Pew Pew Pew
I am not a fan of shmup’s, I played a few that I think fall in the genre that I enjoyed though. Geometry Wars 2 had me in a chokehold back in the day and that’s really the only one I can even think of so I guess its just one. But I am always open to try new things so when Psyvariar 3 fell in my lap I was willing to give it a go. I’ve never played the first two but as far as I can tell, story and stuff isn’t anything to worry about too much here but I can say this game has a really cool mechanic that I am not sure is the norm in these games or not.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Shmup gameplay is pretty simple and thus almost anyone can get into them. Avoiding projectiles that literally fill the screen is the key to success but Psyvariar 3’s ‘Buzz’ mechanic adds a new layer to combat which in my opinion was pretty neat. Players are encouraged to fly as close as possible to enemy bullets, hence the ‘buzz’ name. Do that enough and players will trigger a level up which gives a shield that makes players ships invincible for a short time. Timing the triggering of the buzz mechanic when a giant wave of bullets fills the screens becomes paramount for success.
As someone who loves walking that razors edge this was a mechanic made for me. Sure, it makes things challenging because I can tell you it’s going to take a while to perfect the use; but man, once it all clicks it’s a really exhilarating experience. But it shouldn’t have taken me so long to come to grips with the games systems, usually those things are explained in a tutorial. But developers Banana Bytes & Red Art Studios must’s felt like tutorials were ‘so 2003’ and opted to not include one. I am aware that this was the norm back in the day, just drop the player in a game and let them figure it out. But look, I am an old man now and I just want to have some fun, please just how me what to do so I can have fun, ya know?
One area that fans will be happy about is the amount of content that Psyvariar 3 has, this game is packed. Arcade, Arrange, Mission, Endless, Caravan and Practice Mode. Couple that with the seven available ships and you see what I am saying, packed. I only really played the Arcade and Arrange modes; Arcade is going to be your narrative campaign; I mean as much story that it has. Arrange Mode is something that’s going to feel more familiar to shmup fans, it strips away the buzz effect and gives players a fully powered ship and changes bullet and enemy patterns. I died quickly as I lost track of where I was, which happens a lot to me when I play these games. But my point is, if you are a fan there are a lot of gameplay options for you.
Psyvariar 3 feels like a game that fans of shmups will absolutely love, alas that isn’t me. But, that’s not the games’ fault so I am not going to hold it against it. What I can tell you though is that the controls are tight, the bullets are plentiful and the ‘buzz’ mechanic adds something different to the genre. If you enjoy dodging screen filling projectiles then this one could be for you.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
