Bot Vice es un gallery shooter retromodern de 8 Bits que busca crear experiencias cortas de juego pero igual de emocionantes en escenarios repletos de enemigos y acción por doquier.
La jugabilidad se asemeja a los lejanos arcades de Cabal o Wild guns que derivaron a la primera persona hacia juegos como Virtua Cop, pero Bot Vice se queda con el aspecto más “retro” de estos dando una vista vertical en 3ª persona. Como retromodern que es se apega a la jugabilidad clásica de los arcades, pero añadiendo mejoras y aspectos que solo son posibles con las prestaciones de los sistemas y equipos actuales. El juego otorga un botón de ataque a distancia principal y uno a melee secundario, también añade un botón para cubrirse tras coberturas y otro de roll evasivo. El movimiento queda restringido de lado a lado tras una delgada línea de cobertura que permite cubrirse de los ataques de los enemigos, pero que podrá ser destruida con los suficientes disparos. El objetivo es eliminar a todos los enemigos en el menor tiempo posible para avanzar a la siguiente zona.
Durante el desenlace del nivel aparecerá de vez en cuando un pequeño robot que al ser destruido otorga distintas armas y curaciones para el jugador. Además, repartidos por el escenario en el lado de los enemigos también existirán coberturas para estos que es recomendable destruir, además de otras estructuras con torretas o que generan otros enemigos que también será necesario destruir para completar el nivel. Cada nivel posee su combate contra jefe, en algunas ocasiones este se encontrará desde el principio y en otras ocasiones aparecerán en los últimos momentos del nivel.
La estética resulta en una mezcla entre el retrowave de los 90 con la estética Cyberpunk empleando diseños extravagantes y estilizados. Aunque el título aparente ser un 8 bits, posee detalles gráficos y sprites que claramente superan las especificaciones técnicas de este sistema, no obstante esa es parte de la esencia de un “retromodern”.
La banda sonora se alinea con el estilo synth-rock también de la década de los 90 que busca añadir emoción y frenetismo a la vez que se alinea con el estilo artístico retrowave creando una experiencia audiovisual redonda en este sentido.
La trama presenta la historia de venganza personal de Erin Saver en contra de los Wildbots que han invadido la tierra. La historia no busca ser profunda, permitiéndose ser incluso autoparódica con alguna que otra broma interna, funciona más bien como un “casus belli” para iniciar con la acción.
Bot Vice ofrece una experiencia arcade retro con toques modernos, desafiando a los jugadores con una acción rápida y emocionante. Su jugabilidad clásica se combina con elementos contemporáneos, mientras que su estética y banda sonora retro-futuristas añaden un toque único. Aunque su trama es simple, la intensidad de la acción y el diseño de niveles mantienen a los jugadores comprometidos de principio a fin.
La jugabilidad se asemeja a los lejanos arcades de Cabal o Wild guns que derivaron a la primera persona hacia juegos como Virtua Cop, pero Bot Vice se queda con el aspecto más “retro” de estos dando una vista vertical en 3ª persona. Como retromodern que es se apega a la jugabilidad clásica de los arcades, pero añadiendo mejoras y aspectos que solo son posibles con las prestaciones de los sistemas y equipos actuales. El juego otorga un botón de ataque a distancia principal y uno a melee secundario, también añade un botón para cubrirse tras coberturas y otro de roll evasivo. El movimiento queda restringido de lado a lado tras una delgada línea de cobertura que permite cubrirse de los ataques de los enemigos, pero que podrá ser destruida con los suficientes disparos. El objetivo es eliminar a todos los enemigos en el menor tiempo posible para avanzar a la siguiente zona.
Durante el desenlace del nivel aparecerá de vez en cuando un pequeño robot que al ser destruido otorga distintas armas y curaciones para el jugador. Además, repartidos por el escenario en el lado de los enemigos también existirán coberturas para estos que es recomendable destruir, además de otras estructuras con torretas o que generan otros enemigos que también será necesario destruir para completar el nivel. Cada nivel posee su combate contra jefe, en algunas ocasiones este se encontrará desde el principio y en otras ocasiones aparecerán en los últimos momentos del nivel.
La estética resulta en una mezcla entre el retrowave de los 90 con la estética Cyberpunk empleando diseños extravagantes y estilizados. Aunque el título aparente ser un 8 bits, posee detalles gráficos y sprites que claramente superan las especificaciones técnicas de este sistema, no obstante esa es parte de la esencia de un “retromodern”.
La banda sonora se alinea con el estilo synth-rock también de la década de los 90 que busca añadir emoción y frenetismo a la vez que se alinea con el estilo artístico retrowave creando una experiencia audiovisual redonda en este sentido.
