SP Review: Earth Marines (XB1 - X|S - PS4|5 - Switch - PC)

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Sturmvogel Prime
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SP Review: Earth Marines (XB1 - X|S - PS4|5 - Switch - PC)

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

Looks like we're gonna dive into the world of Trash Games again.
This time is Earth Marines.


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Previously, on The Walking Dead...

The game tries to make an approach to an intro cutscene, but with no text. Compare that with Superman: The Man of Steel on the Commodore 64 which had comic panel-like cutscenes which explained the plot, and that was an older computer, so the PlayStation 4 and XBOX One can do better, even if you're a low budget developer.



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The unusual space heroes.

You are given the option of choosing one of four characters. Your default character is John who gets more HP from getting Medpacks, Linda is the Armor-type as she takes less damge from enemies, Rocky is the Speed-type who moves faster and Ross who combines the abilities of Rocky and John, making him a good choice for beginners.



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Select character, select stage, play, clear, unlock, select character, play, clear unlock.
That's how progression is in this game.


Right after picking your character and being dropped to Earth on your ODST-esque Drop Pod, you have to choose the stage.
The next level is unlocked by clearing the previous one.



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It's Zombies Ate My Neighbors done wrong.

You've just started playing and you're losing already? Well, sometimes is because you have to reach your gun. For some reason, your default weapon is sent separately from the player, limiting you to the short range punch which is an unorthodox idea for a twin-stick shooter. Speaking of guns, even your default pistol has limited ammo and you have to break crates and get scattered guns dropped by defeated enemies. But guess what?, To break the crates you have to use your bullets or your fists, but you have to disown the gun you're using to punch things and then pick it up again. also, if you grab the same weapon (Rifle while holding a rifle) it will trade it regardless if it has more or less ammo than the one you're using, that means trade your regular gun with 45 bullets for the same with 20. In any well made game, the "same weapon" logic is to increase the ammo since they're the same gun AND allow you to select between your fists and the gun.

But the nail that seals the coffin here is the dreaded "Turridamage" or "Turrican Syndrome" where the temporary invulnerability period when you get hit is non existant and constant hits will drain your life almost instantly. This is fatal since you are only granted with one single life per stage, if you die you'll start from the beginning of the stage, making this game almost unplayable.



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This is what I call "Die N' Crash".

To make things far worse, if you're playing the PlayStation 4 version, the game might crash for no discernible reason after dying, showing the depicted message and then sending you to the PlayStation error screen.



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Example of a "Sitting Duck" type final boss.

After all your troubles clearing the house and its outside on the final stage, the final boss is pathetic. This deformed, red abomination that spawns red mutants is a sitting duck waiting for you to kill it. Zero challenge, zero strategy, just stay there, aim and fire until it dies.



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These are the responsibles...

After 10 frustrating levels, you'll get this rough sketch followed by the credits. This is where videogame reality hits you: You've played a Gamerscore/Trophy Milker. Clear each stage and die (along with the PS4 Platinum), the injury in this game is that the damn thing was more expensive than Breakthrough Gaming's trash.



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Even the courtroom skecthes look much better than this.

Everything in the graphic aspect is laughable, starting off with the in game look which resembles more of an elaborated Adobe Flash game that you'll find in Newgrounds rather than a professional looking videogame. Its like if someone thinks the adage "Good, fast, cheap...pick two" can be applied on videogame development, then this is a great example of the disaster that comes up after doing things fast and on the cheap.

The music is a mix of 80's Suspense-Thriller with Daft Punk "Homework"-like electronic elements that works on the post-apocalyptic zombie setup of the game. The most common thing that you're going to hear is the "AAAaaaagh!" when your character gets killed for the reasons mentioned lines above.



EARTH CURIOSITIES
- The promotional art has a striking resemblance to Doom.



Earth Marines is an exercise of stupidity in vertical Run N' Gun gameplay that comprises some of the worst parts of bad difficulty into one product.
Even if you're urged for some vertical Arena/Run N' Gun action it is not worthy.



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