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Style isn't everything, but it can go a long way toward making a game much more enjoyable than it might otherwise be. This is certainly the case for Void-X, a very straightforward and simple horizontal shooter that has an unbelievably confident aesthetic identity that feels great to play around in as a result.

Stark shooter

Void-X presents a black and white, pixelated, rain-soaked cityscape backed by a gentle and dark drum and bass track. A plain text prompt blinks in the center of this view with instructions “Tap to start.” Doing so launches a ship you control into the foreground where you tap and slide your finger around to auto-fire at enemy aircraft to try and take them down and maximize your score.

Shots coming from your ship are green, while enemy fire is red. If you dodge and shoot your way through a few waves of enemies successfully, you then encounter a boss fight which rewards you with additional health and a powerup for your ship before moving on to a more difficult stage. If you die at any point in Void-X, your score is totaled and you have the option to start the game over from the beginning again.

Soak it in

There's no checkpoints in Void-X, nor is there any currency or upgrades to carry between runs. In fact, there are virtually no additional options, modes, or things to do in the game besides adjusting your control sensitivity, turning the music on or off, and playing the one mode it has.

This barebones approach all feels purposeful, though. Void-X is all about setting a specific tone and having you do one specific thing within it. A sort of ominous cool envelops you while you slide and shoot and keeping the focus on exactly that frees you from distraction and makes this simple game a fun, no-frills challenge worth playing repeatedly.

Style over stability

I really respect Void-X for committing above all else to its specific look and feel, but there are some aspects of this game that are surprisingly rough considering the game's apparent attention-to-detail on the surface. Most of these problems crop up if you switch out of the app and return to it. Sometimes, Void-X may be unresponsive, or the music won't play. In some instances I've returned to the game on the pause screen but the action of the game is still moving and playing out underneath the menu.

To be fair, Void-X isn't the kind of game where you'll really want or need to be hopping in and out of it in the midst of a run. Even my longest individual sessions have only managed to be around 10 minutes. This doesn't excuse technical issues like this, though, so they are worth calling out here.

The bottom line

Void-X is a game where it's style is the substance. There's nothing special or unique about its side-scrolling shooter action besides the way it looks and makes you feel. This is 100% ok by me, though. The tone of Void-X is right up my alley to the point that it serves as a nice escape into another world where everything is simple, manageable, and cool. I don’t really need a game to do much more than that to leave me satisfied.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/void-x-review/

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Barnard's Star is a multiplayer focused arena tactics game where two players take turns positioning and attacking with a squad of four soldiers in an attempt to destroy their opponent's base and come out victorious. This game format is nothing new to the App Store, but developer Pollywog Games places its own unique mechanics and systems on top of this tired formula that are enjoyable when you aren't running up against some rough spots in the game's design.

Spaceship slayground

There are a lot of games like Barnard's Star that have come and gone over the years. The first one that came to mind for me was Super Senso, but this game's brand of multiplayer turn-based strategy is also reminiscent of the more recent Phobies, or–if you prefer some more well-known comparison points–it can also be situated somewhere in between the likes of games like Advance Wars and XCOM.

This is all to say that Barnard's Star has two players pick a faction to play as and four units unique to that faction to control in a match. From there, the units spawn into a designated zone and players take turns giving instructions to their teams that can include anything from moving into cover, using teleporters, activating overwatch abilities, grappling around the map, placing/destroying cover, and more. The ultimate goal behind all of these actions is an effort to control the map, which includes establishing a balance of offense and defense that your opponent has a hard time countering.

Asynchronous attacking

Due to its turn-based nature, Barnard's Star allows players to juggle multiple matches at the same time and pushes notifications whenever a new turn is available. In executing a turn, players can also make use of a handy undo button, allowing for true tacticians to experiment with the most optimal sets of moves before locking them in.

The more you play, Barnard's Star, the more the undo button will feel necessary as the game hangs its hat on boasting a unique set of units that all operate pretty differently, and their interactions can lead to some surprising and unanticipated results. There's robots that can spawn copies of themselves, bounty hunters that can grapple and pull other units around, monsters that spew poison all over the map, and more. On top of this Barnard's Star has some distinct mechanics that apply to all units that don't exist in other games, as well. Things like bonus turns for units that score kills, respawn timers that change depending on how many times a unit gets killed; heck, even familiar concepts like cover and firing operate in ways that they don't quite do in other games, making Barnard's Star something that takes quite a bit of time to get used to.

Rough and ready

While you can play Barnard's Star single player against AI, it is clear this is a game that is meant for multiplayer. Even playing single-player matches against the game's highest difficulty, your opponents make some questionable decisions, like firing their weapons at walls and ignoring cover. If that weren't enough, Barnard's Star has an unlock system for new units that challenges you to perform certain feats to get new ways to diversify your squads, but you can't get these unlocks through playing against AI.

It's also really clear that Barnard's Star wants you to take steps back from the game's action between turns and truly play it asynchronously, as evidenced by a relatively common bug that doesn't pass control of a round to you if you when it's your turn if you stay in a match to wait for it. This doesn't happen all the time, but there were numerous times, (even when playing against AI), where the game essentially would not proceed forward unless I backed out of a game and went back into it.

The bottom line

In comparison to other turn-based multiplayer strategy games, Barnard's Star feels pretty small. That said, of the variety it has there is a lot of depth to explore in terms of team composition and turn combos that can make it a really satisfying competitive experience. I just wish that whole package felt little more polished.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/barnards-star-review/