La trama presenta la historia de venganza personal de Erin Saver en contra de los Wildbots que han invadido la tierra. La historia no busca ser profunda, permitiéndose ser incluso autoparódica con alguna que otra broma interna, funciona más bien como un “casus belli” para iniciar con la acción.
Bot Vice ofrece una experiencia arcade retro con toques modernos, desafiando a los jugadores con una acción rápida y emocionante. Su jugabilidad clásica se combina con elementos contemporáneos, mientras que su estética y banda sonora retro-futuristas añaden un toque único. Aunque su trama es simple, la intensidad de la acción y el diseño de niveles mantienen a los jugadores comprometidos de principio a fin.
Surprisingly solid, even with a single normal difficulty playthrough. There are a lot of evasive/defensive options at any given moment, to the point that it's very easy to forget about one or two of them (the "Winners Roll a Lot" title card ensured I never forgot about rolling, though that's not always the ideal option), and this can come back to bite you in later stages that call upon the utility of all of those options in some situation or another.
The time mechanic, while hardly strict enough to be that challenging on Normal difficulty (I finished the game with close to 10 minutes remaining on the clock, with very few repeat playthroughs of levels to lower my times - and those that I did only because I felt I'd learned to play the game better since my first run of them), does provide tension throughout every level. Some stages will shower you in a hail of bullets, and while it would probably be easiest to duck behind cover, in the back of your mind, there's a concern that doing so could draw out the level too long, and put you "over budget" for the level; not a horrible thing if it happens once, but if you get in the habit, it could leave you without enough time to reach the ending.
The presentation is mostly good, with enjoyable and fitting music throughout, and clean pixel graphics that clearly convey what they need to and just look good overall. But the voice acting (in English, at least) is abysmal; both the script and recordings seemed like they could have used at least a second pass. Given the retro aesthetics, it would have been more than acceptable to leave it out. As it stands, there's not even the option to turn it down separately (which would have left the cutscenes in silence, and cut down on the enemies spewing contextless 80's action movie references throughout the level - an option which I would have preferred to have). It's not too much of a problem, but it does leave me concerned about how the developer's more dialogue-heavy games will fare.
But that's the kicker: Bot Vice was solid enough that even though I'm not familiar with its inspirations, I really want to see what else DYA games has put out.
The time mechanic, while hardly strict enough to be that challenging on Normal difficulty (I finished the game with close to 10 minutes remaining on the clock, with very few repeat playthroughs of levels to lower my times - and those that I did only because I felt I'd learned to play the game better since my first run of them), does provide tension throughout every level. Some stages will shower you in a hail of bullets, and while it would probably be easiest to duck behind cover, in the back of your mind, there's a concern that doing so could draw out the level too long, and put you "over budget" for the level; not a horrible thing if it happens once, but if you get in the habit, it could leave you without enough time to reach the ending.
The presentation is mostly good, with enjoyable and fitting music throughout, and clean pixel graphics that clearly convey what they need to and just look good overall. But the voice acting (in English, at least) is abysmal; both the script and recordings seemed like they could have used at least a second pass. Given the retro aesthetics, it would have been more than acceptable to leave it out. As it stands, there's not even the option to turn it down separately (which would have left the cutscenes in silence, and cut down on the enemies spewing contextless 80's action movie references throughout the level - an option which I would have preferred to have). It's not too much of a problem, but it does leave me concerned about how the developer's more dialogue-heavy games will fare.
But that's the kicker: Bot Vice was solid enough that even though I'm not familiar with its inspirations, I really want to see what else DYA games has put out.
A testament to the transformative power of a well-crafted hard mode.
About a year ago, I shuffled through the game on normal, and felt like it was a little lacking, but playing through it now on hard, and it’s revealed itself as one of the sharpest retro revivals- where every mechanic has some bit of utility you can wring out of it, and briskly paced in a way that few games are, with some new environmental hazard or enemy type that subtly changes the dynamic of combat appearing on basically every level.
Something that really stood out to me as I was grinding away at attempts on some of the later stages, was despite having fixed enemy spawns (which should make the game extremely memorization-intensive), because you have to keep track of your ammo and a million different angles of attack at once, play the same stage over and over and there’s a remarkable variety to each attempt. Really impressive stuff, a combination of strong scenario design and a fleshed-out player kit that makes the game feel fully realized in a way that few titles are- I was never left wondering “what could’ve been” by the end.
