Strider, a game where your thumb gets to have a field day with the attack button, as well as enjoying a mix of lasers, neon lights, metal shrapnel, debris and blood all in one gory yet beautiful mix which only few games can master. Sounds like Broforce right? Well yes, except its smoother, sleeker, diverse and gorgeous.
Story: There is a story? Oh, right, its the hardly noticeable subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Strider puts you right in the action after you select the difficulty, only leaving you with the hint that the square button will make this game what it is. Not even a minute in and theirs armed soldiers at the ready, anxiously waiting to shoot their lasers at Strider. No sound, no subtitles…. just slice em up kid! Besides the subtitle of a story their are collectible art pieces that do give some type of life to the waste of some employees typing.
Game-play: Stunning, freakishly smooth, and a well crafted fighting mix of bosses and brainless A.I. As many PlayStation gamers may know, the hardware developers have been generous enough to grant us 60fps 1080p gameplay for almost every game on the market, this no doubt gives Strider a kick-ass smooth feeling. When slicing trough soldiers, sword swinging neon maniacs or spiked ball throwing robots, you can expect to see a variety of colors and objects flying past Strider, yet no matter how much does, you can still slice away which gives a rewarding feeling after seeing the remains of your enemies on the floor. Kudos to the developers, i haven’t been this pleased with a slice em up game, well, since ever.
Design: The missions in this game are quite simple, complete the main objective, slice up some baddies and get ready for the boss fight. Although this concept may seem simple, their are some secret locations and collectables for those trophy hunters. One design that makes this game stick out is that after the boss fight, after you have figured out their patterns ( Which are extremely simple ) Strider adds them into the game as regular enemies that pop up during the game, which adds complexity and diversity, therefore, making you think a lot more yet making those kills a little bit more sweeter. Also, after a section of the game is completed, theirs a big boss fight, some take place in air, some take place in a chamber with a neon light witch, but their fun non the less.
Dumb, but not Stupid:The A.I. in this game may be brainless, but the weapons they have at the ready is ridiculous. They are extremely powerful. which can crate a lot of chaos that is already in the game, which may actually cause frustration more than just thinking your way out of it, which does not mix with this type of game.
Verdict:
Strider is a smooth playing bad ass ninja slice em up, yet that’s it. No story, just collectables that you have to piece together to make your own story. Besides the lack of story, the fights are smooth and rewarding, yet as you progress through the game the boss and over powered soldiers may become more of a frustration, therefore, slowing down the pace of the game which is not the style the game is meant to be played. Non the less, get ready to adapt quickly.
- Michael Mercado, Chicago born and raised
There’s a lot to love about Metroidvania games, from the original Metroid and Castlevania entries to some of the subgenre’s more compelling entries on PS4 and other more recent systems. While there…
Love the newest Strider! Definitely underrated.
Love these lists as i now want to check out Momodora (on PS extra) and Ender Lillies.
It's a very solid list and the best part is that I think all of them are on other platforms so more people can play them.
If you love Metroidvania games just as much as you do your PS4, make sure you're aware of all these great Metroidvania games that are available for it.
Carl Williams writes, "If you are reading this then you are probably a fan of retro games. Just taking a stab in the dark there. Well, we just found out that Capcom, one of the better retro supporting companies out there, has this package with Humble Bundle full of Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 games. You better hurry and grab this one because time is running out."
I have to agree. I wish companies would do more porting of their previous digital only games such as Final Fight Double Impact over to the PS4. I want to get a Playstation but 3 seems on the way out and 4 is still too new for a lot of what I am interested in.
I wish they would port their full classic line brawlers from the 90s. Man, they made some good games back then.
Napalm, check out their PSP Reloaded and Remixed collections. Great value for the money and full of their core retro games. I am not sure what consoles they released those collections on but I am sure PS3 and Xbox 360 were in there.
Well, we know that is not going to happen anytime soon, at least not till people stop buying PS3 games and such. Sad. I wish it was backwards compatible too- I would buy a PS4 immediately if it worked with at least the digital stuff from the PS3.
I wish Sony would get the licenses for all the classic arcade games from the 80s and 90s for the PS4.. I dont see why they wouldnt want to make money? I miss those brawlers like xmen, tmnt, etc.. So many great games people are forced to play on mame
The problem with that idea is that a lot of those companies are now defunct and no one really knows who owns the rights to what game. Then in cases like X-Men, it is multiple companies involved (the engine would be Konami's while the actual X-Men license would be Marvel's) and sometimes none of the companies involved are interested in working together again for whatever reason.
I wish it would happen too though.
