REVIEW: Ares
"Some day in 21st century, the earth was attached by exotic. For the safe of our earth, a batter was broken between the earth and the exotic."
Vertical shooters make up a good portion of the GameKing’s library and Ares is one of the more commonly available that you’ll encounter if you plan to collect for the system.
Its plagiarised artwork (stolen from DeviantArt) and probably misspelled title (God of War?) are lower points on it's resume than its gameplay, which is solid if ultimately unspectacular.
You know the drill by now: you are a lone craft flying up the screen blasting waves of enemies until you reach the boss. Ares has six stages with a boss to tackle at the end of each of them and unlimited continues to attempt them in.
The game's key gameplay mechanic is centred around blasting open, numbered powerup boxes that imbue your craft with different artillery or shields and then grabbing them before they float up and off the screen. Due to the limited pixels available to the GameKing these cannot be combined, so if you’re currently shielded and pickup, say, a floating Gradius style ‘option’, then you can say goodbye to your previous power-up. This mostly renders powering up a fruitless exercise as once you have your preferred power-up there is little reason to ever pick up another.
Graphically, Ares has done a decent job of striking the right kind of detail between detailed and subdued enough to distinguish backgrounds from enemies. The systems shades of grey are used well to give the illusion of depth.
Musically the game falters as the five second loop chosen for the game has a jump-cut that is jarring in comparison to the moody, well mixed sample of something like Street Hero. Sound effects are the usual mix of explosions and pew-pew gunfire.
Ares is one of the GameKing’s tougher Shoot-em-ups. You’ll need some skill and a plethora of continues to best its six stages. It’s just a pity that it doesn’t really do anything to separate itself from the numerous other shooters on the system.
Its plagiarised artwork (stolen from DeviantArt) and probably misspelled title (God of War?) are lower points on it's resume than its gameplay, which is solid if ultimately unspectacular.
You know the drill by now: you are a lone craft flying up the screen blasting waves of enemies until you reach the boss. Ares has six stages with a boss to tackle at the end of each of them and unlimited continues to attempt them in.
The game's key gameplay mechanic is centred around blasting open, numbered powerup boxes that imbue your craft with different artillery or shields and then grabbing them before they float up and off the screen. Due to the limited pixels available to the GameKing these cannot be combined, so if you’re currently shielded and pickup, say, a floating Gradius style ‘option’, then you can say goodbye to your previous power-up. This mostly renders powering up a fruitless exercise as once you have your preferred power-up there is little reason to ever pick up another.
Graphically, Ares has done a decent job of striking the right kind of detail between detailed and subdued enough to distinguish backgrounds from enemies. The systems shades of grey are used well to give the illusion of depth.
Musically the game falters as the five second loop chosen for the game has a jump-cut that is jarring in comparison to the moody, well mixed sample of something like Street Hero. Sound effects are the usual mix of explosions and pew-pew gunfire.
Ares is one of the GameKing’s tougher Shoot-em-ups. You’ll need some skill and a plethora of continues to best its six stages. It’s just a pity that it doesn’t really do anything to separate itself from the numerous other shooters on the system.
SCORE: 6/10
