I’m going to try and refrain from making any more ball jokes than I have already, in the linked video. Galacide is a wonderful gem of a game that takes Galaga-like action and smashes it together with the puzzling aspects of Bejeweled or Bubble-Bobble. Enemy ships descend on your position constantly, and need to be blown up to gain scrap of varying colors which can be used to create combos. Decisions need to be made quickly since the screen constantly scrolls to the right, and getting left behind can have explosive results.
Thankfully, there are a decent amount of power-ups that drop after particularly large combos. The fact that the dropped upgrade depends on the color of the combo is extremely helpful, and serves to add yet another layer of depth. If that doesn’t sweeten the deal enough, there are also four ships with extremely unique abilities that allow you to customize your playstyle quite effectively, provided that you have unlocked them. Do you want to pull scrap towards yourself, or simply phase through it? By phasing through it you miss out on combos, but not dying is always a plus.
Boss fights are challenging, but after puzzling your brain out to avoid an untimely death it feels like a very welcome change. Fight mechanics are switched up relatively often, so the bosses are always something to look forward to. Unfortunately, Galacide does have some weaker points as well. I don’t particularly enjoy the music, and think the sound effects could use more work. The story is lackluster, with an absence of character development. The graphics are nice, but I feel neon colors contrast with the dark, sparse nature that being in space would imply.
These are minor issues, as this game is certainly carried by the puzzles. If it seems like something you would enjoy, please leave a comment on the youtube video mentioned previously and your name will be entered to win one of two Steam keys. Big thanks to Puny Human games for the review copy. I see myself returning to this game to get my fix of puzzling for a good long while. I also greatly look forward to watching Galacide’s player-base grow as it certainly deserves to. I can’t stop matching colors, unfortunately it won’t serve to improve ones sense of fashion.
Gameplay:
- Controls- 10/10
- Fun Factor- 7/10
- Difficulty- 8/10
- Replayability- 10/10
- Innovation- 9/10
Aesthetic:
- Graphics- 7/10
- Music- 5/10
- Sound FX- 5/10
- Story/Lore- 3/10
- Level Design- 7/10
Final Score: 71/100 for innovation, controls, and replayability.
Summary: Wonderful action-puzzler that keeps your mind and your fingers constantly moving.
Verdict: Might be a bit too light for hardcore action fans, but puzzle-addicts will surely go nuts for Galacide.
If it seems like something you would enjoy, please leave a comment on the youtube video mentioned previously and your name will be entered to win one of two Steam keys.
Galacide was released on Steam July 28th 2015.
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