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This thread has been linked to the game 'Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype'.
A while ago, Phil Jupitus turned up on Charlie Brooker's one-off gaming show, Gameswipe, complaining about games that didn't let you access all their content from the word go. Specifically, he singled out Rock Band/Guitar Hero and Grand Theft Auto 4. I'm not a huge fan of Rock Band et al, and I didn't have a problem with GTA 4 as such, so I didn't find his argument particular convincing. Until, that is, I played Soldner X-2, a new Playstation Network shoot-em-up.
As the title suggests, it's a sequel to the original Soldner X which was released on the Playstation Network and on the PC, although this sequel hasn't been given a PC release. The game has you blasting your way across seven stages, annihilating screenfuls of foes as you go. In fact, the game comes pretty close to some of the 'bullet hell' shooters the Japanese are fond of in terms of filling the screen with bullets and enemies. The game throws a range of baddies at you, from small craft through to large enemies who take up a quarter of the screen - and that's not counting the bosses.
What stops you from being annihilated in the space of two seconds is the relatively generous health system. You have quite a large health bar and should it get too low you enter berserk mode where you take less damage from hits. You also get two continues, although the downside to using a continue is that you lose half of your power ups. Which, believe me, is not a good thing - the more orange power-ups you collect, the more damage your weapons do. You can also collect side-shooters who fly alongside your ship and dish out damage on your own, though they tend to disappear after a short while for reasons that are never really explained. Some weapons don't work particularly well against certain enemies, so there's a scissors-paper-stone element going on here as well.
The game's graphics are pretty damn good, each level featuring a different theme from an ice cavern (yes, again) through to a ruined world and more. The backdrops are 3D which works well most of the time, except on a couple of occasions where the backdrop ends up moving in the opposite direction to the one you're flying in. The enemies are pretty varied as well, although the bosses themselves are a mixed bag. There are some impressive bosses in the game, but there are also some who seem pretty uninspired. The last boss is a good example – you end up shooting at a small eye in a room with spikes on the wall, and that's it. The boss from the level before is by contrast far more impressive.
Now we get to the bit that ties into Phil Jupitus's rant. Soldner-X2 actively denies you content you've paid for. The last three levels are locked until you find enough keys on each level to progress. You can go through a level several times without getting enough keys and it's really infuriating to find that you can't finish a game you've paid money for without jumping through hoops. I know that the makers were just trying to extend the life of the game, but there are plenty of other options in the game that do this, such as the various challenges you can undertake. There's no reason to lock the last three levels.
Soldner-X2 is a decent shoot-em-up although it's not the best one out there. There's a co-op mode, but that's offline only, not online which is a bit disappointing. The combination of the locked levels and the fact it costs a tenner, more than other similar PSN games, diminishes it somewhat. If you've played Super Stardust HD or Pixeljunk Shooter to death, then it's worth a look, but otherwise those two games are a better choice.
As the title suggests, it's a sequel to the original Soldner X which was released on the Playstation Network and on the PC, although this sequel hasn't been given a PC release. The game has you blasting your way across seven stages, annihilating screenfuls of foes as you go. In fact, the game comes pretty close to some of the 'bullet hell' shooters the Japanese are fond of in terms of filling the screen with bullets and enemies. The game throws a range of baddies at you, from small craft through to large enemies who take up a quarter of the screen - and that's not counting the bosses.
What stops you from being annihilated in the space of two seconds is the relatively generous health system. You have quite a large health bar and should it get too low you enter berserk mode where you take less damage from hits. You also get two continues, although the downside to using a continue is that you lose half of your power ups. Which, believe me, is not a good thing - the more orange power-ups you collect, the more damage your weapons do. You can also collect side-shooters who fly alongside your ship and dish out damage on your own, though they tend to disappear after a short while for reasons that are never really explained. Some weapons don't work particularly well against certain enemies, so there's a scissors-paper-stone element going on here as well.
The game's graphics are pretty damn good, each level featuring a different theme from an ice cavern (yes, again) through to a ruined world and more. The backdrops are 3D which works well most of the time, except on a couple of occasions where the backdrop ends up moving in the opposite direction to the one you're flying in. The enemies are pretty varied as well, although the bosses themselves are a mixed bag. There are some impressive bosses in the game, but there are also some who seem pretty uninspired. The last boss is a good example – you end up shooting at a small eye in a room with spikes on the wall, and that's it. The boss from the level before is by contrast far more impressive.
Now we get to the bit that ties into Phil Jupitus's rant. Soldner-X2 actively denies you content you've paid for. The last three levels are locked until you find enough keys on each level to progress. You can go through a level several times without getting enough keys and it's really infuriating to find that you can't finish a game you've paid money for without jumping through hoops. I know that the makers were just trying to extend the life of the game, but there are plenty of other options in the game that do this, such as the various challenges you can undertake. There's no reason to lock the last three levels.
Soldner-X2 is a decent shoot-em-up although it's not the best one out there. There's a co-op mode, but that's offline only, not online which is a bit disappointing. The combination of the locked levels and the fact it costs a tenner, more than other similar PSN games, diminishes it somewhat. If you've played Super Stardust HD or Pixeljunk Shooter to death, then it's worth a look, but otherwise those two games are a better choice.
