Well, I tried this out, thought "damn, it's pretty good", and proceeded to shell out my $55 for the limited edition online. At first, w/no manual, the powering up system was fairly frustrating, and the "neo-modern", 2-point sized, in-game font didn't really help. But after searching for a bit, I found an interview w/one of the developers, and he kinda sorta explained the way it worked. Soon after, I realized it had a short demo play, and that solidified some things. It's no Gradius 5, but let's face it, with the ship design alone & a name like Vic-Viper T301, other games suck by default
Gameplay
At first, and as I've heard stated in other reviews, your ship can seem underpowered. And although this is 100% true, in regards to the higher difficulty levels, it's actually quite deceptive; When used appropriately, the "weaker" weapons can completely level the right enemies. The game even utilizes a chaining system, a personal favorite mechanic of mine. And there's an online ranking board for those who purchase the game. The length is a bit long in my opinion - approx. 1 hour to play through, much like Gradius V. Unlike Gradius V however, on consistent playthroughs, there are definitely parts in Soldner X where you wish you could auto-scroll the screen. I particularly liked the bosses, as well as the "true" last level. Yet I can't say I was too thrilled about having to find the hidden "secret keys" to get there...
Summary & Value
The way I see it, it's good enough; and even though I'm a skeptic when any thing I love is backed by a $ loving web-whore "play-____", ahem, thankfully, that doesn't seem to have had too much of an effect here. It's definitely apparent that there truly was love put into the game, with the surprising mechanics depth, challenge, and just overall feel. So it's not just HDHDHDHDHDHDHD! HIGH DEFINITION 1080 4800000 WHAT THE F*CK EVER after all. (i did play it in HD though, and it looks great, but lifeforce on NES runs in composite, and still owns it's ass)
Though it partially shames me to say this, (the other part is proud of me at all times), I had a hard time justifying the purchase of a PC Game. Not that I have anything against PC gaming, I've just downloaded stuff for so long, I nearly forgot that places still sold them for money. The thing is, for me anyhow, it was worth throwing my $55 in the basket for, to support the cause. I mean hell, I'm 29, and most kids 13-18. not all, but most, look at games like Gradius V, and without blinking, class it right away with Pac Man. But I don't blame them one bit.
Hell, all these kids hear every day, is a guy going, "there's this game coming & omfg it's unbelievable. No really, whatever game you're playing now, that's crap. Total crap. Just wait. The graphics will permanently damage your vision. Seriously, they're just that hi-def good. Oh, and you can do ANYTHING. Want to make pancakes? you can do it. Want to rape something? you can do it. Want to kill something, then burn something, & then rape something? you can do it."
6 months later, all those kids go and buy Assassin's Creed. Without me, (and you, OH! sales plug!) spending my money to communicate the demand, those kids will always be waiting to get screwed. So this is what I'm saying, "Do it for the children!" Funny too because I hate f*cking children. But oh, how I love my shooters.
