From sole developer Simon Carney, OmegaBot might pique the interest of those who love retro platformers with plenty of action.
As the titular robotic hero, OmegaBot sends you on a journey to hunt down and decommission a number of great warriors that sacrificed themselves in the hope of saving the land they loved. Now corrupted, not only do they pose a threat, but they also deserve peace. Though to reach them, you’re also going to have to battle with hordes of infected robots along the way.
Like games of yonder, OmegaBot focuses on tight platforming action, with players travelling from left to right through many screens filled with pitfalls, spikes and more. But environmental hazards are the last of your worries in OmegaBot: your foes and their varied attacks are much more troublesome.
Thankfully you’re not defenceless. Your default weapon is a blaster that fires powerful bolts, but rather than expending ammunition it’s battery powered. Sustain your fire and as your battery depletes the bullets get smaller and weaker. Run out of battery altogether and you can’t fire until it recharges, which occurs naturally.
You can’t just keep the fire button held down and push on in OmegaBot, then. Your weapons don’t have infinite range, either. Instead, you need to manage your battery power effectively, especially as it also powers special abilities such as double jumping and dashing that are obtained as you progress.
New weapons can be acquired on your travels, too. No doubt inspired by Mega Man, when you defeat a boss you gain their unique firearm. You can then switch between them on the fly, capitalising on their unique properties.
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Collecting the gears dotted around levels and dropped by defeated enemies also give you more of a fighting chance. You’ll return to a flying base at numerous points throughout the game, and there you can purchase health and battery upgrades that are very welcome indeed. Various skins can also be purchased with yet another currency, each providing a useful perk.
While OmegaBot is fun to play for the most part, it does have some issues that are hard to overlook. Its checkpoints are inconsistently placed, for example, which can be particularly frustrating when combined with a difficulty spike. They usually occur when you’re forced to fight in an enclosed area, with enemies that require a considerable number of bullets to put down.
The way OmegaBot travels backwards when you fire can be problematic as well, especially when dealing with enemies on small platforms. And pacing could do with a bit of work: the first hour or so is quite the dragon, but when things pick up it becomes much more enjoyable.
Presentation wise, OmegaBot‘s retro-styled visuals are propped up by an electrifying colour scheme that really makes things pop. There’s a nice range of environments as well. It’s just a shame that while there is some dialogue, it’s generally badly written and/or translated. Still, chances are you won’t be playing the game for its story.
While it pales in comparison to classics of the genre, if you’re after a new and very colourful 2D platforming shooter to sink some time into, you can do a lot worse than OmegaBot. It has some frustrations and sometimes feels a little repetitive or drawn out, but at its core lies entertaining gameplay that’s easy to pick up.
OmegaBot Review – GameSpew’s Score
