The frustration of twin-stick shooters isn’t for everyone but if conquering challenge is what you crave from a video game, no genre speaks to you more. Sometimes You’s latest publishing effort brings the old 360 degree action into 2019, Stellatum.
STELLATUM
Published by: Sometimes You
Available for: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
To be honest, after spending around six hours with Stellatum I have no idea what its narrative is about. Yet I still found a rather substantial enjoyment from the gameplay.
You are playing for an extraterrestrial race that has just become ready to conquer outer space. The whole story begins with the fact that you are going to destroy a comet that threatens your planet. An unforeseen event happened that dragged you into the midst of the battles.
You’ll pilot a basic single gun battleship that doesn’t stay simple for long.
Clearing the dozens of chaotic levels earns you blueprints to upgrade the speed, weapons, and shields of your ship. You’ll need every bit of that firepower. Enemies attack from all sides forcing you to train your right thumb to pilot the aim stick while you pilot with the other in order to dodge lasers, missiles, and asteroids seeking to destroy you.
Stellatum’s challenge ratchets at the right time. Its early levels give you a feeling of ease which gets taken for granted once you encounter destroyers occupying most of the screen’s real estate. Yet it’s this attention to balance that shows just how much developers invested in the minutia of the product. What players receive is a complete package of crafted animations, graphics, and sound design.
While the game is available on all the major consoles, it shows true purpose on the Nintendo Switch. The brevity of each level is made for on-the-go playthrough.
Perhaps Stellatum’s only weakness is its narrative that while interesting in concept, just falls flat without a gripping point of view to latch onto. You’ll find yourself skipping most of its between-level cutscenes once you get bored of the story. Fortunately, the bonkers challenge and easy to master controls keep your attention.
Overall, Stellatum doesn’t reinvent a genre so much as bring it into modern times. The divergence from simple temporary powerups for a ship to a more RPG style upgrade system work well against the backdrop of its popcorn action.
