11/23/2023 0 Comments Sky force pc![]() I found the notion of spending the precious credits I needed to upgrade my ship on those weapons ridiculous, so I simply didn’t-I focused instead on upgrading my main weaponry as much as possible. All three extra weapons require stars in exchange for each charge of said weapon every time you enter a stage, and if you die before using up your stock, it’s gone. ![]() Then, it finally dawned on me: if I wanted bombs, I had to spend stars to get them. I played a handful of stages still confused, feeling like a bit of a moron for not understanding such a simple aspect of the game. When I began my next run, the game added a UI element showing which button bombs are attached to-but then, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to use them. Bombs are a staple of the shooter genre, so it seemed like the best bonus weapon to start with. That realization began with a very simple action: my unlocking the Mega Bomb. Unfortunately, the thing that sets Sky Force Reloaded apart from its competition is also the element that ends up weakening it. All of these things come together to craft a game that really feels like it’s had a lot of thought put into it, and it gives players an experience that sits somewhere between the quarter-munching cabinets from the glory days of arcades, and far deeper, more strategic home console-focused releases. Joining Technicians are cards, which randomly show up on stages that then give passive benefits, directly affect certain aspects of specific stages, or give a limited amount of “bonus time” that will give you some specific upgrade so long as the countdown is still active. In addition to gradually upgrading your ship, you can also find ship parts to unlock additional planes or complete overall missions (like downing X number of enemies throughout the game) to earn Technicians, selectable crew members that’ll give you bonuses (such as increasing the amount of stars in a stage or letting you take a bit of damage without losing the “no hit” bonus). In fact, Sky Force Reloaded’s dedication to giving players a wide array of things to do when playing each stage is by far its best feature. As one example, dying before downing the stage boss doesn’t mean you’ve failed, because you’ve inevitable still earned stars to use to make your next run just a tad easier. Of course, score is definitely important, and stages provide specific goals-such as saving all of the hostages or beating the stage without taking any damage-to help boost your numbers, but there’s also that RPG-esque attitude to everything. Instead of trying to go for the one-credit run, you take each of the game’s many stages (which play out more like Raiden or other slower-paced experiences and less like Japanese bullet hells) as something that you’ll be playing over and over more for the personal progress. Shooters have long been built around the idea of upgrading and adding new weaponry and options, and Sky Force Reloaded’s deep dive into those idea makes it feel like something legitimately different from most other entries in the genre out there. By collecting stars that are dropped from defeated enemies, crates, or other destroyed background objects, you can beef up your main cannon and health, add secondary wing cannons and homing missiles, or unlock three manual-activation bonus tools: a focused laser, an energy shield, and a screen-clearing bomb. ![]() After not making it very far into that first stage, a “hanger” option begged for my attention back on the main menu, and I started to understand my first set of goals. Sky Force Reloaded is built upon a complex upgrade system, and before you embark into exploring it, your ship only has a laughably weak single-shot main cannon, no additional weapons of any kind, and zero special attacks (such as bombs or whatnot). ![]() What I wasn’t ready for-in part due to that exact experience-was how pathetic my ship felt as I descended into the game’s first stage. Still, with years of shooter experience under my belt, I was ready for the challenge. I knew it was a top-down shooter (of the “shoot ‘em up” variety), and I knew some version of the game (or a predecessor) had recently received a limited-run physical release, but that was about it.ĭelving into the game felt a bit like being tossed into a lake and being told to learn how to swim on my own, in part because I didn’t realize a non-repeatable intro segment was going to play out the moment I started the game (which I quickly failed because I was off getting something to drink). Even when every hour of your job is dedicated to video games, it’s still impossible to be familiar with all of the releases that come out on any given day/week/month/year-and that was true for me with Sky Force Reloaded.
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