Thursday 12 August, 2004

I don't do shooters. As a matter of fact, I'm really lame at playing them too.

I was intrigued by this game when Sparrow (check out that log!) wrote about it so I thought I'd better take a look sometime. Right? Well, it's freeware so there's nothing to lose.

My best score so far is 646,550 (starting on Normal-0). This is a loooong way away from Sparrow's millions, but hey...I'm a noob.

Gameplay is interesting. There is a LOT going on the screen, though it does seem that "surfing" the incoming barrage of enemy fire is a bit easier than you would imagine. This has nothing to do with my fabulous reflexes I'm sure you'll agree. Is it possible that there is some sort of "energy shield" that is eaten away by enemy hits? Is it possible that only certain parts of enemy shots are actually desctructive? Hmm... I'll have to check into this some more.

I used to be lame at shooters too, btw :)

...It's freeware, so there's nothing to lose but your time, productivity, sanity, etc... ;)

And the "secret" to the game is very simple: (ROT-13'd in case you want to figure it out for yourself - it's not really a spoiler though)

Lbh ner irel fznyy. (Frr gung yvggyr erq qbg va gur prager bs lbhe svtugre?)
Lbhe rarzvrf' fubgf ner NYFB irel fznyy. (Cnhfr gur tnzr, naq gnxr n ybbx. Rnpu rarzl fubg unf n yvggyr qbg va vgf prager.)

By the way, a couple of tips:
- You can't crash into enemies. Or rather, you can overlap them, but you won't die and neither will they.
- Pay attention to those little green and yellow pinwheels, and the numbers on the screen. (Once you figure out what they mean, you can probably disregard the numbers.) They are important to your continued survival in the game.
- Bosses are a quandary: (1) go for the core and get less score, or (2) pick them apart and stay exposed for longer.