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Thursday 6 March, 2008
Gameplay2:
After another hour of Contra III: The Alien Wars, I realized something very peculiar; This game is very much like a space-shooter. The player implements quick thinking, fast reflexes, and pattern memorization to be successful. Also present is the infinite ammo, special items, bombs, and one-hit deaths. Contra is a walking shmup... a washmup.
Also after and hour, Contra 3 is still amazingly hard. The third level returned us to the side-scrolling but heavily focused on hanging and climbing. While moving on a pole or a wall, a character cannot shoot thus emphasizing the importance of distance and timing. Jumping to grab another pole was also a challenge for the floor was absent. Being not as experienced with platforming, my teammate once again resorted to stealing my lives.
The next level introduced yet another new style, shooting from the back of a motorcycle. We drove and shot at enemies at the same time. I wonder why we have weapons that can destroy these aliens in one hit but still don't have flying vehicles. Even future governments put too much funding into battle. These motorcycle levels are faster paced but focus more on dodging than shooting. The players must dodge incoming ground and aerial attacks from all sides.
We got stuck on this level for this game is amazingly hard. We are considering lowering the difficulty but that feels like lowering our standards.
Design:
As I mentioned earlier, this game is very much like a space shooter. The character must dodge, shoot, and react in a similar speed and different types of enemies continually attack. One button is mapped to jumping, one to shooting, one to changing gun type, and one to bombs. I pretty much held the fire button down unless I was climbing, which requires two hands. These guys have insane arm strength by the way.
The game itself slows down when too many bullets are on the screen at once, which can happen due to the spread shot gun. While some may argue that this destroys the pace, I say it adds to the suspense, when it is not too often that is. The game looks nice but enemies can get a little repetitive.
I didn't really notice the soundtrack because I was so into the gameplay but that is probably best for this type of game. Something too abrasive would distract the players from the action, which demands high concentration.
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