Game Review- Resogun

          Since the new consoles have launched and I'm well into playing several of the launch games for each, I thought I might give a little break from reviewing the top tier AAA games and instead focus this review on the technically impressive indie title known as Resogun. From developer HouseMarque of Super Stardust fame, Resogun is a side-scrolling shooter very much in the same aspect as SS and Raptor: Call of the Shadows. What sets Resogun apart from its predecessor is just how technically marvelous it is and how well it takes advantage of the PS4's impressive hardware. While a tad on the light side when it comes to content, the game is absolutely free for any PS+ subscriber and is well worth investing time into. Join me as we delve into this insanely explosive, particle spewing shooter and take a look at what the future of indie games might look like for this next generation.

Prepare to lose track of your ship amidst the chaos.

Story

          To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what the hell this game is about. There is no background information given; you just pick a ship, pick a level, then blow up anything that gets in your way. From what I can gather you are some type of prototype ship charged with protecting futuristic cities from an alien invasion and rescuing imperiled humans. That's really all I can say about the story, as it is very minimal and second to gameplay. You likely will not yearn for much of a story from a game of this caliber, so everything is fine.

The vivid world of Resogun is easy on the eyes, unless you are prone to seizures..

Graphics

          Resogun is possibly one of the best looking indie games- when things start blowing up. Everything in the game world is crafted from voxels, your ship included, and destroying anything will send waves of the things tumbling onto the environment in colorful cascades. All of these particles and voxels are fully affected by physics, light sources, and are self-shadowed. Destroying huge swarms of enemies can cause literal tidal waves of particle effects and objects, something that screenshots fail to capture the beauty of. Resogun's varied color palette really helps to bring its neon-lit world to life, though all the different strobe effects, debris, and particles can clog up most of the screen in a heated skirmish. It is very easy to lose sight of your ship in the ludicrous amount of objects flying around, and unless you have shields then one hit is going to end you. This clutter can be alleviated by deploying a bomb, which wipes out everything in the level with a massive sweeping explosion. I was amazed that this game maintains a steady 60 frames per second at nearly all times, as so many effects and physics affected objects cloud the screen that this game would be impossible to run on last-gen hardware without making some serious compromises to its visual fidelity. Resogun's graphical design makes it stand out quite clearly in the PS4's launch lineup, showing that smaller indie titles can still make jaws drop.

Beat a level and watch everything explode. EVERYTHING.

Gameplay

          Resogun is an extremely simple and addictive game to play, yet mind-numbingly infuriating to master on the higher difficulty settings. Combat is fast, lightning fast to be exact. The entire flow of the level can be shattered in an instant if you happen to get hit by one enemy or projectile. You move your ship from either left or right through levels, blasting your way through and snagging upgrades as you go along. Each ship has a different main weapon and Overdrive duration length, so pick accordingly depending on your play style. Rescuing humans is achieved by destroying designated Keepers, releasing them from their prisons so that you can ferry them to an extraction point. Doing this gives you either weapon upgrades, more points, a shield, an extra life, or one more handy bomb. Bombs are of course extremely useful, as they clear the entire screen of any foes and obstacles. Their rarity though makes them a priority in preservation, which puts more focus on your next two abilities. Boost allows you to zoom across the level, tearing apart anything in your way for a limited time, perfect for rescuing any wandering humans before they get crushed and destroyed. Overdrive is essentially a massive boost for your main weapon, creating a continuous beam of energy that obliterates anything it comes into contact with save for bosses, excellent for extricating yourself from cramped quarters. Boost and Overdrive are both able to be recharged by collecting green orbs dropped by downed ships, so you can be a bit more liberal in their use. At the end of each level is a boss, which requires a good deal of grind to defeat. Each boss is quite different from the last, and depending on the difficulty they can be a real nightmare to face without a full Overdrive and a couple bombs. This is essentially all there is to Resogun, simplicity refined to near perfection.

Particles galore!

Sound

          Techno is the main offering here, along with the constant hammer of dozens of explosions. Care has been given to keep the soundtrack from growing too repetitive and it works surprisingly well, you'll even likely let the music guide your rhythm throughout the game. This department is kind of sparse, but a neat added effect is having the speaker on your controller shout at you whenever you nab items or if there is a human that needs saving. Overall the audio aspect is well-designed if mostly bare-bones. There isn't a lot here, but what they do have works perfectly well.

See where that green arrow is pointing? That little green dude is a human.

Conclusion

            Housemarque took on a lot of responsibility when they decided to make Resogun a launch title for the PS4, but the fruits of their labor are clear. Resogun was built to be nothing more than pure, unfiltered fun in game form. Everything about its design  to the way it plays oozes with style that comes from a developer that loves the game it is making. While offering little variety aside from three ships and several difficulty levels, Resogun nevertheless managed dig itself a nice little place into my heart and has proven to be a thoroughly entertaining experience. Now could you imagine what would happen if Housemarque made a full priced game like this? A triple-A version of Resogun is something I would love to see. 9/10 (PS4 version available only.)