SWARMRIDERS is the perfect example of minimalism in gaming well executed. After you download the game (it's only a few MB) and enter the menu, you will instantly get the idea: you only have the Play and Exit buttons. It's that simple. No introduction, no tutorials, no story to be told (in spite of the game being introduced as a prequel), no online leaderboards and even no options to configure anything. It's made so that you enter and immediately start the mayhem.
The aesthetics, which somewhat resemble the ones of Savant: Ascent follow the same concept, using a monochrome colour palette. As for the sounds, they are minimal as well and the main focus is put on the loud but fitting and catchy music. The sum of all these elements create an excellent ambience, and they manage to make you feel inside the situation.
Regarding the gameplay, be warned: the game becomes quickly addictive. At the beginning, you may tend to treat it as one of those cases where you play a couple of matches during a break and then continue with your daily routine. But with SWARMRIDERS, just like say Super Meat Boy, you'll definitely want to play "just one more time" to try to surpass your previous record, and before you realise it, you will have spent at least half an hour on it.
The goal is as simple as everything: your character is in the middle of a motorbike chase, followed by a never-ending army of creatures that resemble the Sentinels from The Matrix, while tries to get rid of them with a laser gun. You only use the WASD keys to move, aim with your mouse, and attack automatically, since there isn't any reason to stop shooting all the time, because the pace, as expected, is insane, and you don't even have a millisecond to look away or catch your breath.
We couldn't find an official trailer, so we poached this from Youtube:
As for the balance, it's excellent, and no pattern or strategy proves to be totally safe, and it's pretty common to have everything controlled and in the next second to be totally surrounded and outnumbered by your enemies. Besides, there isn't anything that can be deemed "unfair"; if you lose, it's always clear that it happened only because you still need to practice more. Related to this, since the game runs smooth all the time, you'll never lose because of performance issues either. Some people, though, may get a bit annoyed by the massive white smoke left by the creatures after they are destroyed, but this will only happen at the beginning, until you get accustomed, because is nearly impossible that you miss the presence of an enemy because of it.
Strictly speaking, the game doesn't have an end, and the idea is to survive for a certain amount of time to be rewarded with a Steam achievement. There are four in total, that you'll gain after surviving more than 60, 100, 120 and 150 seconds, respectively.
The only issues I found are minimal: first, the health bar, which consists in a coloured circle around your character, indicating with a percentage how much more you can endure, it's pretty pointless, because it's so small that in the middle of the action you won't be able to check it. Second, precisely regarding the lack of configuration options, I would have preferred to adjust the mouse sensitivity a bit. Also, although this isn't a fault at all, I tend to disagree with the game being labelled in the description as a runner, because you won't find any obstacle to avoid while you're escaping, unlike sagas like Bit.Trip.Runner; it's just a regular twin stick shooter, with all the elements disposed to represent a futuristic bike chase, that's all.
In conclusion, SWARMRIDERS is a title that you should always have in your Steam library, since it's a perfect example of a very simple game, allegedly made by one single person, that focuses only in offering the best possible experience and succeeds on it. It doesn't pretend to be more than what it is, while serving as an excellent introduction for those who don't know the main game, an addictive arcade called UBERMOSH.
What are your thoughts about it? Would you dare to try to become the first GOL reader to reach the 150 seconds mark?
About the game (Official)
SWARMRIDERS is a FREE "endless runner" + "twin stick shooter" ARCADE mashup. A "machine gun swarm surfing minigame" made as a bonus content for the UBERMOSH community.
400 years before the events of UBERMOSH:BLACK, the Blade Saint was just a mercenary gunner, shredding eyes on the backseat of a bike.
Players can expect a few minutes of elegant gameplay, responsive controls and a heart pumping original soundtrack. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
The aesthetics, which somewhat resemble the ones of Savant: Ascent follow the same concept, using a monochrome colour palette. As for the sounds, they are minimal as well and the main focus is put on the loud but fitting and catchy music. The sum of all these elements create an excellent ambience, and they manage to make you feel inside the situation.
Regarding the gameplay, be warned: the game becomes quickly addictive. At the beginning, you may tend to treat it as one of those cases where you play a couple of matches during a break and then continue with your daily routine. But with SWARMRIDERS, just like say Super Meat Boy, you'll definitely want to play "just one more time" to try to surpass your previous record, and before you realise it, you will have spent at least half an hour on it.
The goal is as simple as everything: your character is in the middle of a motorbike chase, followed by a never-ending army of creatures that resemble the Sentinels from The Matrix, while tries to get rid of them with a laser gun. You only use the WASD keys to move, aim with your mouse, and attack automatically, since there isn't any reason to stop shooting all the time, because the pace, as expected, is insane, and you don't even have a millisecond to look away or catch your breath.
We couldn't find an official trailer, so we poached this from Youtube:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
As for the balance, it's excellent, and no pattern or strategy proves to be totally safe, and it's pretty common to have everything controlled and in the next second to be totally surrounded and outnumbered by your enemies. Besides, there isn't anything that can be deemed "unfair"; if you lose, it's always clear that it happened only because you still need to practice more. Related to this, since the game runs smooth all the time, you'll never lose because of performance issues either. Some people, though, may get a bit annoyed by the massive white smoke left by the creatures after they are destroyed, but this will only happen at the beginning, until you get accustomed, because is nearly impossible that you miss the presence of an enemy because of it.
Strictly speaking, the game doesn't have an end, and the idea is to survive for a certain amount of time to be rewarded with a Steam achievement. There are four in total, that you'll gain after surviving more than 60, 100, 120 and 150 seconds, respectively.
The only issues I found are minimal: first, the health bar, which consists in a coloured circle around your character, indicating with a percentage how much more you can endure, it's pretty pointless, because it's so small that in the middle of the action you won't be able to check it. Second, precisely regarding the lack of configuration options, I would have preferred to adjust the mouse sensitivity a bit. Also, although this isn't a fault at all, I tend to disagree with the game being labelled in the description as a runner, because you won't find any obstacle to avoid while you're escaping, unlike sagas like Bit.Trip.Runner; it's just a regular twin stick shooter, with all the elements disposed to represent a futuristic bike chase, that's all.
In conclusion, SWARMRIDERS is a title that you should always have in your Steam library, since it's a perfect example of a very simple game, allegedly made by one single person, that focuses only in offering the best possible experience and succeeds on it. It doesn't pretend to be more than what it is, while serving as an excellent introduction for those who don't know the main game, an addictive arcade called UBERMOSH.
What are your thoughts about it? Would you dare to try to become the first GOL reader to reach the 150 seconds mark?
About the game (Official)
SWARMRIDERS is a FREE "endless runner" + "twin stick shooter" ARCADE mashup. A "machine gun swarm surfing minigame" made as a bonus content for the UBERMOSH community.
400 years before the events of UBERMOSH:BLACK, the Blade Saint was just a mercenary gunner, shredding eyes on the backseat of a bike.
Players can expect a few minutes of elegant gameplay, responsive controls and a heart pumping original soundtrack. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Opinions at the moment of writing the articles were mine, though in some cases contents were edited or critical information was added by GOL Editors before approval.
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