Strike Suite Zero is a 3D space shooter for the PC, PS4 and
XBOX One. I love space shooters and my favorite of all time are StarFox 64 and
the Rogue Squadron Series on the 64 and Gamecube. I’ve been waiting for a
similar game to those for a while but so far I haven’t found anything. Not even
the Ace Combat series has been able to fulfill my need for a good fast pace
aero shooting game. Strike Suit Zero comes close but it just doesn’t get there.
Design
The Design for Strike Suit Zero is fairly simple. Shoot at
your target and not get killed or get your friendly naval ships destroyed.
That’s pretty much it. You get to play
in 13 different levels with several missions which involve protecting some
stranded naval ship or destroying enemy ships. At the end of the level you earn
medals which unlock better weapons for the ship that you are flying.
The Menu can be a bit confusing at times specially for first
timers who just want to get in the game. In the beginning you are briefed on a
mission and told what you should do. The next screen tells you the weapons you
can use and have unlocked but you cannot select it. At the end you get to
select a ship and change weapons. This is done all via text so you must
remember which weapon does what since no sample is given as to what a weapon is
supposed to do. Your ship also allows a certain amount of weapons and not all
ships are the same with some of them only allowing 2 at a time.
Controlling the ship takes a bit of getting used to as well.
You can use both joysticks to move the ship up and down with the R Stick to
move the ship left and right. This felt a bit backwards for me so I changed the
control settings to allow the ship to be maneuvered with the L stick and flip
the ship with the R stick. The L2 and L1 triggers are used to fire your weapons
with the D-Pad used to switch weapons. This wasn’t a huge issue for me as you
can easily change the controllers to your liking. It’s not the best option but
it’s not the worst either.
GamePlay
Fighting against other ships is fast paced but at times it
can feel slow. You have all this open space to travel in but most fighters stay
in one part of the map making the rest of the map worthless unless you are
trying to get away from an enemy.
In order to use most weapons, you need to be within range in
order for you to do any damage to the ships. Otherwise unless your HUD locks
on, you’re just wasting ammo. You have unlimited ammo for just one weapon type
but like most games today, if you use it too much it will overheat and you will
have to wait for it to recharge.
The Gameplay though is very simple and shouldn’t take long
for any player to pick up and play. Most of the time your targets are chosen
for you but you can easily swap targets to a closer one if you want. The main
goals for most levels are to defeat all enemy targets. At the end your score is
tallied and you will earn medals.
SoundTrack
The voice over acting could be better in the game. There are
many instances of emergency where a ship is getting attacked and yet the
captain of said ship is acting calm during the attack. This sort of takes away
from any need of urgency the game may have had especially when you are about to
go into action.
The soundtrack is also limited to several soundtracks that
do not at all match the action. You would think that the background music would
be something epic or at least gets you pumped to go into action. But no, that
is not the case here. I’m not saying the soundtrack is bad, but it’s repetitive
and boring.
Luckily the sound effects are great though. This pretty much
drowns out any bad music or voice over that is playing.
Graphics:
Graphically the game won’t break any new grounds. The
effects are nicely done and the backgrounds are rendered nicely. But because
this is mainly a space shooter and mainly everything is space is almost dark,
you can’t really see the detail.
The game does provide smooth gameplay, even with hundreds of
enemies on the screen as well as your own allies, there is no lag or frame rate
drops at all.
Conclusion:
Strike Suit Zero is a space shooter that should satisfy some
needs for those waiting for the next star fox or similar type of game (I’ve
been waiting 11 years). It may not be the longest game with 13 levels at 20
minutes each but it certainly fills the void. As for replay value, there is
really not much going on. Beat the level and play again to try to beat your own
score or earn medals. It’s a great arcade game and for $19.99 I think it’s at
the right price to check it out.
Design: 7/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Soundtrack: 5/10
Graphics: 6/10
LifeSpan: 5/10
Total Score: 6/10
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