Super Tank Warfare: Adventia (Astro Port)

[Ghegs]

Astro Port's next game is the sequel to their 2009 game Steam Action Adventum, only this time it's a top-down tank game where you can apparently go in all directions.

First screenshots at the game's official page.

[BIL]

Very interested in this one. I've not been able to get into Adventum, mostly because Gigantic Army set the quality bar so high - really been wanting another action game from them after the similarly excellent Satazius.

Looks Assault-inspired? Should be great, given AP's proven talent for explosive, satisfying destruction.

[Dave_K.]

I just picked up an Assault PCB. Still have to create an adapter so I can play on my cab with P1 + P2 sticks. So I'm also interested in seeing how this Astro Port game develops. I hope they keep controls simple.

[maxlords]

Damn, Steam Action Adventum is the only Astro Port game I don't have so far too

Looks cool I love those top down tank games! Granada, Assault and Guardian Force FTW!

[Ghegs]

A trial has been released! Download link here.

It's certainly very, very different from Astro Port's other games. You control the tank's direction and turret angle independently, either with a controller or keyboard + mouse combo. The latter actually felt like the better way, since you can control the turret more accurately with the mouse.

Like in Steam Action Adventum you pick two additional characters to go along for the ride, and they bring their own shot types with them. Unlike in that game, however, you can upgrade your stats between stages (more powerful shots, more armor or speed) and even save your progress here. Even more oddly, upon loading the game it doesn't seem to reset your score or anything.

The gameplay's not exactly what I expected either. The stages are short and there's a lot of them. In most stages the main targets are stationary turrets that you have to take out, with enemy tanks between them and you. Every fourth stage is a boss battle, the trial offers two of these. As per Astro Port standards there are four difficulties which here are all unlocked from the start, with the hardest being "Ultra". I played a game on both Normal and Ultra and the difference is indeed noticeable.

The weapons seemed unbalanced. There are two weapons that go over buildings and rocks and such - a howitzer and an energy ball. It's pretty simple to just hide behind something and take enemies out without them even having a chance to shoot at you. On the flip side, I didn't find the flamethrower and the spreadgun useful at all. Enemies can even be harmed when they're right outside the visible screen, they don't seem to attack from there even if you're in a direct line at them. Made destroying otherwise dangerous enemies very easy.

But as this is just a trial these things might change later on. Hopefully they do. It's a fairly lengthy trial so I recommend giving it a go.

[BIL]

All right, I know what I'm playing tomorrow evening.

[gameoverDude]

The spread gun probably wouldn't be too bad at a high power level. Relying too much on the howitzer for sniper tactics can hurt the level bonus due to time, though it's good to use on bosses. At least the howitzer doesn't have a whole lot of HP, requiring you to be careful using it.

K&M isn't bad for this one, but I may try J2K with it to use joystick and marble mouse. Adventia definitely reminds me of Assault with a bit of Ikari Warriors thrown in.

I'll stick to the 640 x 480 mode. The 1024 x 768 mode didn't look so good- it seems that Adventia was made with the former resolution in mind. Eight levels (2 blocks of four, each with a boss) isn't bad at all for a trial.

[BIL]

Finally sat down with the trial this evening. I found it controlled very nicely with a Saturn USB pad and turret controls mapped to L/R. Feels very Guardian Force meets Assault (got a kick out of this featuring the former's green energy yoyo). Fully intending to get the retail version.

The enemies could definitely use some means of attacking when you're behind cover - it's a bit too easy to hide out even when not using the Howitzer. There's ton of locked enemy data in the "Museum" section, so hopefully there'll be units that address this. Definitely some intense exchanges of fire when out in the open, or when enemies force you out of a hiding spot. Like gameoverDude pointed out, there is a timer incentive to get out there and fight, much like Gigantic Army's. And besides also sharing that game's no-damage incentive, there's a 100% destruction bonus - this could be really fun to replay for high scores, attempting to nail all three criteria in one sweep.

As expected from the guys behind Gigantic Army and Satazius, this game has one brutally gratifying sense of metal-on-metal destruction - blowing up those refinery things with several enemy units nearby, bwahaha! Too fun. Not sure what to think of the un-arcadey level progression. I don't dislike the idea, but I hope it doesn't lead to slack level design. Judging by the trial the levels themselves are very much quick bursts of intense action, so hopefully this won't be the case.

[Ghegs]

Alright, I just got the full version today (props to rancor) and gave it a whirl.

My impressions from the trial still hold true, so I'm not gonna repeat all that. I played until Stage 14 on Normal before I just got kinda bored. It wasn't until Stage 13 that the enemies finally started using howitzers themselves, which certainly made for more interesting combat situations. Stages 9-12 had this odd stealth-element to them where you had to avoid security lasers, otherwise turrets would pop out from under the floor. And the boss fight for that set of stages was peculiar as well.

Seeing as this is Astro Port I'm willing to bet the real game is playing on the hardest difficulty. But I'm not sure if I care enough to work on that, I'll probably just clear Normal to see what they've come up with. Saving still works as in the trial, so your score is saved along with everything else.

I really hope Astro Port return to developing more arcade-y games. Following the absolutely superb combo of Gigantic Army and Satazius I'm a bit disappointed in this.