Developer(s) – Housemarque & Climax Studios
Publisher(s) – Sony Computer Entertainment
Programmer – Harry Krueger
Producer – Ian Pickles
PEGI – 7
Launching alongside the PlayStation 4, Resogun offered a much more traditional video game experience. And something that I don’t think a lot of gamers introduced to gaming during the last two generations, would have expected. To me, it provided a breath of fresh air and highlighted that Sony was bent on bringing a great variety of games to the PlayStation 4.
Graphics – 8/10
Aside from it containing a very decent amount of variety in level design, especially for an arcade game, the attention to graphical detail throughout is utterly mind-blowing. It was after I played both this and Killzone: Shadow Fall that I realized just how much potential the PlayStation 4 had in terms of visual excellence; indeed, they showed off early on that the PlayStation 4 has a 10% better graphics engine than the Xbox One. The thing that I would criticize about the game’s visuals, however, is the lack of variety in enemy design. And indeed, even two of the five bosses in the game look extremely similar, but such have been traditions of arcade gaming throughout the years.
Gameplay – 8/10
Playing out very much like many classic arcade games synonymous with the first and second generation of gaming, this title is immensely enjoyable to play and again, moderately varied for an arcade game in this respect too. Aside from having to destroy everything in sight, there are things such as the multiplier to think about to gain the highest score possible, as well as saving all the humans throughout each stage. At first, and to this day, I found it extremely humbling of Sony to take gaming back to basics with this title upon the release of the PlayStation 4. It showed that they weren’t deaf to gamer opinion, and they wanted to bring as much variety to the table as possible in order to appeal to as wide a range of gamers as possible.
Controls – 10/10
As another formula having been long since perfected, and enough games in the genre to create an entire library out of, there would have been major problems if Housemarque couldn’t have gotten this right and inevitable criticism from old-school gamers and negative comparisons drawn between Resogun and every other classic arcade game in existence. Thankfully, however, Housemarque got it spot-on. And there are no complications with the game’s control scheme.
Originality – 6/10
The game does have a little bit of flare about it. And it certainly can be differentiated from the majority of many AAA mainstream titles of today. However, compared to most games of its genre, there isn’t much to differentiate it from. Many similarities can be drawn between Resogun and the likes of Space Invaders, Galaxian, Bosconian, Galaga, etc. But by no means does any of that render the game unplayable.
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In summation, Resogun was a welcome change of pace to what most gamers at this point are used to. And still more or less are, and provided a very different gaming experience to many newer gamers. And a great sense of nostalgia for older gamers looking to try new systems. Since it is now free on the PlayStation Network, I would highly recommend anyone with a modern PlayStation console download a copy. And play it to their heart’s content.