PS4 Launch Party - Look at All The Pretty Colours! A Resogun Review.

Written By: Tyler Selig

Rating: 8.5/10

Verdict: Extremely short but with a bunch of difficulty levels to suck you back in, Resogun is a nice throwback to the arcade shmups, but it does just enough to make it feel more modern.

            Resogun is another game that Playstation Plus members can get for free right now, and from what I can gather, it’s also the most consistently highest rated Playstation 4 launch exclusive. That’s pretty good when you consider it’s against things like Killzone: Shadow Fall. IGN gave it a 9, Destructoid gave it a 9.5, Gamespot gave it an 8 and Polygon gave it an 8.5. So is it worth the hype?

                Well, yeah, but I don’t think it’s the best of the exclusives (more on that at a later date). That doesn’t change one simple fact: Resogun is awesome.

                Coming from a more primitive time in games, I remember these types of games when they were plentiful. Before first-person shooters, we had games like Resogun, though they weren’t nearly as pretty. It’s not the most complicated genre to make, yet they end up being fun more often than not. Unfortunately it’s mostly been up to the indie game community to keep this particular dream alive.

                Resogun, despite being made on a budget that would make Infinity Ward laugh, manages to be a beautiful and engaging example of the genre. Your ships look fine, but not overly impressive, but that’s not where the visual magic is. Look at the backgrounds and see how well-designed they are, and watch how they crumble as each of the five levels progress. Look at all the pretty colours from enemies as you shoot them to bits. And even though you move from left to right, the levels go in a circle. Resogun is pretty much an orgy for your eyes.

                This also applies to the music, which isn’t overbearing but does a good job of putting you in the mood with the old-school flair. Mind you, I didn’t always notice it because of everything that was going on, but when I did, I was impressed.

                It was a little hard to pay attention to the music, and that’s the fault of the best aspect of the game. It’s crazy, and gets even more insane when you choose the higher difficulties. I found myself just neglecting to blink more often than not, and that’s how I know I’m zoned in. Which you have to be because at any given time you are looking every which way, trying to avoid enemies as they shoot at you or try to run into you. It’s never boring, and just when you think you can let up, enemies spawn all around you, or right on top of you… which is why you always have to move.

                Another reason you always have to move is because one of the bonus objectives of each level is to save humans. You do this by waiting for them to get released from their cage, and then you fly, pick them up, and return them to a portal/base thing in the sky. This gameplay choice makes the action even more hectic because I found myself trying to fly through groups of enemies just to save those ungrateful bastards. Don’t they know what I’m doing for them? The only problem I have is that I don’t know why they die in their cages sometime. I’m sure with research I could figure that out, but as of writing this, I’m not entirely sure.

                Resogun keeps the action simple. You can move in all four directions, but you can only shoot left and right. This harkens back to the old days, and I enjoyed that. They don’t leave you powerless though because you can expect to get upgrades, and they equip you with a boost that is useful for getting away from enemies, but also causes a small explosion when you use it. They also give you bombs which clear the stage of any enemy that is there when you use it, and an overdrive which is especially effective against bosses because it’s one massive honkin’ beam that does a ton of damage.

                I’m disappointed in the length because you really could complete it in two hours or less. If I was paying for it I’d probably knock it down a little bit. But as it stands right now, if you’re a new PS4 owner with the internet, you should be able to get it. And you should, because Resogun is special.