncover as well. You’ll often
stumble upon rifts in the levels which can be passed through by sacrificing
health or using unlock keys. These rift rings are filled with tough enemies but
offer up big rewards for skilled players, often giving weapon unlocks or quantities
of keys and other bonus items.
Your skill unlocks cover every aspect of play from adding
more jumping ability and increasing speed to upping the level of weapon you start
with and the timer on your combo counter. They come in two forms as well with a
long-term permanent unlock system before each run allowing players some control
over what they get next. In game you find computer terminals which add layers
of buffs such as higher heath or more bounce damage. These in turn take in game
points to unlock but only last the length of your run.
Weapon unlocking is even more complicated with blueprints
needing to be found Initially then points needing to be spent to have the
weapon created. You can also play a much longer game here by putting your points
into the minimum and maximum level of weapons available throughout.
Overall, Orbital Bullet is successful in taking an oversaturated
genre and somehow managing to carve out its own original niche within it. There
isn’t really anything out there quite like it and it provides a thrilling and
highly satisfying blasting experience. Initially it doesn’t feel like it has
much depth but don’t be fooled, this is a devious and deep game which will require
reflexes of a Jedi in order to defeat.
Overall 8/10
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