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A while ago, Phil Jupitus turned up on Charlie Brooker's one-off gaming show, Gameswipe, complaining about games that didn't let you access all their content from the word go. Specifically, he singled out Rock Band/Guitar Hero and Grand Theft Auto 4. I'm not a huge fan of Rock Band et al, and I didn't have a problem with GTA 4 as such, so I didn't find his argument particular convincing. Until, that is, I played Soldner X-2, a new Playstation Network shoot-em-up.
As the title suggests, it's a sequel to the original Soldner X which was released on the Playstation Network and on the PC, although this sequel hasn't been given a PC release. The game has you blasting your way across seven stages, annihilating screenfuls of foes as you go. In fact, the game comes pretty close to some of the 'bullet hell' shooters the Japanese are fond of in terms of filling the screen with bullets and enemies. The game throws a range of baddies at you, from small craft through to large enemies who take up a quarter of the screen - and that's not counting the bosses.
What stops you from being annihilated in the space of two seconds is the relatively generous health system. You have quite a large health bar and should it get too low you enter berserk mode where you take less damage from hits. You also get two continues, although the downside to using a continue is that you lose half of your power ups. Which, believe me, is not a good thing - the more orange power-ups you collect, the more damage your weapons do. You can also collect side-shooters who fly alongside your ship and dish out damage on your own, though they tend to disappear after a short while for reasons that are never really explained. Some weapons don't work particularly well against certain enemies, so there's a scissors-paper-stone element going on here as well.
The game's graphics are pretty damn good, each level featuring a different theme from an ice cavern (yes, again) through to a ruined world and more. The backdrops are 3D which works well most of the time, except on a couple of occasions where the backdrop ends up moving in the opposite direction to the one you're flying in. The enemies are pretty varied as well, although the bosses themselves are a mixed bag. There are some impressive bosses in the game, but there are also some who seem pretty uninspired. The last boss is a good example – you end up shooting at a small eye in a room with spikes on the wall, and that's it. The boss from the level before is by contrast far more impressive.
Now we get to the bit that ties into Phil Jupitus's rant. Soldner-X2 actively denies you content you've paid for. The last three levels are locked until you find enough keys on each level to progress. You can go through a level several times without getting enough keys and it's really infuriating to find that you can't finish a game you've paid money for without jumping through hoops. I know that the makers were just trying to extend the life of the game, but there are plenty of other options in the game that do this, such as the various challenges you can undertake. There's no reason to lock the last three levels.
Soldner-X2 is a decent shoot-em-up although it's not the best one out there. There's a co-op mode, but that's offline only, not online which is a bit disappointing. The combination of the locked levels and the fact it costs a tenner, more than other similar PSN games, diminishes it somewhat. If you've played Super Stardust HD or Pixeljunk Shooter to death, then it's worth a look, but otherwise those two games are a better choice.
As the title suggests, it's a sequel to the original Soldner X which was released on the Playstation Network and on the PC, although this sequel hasn't been given a PC release. The game has you blasting your way across seven stages, annihilating screenfuls of foes as you go. In fact, the game comes pretty close to some of the 'bullet hell' shooters the Japanese are fond of in terms of filling the screen with bullets and enemies. The game throws a range of baddies at you, from small craft through to large enemies who take up a quarter of the screen - and that's not counting the bosses.
What stops you from being annihilated in the space of two seconds is the relatively generous health system. You have quite a large health bar and should it get too low you enter berserk mode where you take less damage from hits. You also get two continues, although the downside to using a continue is that you lose half of your power ups. Which, believe me, is not a good thing - the more orange power-ups you collect, the more damage your weapons do. You can also collect side-shooters who fly alongside your ship and dish out damage on your own, though they tend to disappear after a short while for reasons that are never really explained. Some weapons don't work particularly well against certain enemies, so there's a scissors-paper-stone element going on here as well.
The game's graphics are pretty damn good, each level featuring a different theme from an ice cavern (yes, again) through to a ruined world and more. The backdrops are 3D which works well most of the time, except on a couple of occasions where the backdrop ends up moving in the opposite direction to the one you're flying in. The enemies are pretty varied as well, although the bosses themselves are a mixed bag. There are some impressive bosses in the game, but there are also some who seem pretty uninspired. The last boss is a good example – you end up shooting at a small eye in a room with spikes on the wall, and that's it. The boss from the level before is by contrast far more impressive.
Now we get to the bit that ties into Phil Jupitus's rant. Soldner-X2 actively denies you content you've paid for. The last three levels are locked until you find enough keys on each level to progress. You can go through a level several times without getting enough keys and it's really infuriating to find that you can't finish a game you've paid money for without jumping through hoops. I know that the makers were just trying to extend the life of the game, but there are plenty of other options in the game that do this, such as the various challenges you can undertake. There's no reason to lock the last three levels.
Soldner-X2 is a decent shoot-em-up although it's not the best one out there. There's a co-op mode, but that's offline only, not online which is a bit disappointing. The combination of the locked levels and the fact it costs a tenner, more than other similar PSN games, diminishes it somewhat. If you've played Super Stardust HD or Pixeljunk Shooter to death, then it's worth a look, but otherwise those two games are a better choice.