One of the projects that has emerged (and financed) in KickStarter that has evolved the most since its initial stage we have it in Steel Assault. If we see what it was like thanks to the video that KickStarter heads and we see how it is now, with the support of Tribute Games (TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge), there is an abyss.
And we went from a generic and soulless game with a NES look to one that shows the true potential of pixel-art when there is pure talent behind. After all, this debut feature from the Zenovia Interactive studio brings together artists who have worked on Blasphemous and various Japanese doujin. But is it more than just a pretty face? Does it live up to the expectations of your February demo?
A game that looks like something out of an arcade
Thanks to the scene indie the spirit of arcades has not been completely lost and Steel Assault is a new proof of it. If you have grown up with demanding games like Ghosts’n Goblins, Bionic Commando or Metal Slug you will feel right at home. Not in vain is it a tribute to all that time, with touches of each of those classics in a more or less recognizable way.
In this case, its identity stamp starts from an electric whip capable of volatilizing the vast majority of enemy bullets, having a greater hook to use as a zip line between two fixed points. With this we will have more than enough to overcome its five phases, although we will be demanding a lot on our part in advanced levels of difficulty. Or put another way: if you don’t know how to handle the zip line, you’re dead, being totally essential.
A good example of this is the second boss, Captain Balthazar Kline’s machine. Uploaded to a ship, in one of its attacks it will release fire on the ground that will last a few seconds, forcing us to exit from the sides of the ship, do a double jump and place the zip line just below the ship. Needless to say, until I got the hang of it, he killed me many times. However, if we play easy that attack will never use it. And of course, many nuances are lost as well.
Steel Assault is a very straightforward game in which there will be few moments of calm. Normal enemies will not stop coming out in certain sections, with some aerial ones whose shot, if we don’t block it first, will create a devastating effect on the ground. It is a constant give and take that forces us to be close to the enemy by having a whip as the only main weapon, despite the fact that there are some chests where we will be granted a power, such as launching electrified sparks … as long as we have not consumed the energy bar, of very limited uses.
And how is it recharged? Well, getting as close to the enemy as possible and killing him that way. Only in this way will we obtain a ball of energy that will be added to the bar. Hence, all those people who are experts in run & gun have a special incentive for your speedruns. Although the truth is that the issue of sub-weapons is wasted and pales compared to other representatives of the genre.
It is more consistent with the use of the dodge movement, here by means of a quick glide across the ground. And although it is missing that we can jump down from a platform (that dash replaces it, well), at least with this movement we will be invulnerable to bullets and it should also be mastered together with the use of the zip line. Because in advanced sections there will be many bullets …
Steel Assault, a great challenge … that lasts a sigh
That Steel Assault enters by sight is evident, all thanks to that very careful 16-bit (hypervitamin) aesthetic. And with the option to simulate CRT screens, even regulating their degree of curvature. Each scenario proposes a different challenge surrounded by a visual spectacle of aúpa that sometimes accompanies the mechanics of the game itself, such as lighting a dark room each time we attack with the whip. The result is frankly effective.
Without going any further, returning to the subject of subtle tributes, there it reminded me of one of the phases of the last Turrican along with the classic fortified barrier of the Contra. And as much as he has his personal stamp, he cannot hide another series of influences beyond Castlevania (for the whip, the most obvious), such as the aforementioned Bionic Commando (both for the hook and for the start of the second phase, which is very cheeky) or even Gunstar Heroes, where he tries to replicate that changing-looking boss … but without the great brilliance of Treasure.
In fact, it seems as if Xenovia Interactive cannot see the potential of Steel Assault or wanted to finish the job as soon as possible (too many years in development for a new study), because the variety (although small number of) phases is missing a greater use of the scenario in the face of secrets, which practically does not exist here or for the use of enhancers.
Yes, the bosses are very demanding and this is where the whole shines the most by offering challenges that will force us to get the most out of the zip line and sliding, but it is lame in terms of content and replayability. And it is that by boat it is soon surprising that we do not even have a scoreboard, something mandatory in an arcade-themed game. In this sense Blazing Chrome (love letter to Contra) seemed rounder to us. And let’s not say Huntdown, which was quite a pitch.
As a cover letter for Xenovia it is good and gives reason to think that her next commercial work will far surpass this arcade proposal, which, on the other hand, should have been careful with the texts in Spanish, that there are more than one gazapo with the false friends. Of course, the soundtrack is brutal and very sugary, especially liking the intro cinematic to anime.
VidaExtra’s opinion
Definitely, Steel Assault is an arcade that you will squeeze and enjoy If you have sucked the golden age of the recreational ones last century (how old it sounds to say this), but that is a couple of steps below the masters of the genre. With a hypothetical second installment, Xenovia is sure to embroider it, we must not forget that the game underwent a complete redesign after being funded on KickStarter 2015. If we see what it was like and what it became in 2016, you understand.
Steel Assault
Platforms | Steam (analyzed version) and Nintendo Switch |
---|---|
Multiplayer | No |
Developer | Xenovia Interactive |
Company | Tribute Games |
Launching | September 28, 2021 |
The best
- Its 16-bit hypervitamin aesthetic
- The use of the zip line when we dominate it
- How versatile the whip is
- At high levels it is where it gives more play
Worst
- Extremely short and not very playable
- More secrets are missing for the phases