Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Price: $2.99
The Top-Down shooter; one of the oldest genres that most gamers have come to know. It’s surprising to see how well the format has moved along the console generations to the mobile scene. Although the formula hasn’t changed much in the 20-plus years its been in existence, there are a few instances where a title will dare to be ingenious enough to add a layer of creativity not seen before. Ikaruga is probably the last great shoot’em up that the genre has seen. Back in 2001 this Treasure developed game introduced the concept of light and dark attacks. It added that extra challenge that allowed players to choose how intense the game could be dictated by the flick of a button. The game was tough as nails, but you had the option to make it a hellishly good experience. Add some cool mecha designs and visually appealing graphics and it became an instant classic.
And classic is what OMG: Our Manic Game is trying to achieve on WP7. Like Ikaruga, OMG centers around a game mechanic that can dictate the difficulty of your journey towards the highest score possible. It’s a game that will require deft movements, nerves and a little bit of luck, but in the end rewards those that push the boundaries and don’t play it safe. It wont rewrite the formula and reinvigorate the genre, but for those looking for a pretty-looking, tough shooter, OMG will satisfy most.
Gameplay
OMG’s gameplay is centered around one concept: risk/reward. It’s also no coincidence that OMG feels its best when you turn up the risk factor and eschew the safe approach. To understand what I mean, one only need to know that tapping enemies will send them into manic mode and excite them into shooting a flurry of bullets at you. These extra bullets act as possible points if you manage to take the enemy you just tapped out of commission. A normal enemy that has not been touched will only throw one or two bullets your way, but one that has been tapped will go into a shooting frenzy, littering the screen with them. Of course doing that will also limit the space in which you can maneuver your ship, which may reduce your chance of escaping a barrage of projectiles coming your way.
However, understanding how shooters of this ilk work, you’ll soon realize that patterns are part of the genre. If you know what pattern the bullets come at you from a specific ship, you’ll know how to position yourself to gain the best vantage point to take down the enemy. Knowing where to be and which enemy to tap, is the only way to advance through to the next wave of enemies. You’ll want to advance, as well, since going through five waves unscathed will give you a boost on your laser beam’s level. The stronger beam will help you take down enemies faster, and thus you’ll be able to take down more enemies and tap them for the extra bullets and points. Just be warned that one bullet will take you out, and your laser’s level will go down to one. You have five lives to begin with on infinite mode, without the opportunity to gain any down the road so each life is precious.
Finally, you wont have to worry about different levels, as the game is played in one continuous run. The game speeds up after every two boss battles, and believe me, after two bosses, staying alive is tough. Although, it’s a shame that the boss battles don’t give much of a challenge. If Arkedo comes out with a sequel (and they should), I hope they work more on the boss battles to give them a little more oomph.
Graphics, Music, Presentation
OMG boasts some pretty slick visuals, helped in part by the retro-neon graphics. It’s colorful, fast and intricate. Explosions and bullets all display in beautiful, bright colors and the enemies when touched will animate into brighter versions of themselves. Aiding the atmosphere is the trance track that loops in the background, which is catchy enough that doesn’t become distracting or annoying. The game does experience some glitches and framerate dips. The most obvious shortcoming comes with a nasty bug that crashes the game forcing you to the Xbox Live game hub. It doesn’t occur that often and it happens sometimes on specific parts of the game, but it isn’t enough where it makes the game unplayable. You’ll hardly see the glitch, but just know it’s there. Luckily, the game does resume where you left off and you’ll continue on the wave you were on.
You’ll have two game types to sink your time on. You have Infinite Mode and 5-Minute Mode. In Infinite Mode, you have to survive wave after wave of enemy ships. You start with five lives and dwindle them down until you’re left with none. In 5-minute mode you have infinite amount of lives, but the real task is to obtain the most amount of points within the five minute time limit. Each mode has its own leaderboard, with the Infinite Mode separated by Normal, Hard and Insane difficulty leaderboards. It’s a shame that there aren’t more options with the leaderboards, as an overall leaderboard would be appreaciated, but as of now, you only have the option to see your friends on the leaderboards. If you’re the sole player and have not (sad) added any friends, then this feature is a bust. I wish most games of this sort would adopt the way Geometry Wars way of doing leaderboards. It helps the competitive nature in all of us, and it makes us invest into the game a lot longer.
Either way, OMG delivers enough to warrant multiple play-throughs. It’s a great time killer and most people will enjoy the pretty graphics. I just wished there was more to keep you there longer.
Achievements, Extras, Etc.
There isn’t much of extras as the game has been out since launch back in 2010 and there have been no significant updates to the game. On the Achievements front, there are a couple of good ones to go for, but for the most part, if you have one good run, you can obtain a good chunk of them in one play through. Even so, I believe the best of the bunch is the Annoying achievement. In this one, you have to touch every single boss in the game in the same play through. The bosses aren’t the hard part, but getting to all of them in the same sitting is the challenge here. It will give you 25 Gamer points in the end for your troubles.
In Closing…
OMG is a good experience to have on WP7. It’s one the best looking games around, and being a launch title it’s gratifying to see a polished slick game so soon out of the gates. The good thing about OMG is that it isn’t a good looking game without substance. You can have a great time with it as well. The level of challenge rest squarely on your fingers and if you want to go the distance and achieve the highest point total, you must truly push yourself to stay alive and kill the bad guys at their exited stage.
I won’t say this is a classic WP7 title that people will point to in the future. It’s a good game in its genre on this platform, but unless Arkedo comes out swinging and produces a little more depth to it’s mechanics, another game will pass it by. However, if they can build on this formula and the games beautiful visuals, OMG might be something special in the future.
Published by Bandai-Namco
