Five Nights at Slippy’s
(This
review is spoiler-free!)
It’s a sad day for the Star Fox
franchise. Not only was Zero a disappointment on a massive scale, but as it
turns out, Star Fox Guard, the game included as basically a pack-in bonus to
the main game, somehow manages to run circles around it.
When I first heard about Guard, it
sent tons of red flags up for me. It’s basically a Wii U tech demo from an E3
long since passed, reskinned with a Star Fox design, and it stars Slippy,
arguably the most hated of the four leads.
Yet surprisingly, it somehow works.
Not only that, but I’d say that whereas Zero is a disaster that should
absolutely be avoided by all except the most passionate of Star Fox fans, Guard
is a fun time that I’d absolutely recommend to fans of puzzle or RTS games.
So what’s the point of Guard? Well,
you’re in control of the camera system of a mining colony/maze that is
currently being attacked by robots. Your job is to flip through the cameras and
take out the bots with lasers before they make it to the core.
It sounds simple, but I had a lot of
close calls while playing. I’d often be down to my last line of camera defences
as I tried to locate and take out the robot threat.
Speaking of the robots, while the
designs aren’t great and are by no means original, it’s fun to see all the
different types that show up. Some of them look like radar dishes that take out
cameras, others explode into smoke bombs, and still others are shaped like
miniature tanks that can cost you the game if you let them get far enough. They
aren’t exactly memorable enemies, but for a game like this, they work just
fine.
The rest of the presentation is about
the same. The graphics are no better than Zero’s were, looking more like a late
Wii game than a late Wii U game. Onscreen, all the cameras are displayed on
monitors, surrounding one large monitor that displays the feed of the camera
you’re currently in control of. This may seem like a bit nitpicky, but the other
cameras show a choppy, 1 fps version of the main cameras. I would’ve liked to
see a live feed instead, but it really doesn’t matter. For a smaller game like
this, I can forgive that.
The sound design and music is nothing special either. Each
area only gets one song that loops endlessly, and by the time you’ve reached
the final level and are ready to move onto the next planet, you’ll be on your
hands and knees praying you’ll never hear that specific tune ever again.
The controls I found were a little
more hit-or-miss than I would’ve liked. Guard thankfully drops the
gyro-controlled nightmare Zero insisted on you, going instead for the standard
control stick movement. However, the cameras movement is extremely sensitive,
often requiring you to make the slightest of adjustments to properly aim at the
robots. In a game where aiming is one of the most important parts, this can be
a big problem.
Moving through the cameras also takes
some time to get used to. Instead of cycling through them looking for the one
you need, you look down at the GamePad to find which one you need, and then tap
it with the stylus to activate the feed on the TV screen. It can be a little
disorienting at times, especially when you’re in a rush and desperately looking
for the right camera, but it works for the most part. As an added plus, you can
see the robots on the GamePad as well, so you’re able to keep a close eye on
them while you scramble around to find the camera you need.
Right now, Star Fox Guard is available
for $15 on the Wii U eShop. I’d say look at some videos of the game first
before deciding if it’s worth the price, and you should absolutely not buy the physical bundle with Zero. For
what it is, Guard is a fun puzzle/RTS/tower defence game that’s good if you
have some time to waste, but not much else. If you feel like it’s something you’d
like, I’d say you should absolutely go for it.
FINAL SCORE
6/10
Okay
No comments:
Post a Comment