How many of you have played a game that encourages you to die to progress to the next level? Nobody? Well Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce you to Capybara Games Super Time Force.
This may seem like a normal side scrolling shoot em up but that's where that simple comparison ends. Time travel is your weapon of choice here and death is your ally.
This game is an insane mix of bullet hell, Contra and Back to the Future. Prominently featured in the game are nods to a plethora of 1980's movies, music, games and cartoons. But blink and you will miss them and that's not hard to do with everything that's going on. The game is simple in theory. Get from A to B as quickly as possible while using the fewest number of timeouts you can. Think of the most insane bullet filled screen you can think of, multiply that by 10 and you're getting close to the frantic nature of the game.
You are Commander Repeatski and you have invented time travel and in Repeatski's eyes the world he lives in is imperfect. You have to take control of a group of mercenaries and travel back in time to right what he sees as wrongs. And in Commander Repeatski's eyes the wrongs he wants changing are very strange.
You get to control one of a group of time travelling mercenaries:
Jean Rambois is your small arms expert, Aimy McKillin can use her sniper rifle to shoot through objects, and Shieldy Blockerson blocks thing with a shield surprisingly enough.
These three classes are just the tip of a very eclectic bunch of mercenaries that you will unlock as you progress through the game. You will unlock extra characters by collecting badges or saving them from certain death within specific levels. Save them and they will join you in your fight. But let them die and they are gone forever or are they?
The missions here are not your typical missions either. You will fight to save The Lost City of Atlantis so you can open it as a tourist attraction in the future. Another mission see you and you saving the dinosaurs from extinction because it would be cool to see them in present day. Like I said previously these aren't exactly your normal mission goals.
You start each level with 30 timeouts instead of lives and anything between 60 to 120 seconds on the clock depending on the level and while that may sound a lot, in this game it isn't. As you play you can collect floating icons for extra time, slow motion and extra rewinds.
I started the first level using the small arms mercenary within seconds I had died. Now this is where things get interesting. I hit B and time started to rewind. At any time during the rewind you can press A which brings up a selection wheel. This wheel allows you to select any of the 3 mercenaries or any additional mercenaries you have unlocked during gameplay. I select the sniper class, warp in and now I am playing co-op with a dead version of myself, shooting soldiers that are already dead in the original time zone while trying to watch the dead version of myself so when my original character dies I can run over, grab the power up my old self will release when he dies again in this timeline and add it to my arsenal. However you have the power of time travel at your fingertips and you can save your old self from dying and in doing so you will grab your old characters shadow from the original timeline and add an extra shield to protect you.
Still with me? Good.
Due to my complete incompetence my old self dies and I grab the power up. Now I have a triple shot and a charged up sniper shot I can use by holding down X and releasing when fully charged. But before I get a chance to do that I die again and again and again. By the end of the level I have fought alongside at least a dozen of my former selves, died more times than I can remember but still wanted more. If that soundslike it's breathless, manic and mind boggling all at the same time that's exactly how it plays.
Boss battles are as funny as they are tough. Imagine getting to fight a giant dinosaur and only having 5 seconds left on the clock and you have only just begun the fight. Your measly pistol is no match for it. So why not rewind time add another dozen characters and kick dino ass. At times I found myself fighting alongside 20 to 30 versions of my former self all to shave off a few precious milliseconds or to take down a boss.
That's not to say the game doesn't have its faults. Super Time Force is short. I completed the majority of it in one sitting and after spending another hour on it the next day I had completed it. This game cries out for more content.
The decision to map movement and aiming to the same thumb stick is just baffling in such a fast paced game. Having to continually move to aim is unbearably frustrating at times. Sometimes I just wanted to stop moving, aim and shoot. Why can't these actions be assigned to separate thumb sticks from the beginning or give us the option to do it in the settings menu.
But these minor faults did not stop me from loving every single minute I spent with it. If you're an 80's child like me there are a plethora of references here to discover. The humour is puerile, childish and bloody hilarious because of it. I haven't laughed this much at a game since GTA V. This game looks like it belongs on the NES or Master System, basic, blocky and colorful as hell and it's a look I approve of.
Super Time Force exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something different. It's fun, challenging and damn right hilarious at times. If this is an example of the quality we can expect from Microsoft's new ID@Xbox label we have plenty to look forward to. Super Time Force I salute you. This was a review of the Xbox One version.
