Written by: Alex

 

 

 

"Strania – The Stella Machina" is a new vertical shooter from Japanese developer G. Rev. Presented in glorious 3D with an anime aesthetic it offers a taste of classic shooter action with a few interesting additions, including a novel weapon’s system, but it still struggles to really distinguish itself from the pack.

 

 

Taking control of either Shuichirou Touma or Yu Beatrix Barrett, as they fly their huge mobile suits in to battle, you fight for the Stranian forces as they battle the Vower armies. It is a simple set up, and one that even the game seems dismissive of (even the limited information here I had to search for online), but G. Rev do seem to utilise Stranis’s war time setting to introduce a more imaginative range of missions than many shooters offer.

 

Strania manages to bring enough variety to ensure that progress constantly offers something different, despite the tried and tested waves-of-enemies-coming-straight-at-you game play that make the game’s foundations. Most levels feel like a normal shooter, but sometimes more defensive levels are introduced with the action moving slowly around the area being defended in a range of directions and a final variations sees thrusters locked on to the your armoured suit as it is propelled forward at fantastic speeds. Though these modes do little to alter the basic play these slight changes keep a sense of freshness and surprise through out the game.

 

 

On top of the different play types the other alteration to the standard format is the weapon system. Controlling a mech has its advantages, with two arms the craft can use two weapons at once, essentially duel wielding. Each hand is able to collect a different weapon, so if you want a Vulcan cannon your left arm you will have to approach it from the right allowing you to pick it up with the desired arm.

 

 

To supplement this system there is also an extra weapon slot. This extra weapon can be easily substituted at the press of a button, and moves all of the weapons around one slot in a clockwise direction (the left hand weapon moves to the right hand, extra weapon to the left hand and right and weapon is disarmed). By allowing this extra weapon it is possible to have a range of combinations at any one time. With some guns and weapons working well in concert (such as two swords that can unleash a sonic boom like blast) this system allowing some tactics and choice to be injected, rather than simply taking what is given.

 

 

Nowhere is the choice of weapons as important as during the boss sections that end each level. Here the correct selection can save precious seconds as you fight to quickly end fights against these devastating opponents.

 

 

Coming in a wide variety of forms these robots/ships/battle-stations are where the really challenge appears. Levels can usually be traversed with (relative) ease, needing only a few plays to master the intricate patterns of enemy attacks.

 

Bosses on the other hand have a tendency to flood the screen with their attacks, allowing only a tiny window of escape. In these situations no amount of firepower will help as you struggle to make safety in the few seconds you have to react. With these highly destructive, hard to avoid attacks, the moments in between dodges become ever more vital as you attempt whittle away opponents health.