Bored, Tired, Annoyed
metascore: 85
Plasma Safe Verdict:
Yellow Alert
Plasma Safe Verdict:
Yellow Alert
The feeling of being let down by high expectations going unfulfilled is one that gamers everywhere experience from time to time. Playing BlastWorks has been one of those times for me. This side-scrolling shooter has a novel approach to it. As you fly through the levels any enemies you kill can be added to your ship (or airplane) simply by flying into the fallen foe. Once enemies are joined to your ship they act as shields and other killed enemies can now "stick" to them as well. What's interesting about this is that the ships that stick to you will now continue to fire their weapons for you in the direction they were facing when you caught them.
Sounds interesting, right?Please, I played this game for all of 5 minutes before boredom began to set in. It's not that the game fails to preform the way it should but that it just isn't fun to play at all. Pinning down the b-button and flying up and down the screen avoiding enemy fire while your ship turns into an absolute abomination sounds like a good time I know, but it just isn't. Pieces stick to you and fall off, over and over again. There is no sense of strategy or accomplishment in the game because everything seems so random. And to make matters worse, if you succeed at clearing a level there is no save feature so you get to do it all over again once you lose all your lives.
The game has one redeeming factor and that is the editor and downloadable content. You have access to a virtually limitless editor in the game that lets you create your own ships and levels. Your creations can be uploaded through your Internet connection and you can download other peoples content. This is all fine a good. In fact, it's actually really cool and well designed. But why anyone would spend hours creating levels and ships for this game is beyond me. I mean if you always wanted to create a side-scrolling shooter BlastWorks will suit you fine, that is unless you actually wanted people to play your creations. The editor and download functions of this game require a fairly large save file (at least in Wii standards) and with storage space being the valuable commodity that it is on the Wii this just not does not seem worth it.
I don't even want to talk about this game anymore. The whole experience has left me Bored, Tired, and Annoyed. My copy is on the way to the trade-in counter at my local game store.
RATING: 5/10 - the editor and downloadable content options are sweet but everything else is sour.
I have to disagree with you on this. On the rookie setting, the game doesn't pick up until you reach the third stage and then it's challenging and enjoyable. Pilot setting is much more difficult and exciting. There is strategy involved in catching enemy ships in an advantageous position which adds to your firepower or bolsters your defense; keeping pieces attached to your ship in order to gain more one-ups; and hiding the attahced vehicles to make your ship more maneuverable. It's very cool to build up your ship to the point that you have a wicked bullet pattern. The boss battles are a blast and the unlockable Kenta Cho games are amazingly well-crafted. If you like shmups, you need this game.
your main problem seems to be that you just don't like shooters.
Shooters generally involve flying left to right, holding down the fire button, evading enemy fire and trying not to crash into anything.
This one is the same as the others, with the addition of "collecting" fallen enemies that become shields and weapons for you.
I have yet to play/buy this game.. and I'm not a fan of shooters, but I must say that when you go into a review already having a bias against the genre of game you're reviewing, then there's no point in writing it.
I'm sure there are viable reviewers who hate sports games or RPG's... but you can't give those games 5 out of 10 because they play the way they were intended.
For the record I was really looking forward to this title long before it came out. So much so that I nearly drove the good people at my local game store insane trying to get my hands on it. I do like shooters but this one just does not live up to my expectations. I came into this game really hoping to enjoy it but I do not.
Here's what I will do: I promise to sit down with it again and give it a real good chance to redeem itself before I trade it in. If I find that it grows on me or somehow I have a better experience this time I will recant my previous review. I am man enough to admit it when I'm wrong.
I have to disagree as well here. I found the game really fun and actually kind of addictive. Not sure why you didn't enjoy it. This was the best game I've played so far this year. I've haven't worked with all the editing features yet but it seems great.