That said, even on this revisit, I still had some problems with the structure, with the countdown timer revealing itself as more akin to hitting a quota for collectables in a platformer so you can progress to the next zone, than a constant source of anxiety that could factor into the standard course of play. The game is so compartmentalized and so demanding on hard, that just by virtue of being able to finish a level, you’ll clear each stage with a cushion of time to spare, your speed and survival fundamentally linked, with little reason to go back brush up on your time once you hit an “A” rank. (It would be a totally different game, but I still ended up wondering how the game would play if you had a few credits and had to go through all the stages in succession, racing against the pressure of a ticking clock. Lack of a scoring system also seems much more pronounced now.)
Honestly, I don’t know if my thoughts have changed all that dramatically from my original review; I’m certainly warmer to it now than when I first played it, and I feel like I finally got to see the mechanics at their best, but the bigger thing for me is that it’s been a great reminder of what you might miss if you just blast through every game without ever looking back.
About a year ago, I shuffled through the game on normal, and felt like it was a little lacking, but playing through it now on hard, and it’s revealed itself as one of the sharpest retro revivals- where every mechanic has some bit of utility you can wring out of it, and briskly paced in a way that few games are, with some new environmental hazard or enemy type that subtly changes the dynamic of combat appearing on basically every level.
Something that really stood out to me as I was grinding away at attempts on some of the later stages, was despite having fixed enemy spawns (which should make the game extremely memorization-intensive), because you have to keep track of your ammo and a million different angles of attack at once, play the same stage over and over and there’s a remarkable variety to each attempt. Really impressive stuff, a combination of strong scenario design and a fleshed-out player kit that makes the game feel fully realized in a way that few titles are- I was never left wondering “what could’ve been” by the end.
That said, even on this revisit, I still had some problems with the structure, with the countdown timer revealing itself as more akin to hitting a quota for collectables in a platformer so you can progress to the next zone, than a constant source of anxiety that could factor into the standard course of play. The game is so compartmentalized and so demanding on hard, that just by virtue of being able to finish a level, you’ll clear each stage with a cushion of time to spare, your speed and survival fundamentally linked, with little reason to go back brush up on your time once you hit an “A” rank. (It would be a totally different game, but I still ended up wondering how the game would play if you had a few credits and had to go through all the stages in succession, racing against the pressure of a ticking clock. Lack of a scoring system also seems much more pronounced now.)
Honestly, I don’t know if my thoughts have changed all that dramatically from my original review; I’m certainly warmer to it now than when I first played it, and I feel like I finally got to see the mechanics at their best, but the bigger thing for me is that it’s been a great reminder of what you might miss if you just blast through every game without ever looking back.
The developers cite Wild Guns as one of their main influences for this, so of course I’m inclined to like it.
As is so often the case, the first playthrough sort of feels like an elaborate tutorial, able to disregard the utility of certain weapons or forget about whole mechanics for stages at a time (You can hit bullets?). I was ready to say the game had a great deal of unrealized potential, but a few minutes of dabbling in hard mode, where there are no health refills, and suddenly I was weighing the safety of cover versus dodge rolling, trying to find the appropriate niche for each weapon.
Looming over all this is a countdown timer for a bomb, (presumably) detonating if you take too long to finish the game. I say presumably, because the timer only adds up your best time in each stage, meaning you can simply replay old levels for a better time without worrying that you’re frittering away your chance at the good ending. Nevertheless, it’s an ominous feeling, low ranks wounding your pride but also eating away at the amount of time until the city is destroyed. Not sure if it’s an aspect of the game that should’ve been leaned on more or if it’s better served as a bit of mechanical theming- might’ve been too demoralizing to claw your way to the end, only to realize you’ve locked yourself into the bad ending.
As is so often the case, the first playthrough sort of feels like an elaborate tutorial, able to disregard the utility of certain weapons or forget about whole mechanics for stages at a time (You can hit bullets?). I was ready to say the game had a great deal of unrealized potential, but a few minutes of dabbling in hard mode, where there are no health refills, and suddenly I was weighing the safety of cover versus dodge rolling, trying to find the appropriate niche for each weapon.
Looming over all this is a countdown timer for a bomb, (presumably) detonating if you take too long to finish the game. I say presumably, because the timer only adds up your best time in each stage, meaning you can simply replay old levels for a better time without worrying that you’re frittering away your chance at the good ending. Nevertheless, it’s an ominous feeling, low ranks wounding your pride but also eating away at the amount of time until the city is destroyed. Not sure if it’s an aspect of the game that should’ve been leaned on more or if it’s better served as a bit of mechanical theming- might’ve been too demoralizing to claw your way to the end, only to realize you’ve locked yourself into the bad ending.
I really liked it at first, but as the difficulty raised, weak controls became unbearable and frustrating.
Gema absoluta perdida en los lares del shovelware de la Switch y el PC. Acción retro de rail shooter que para mí, encapsula perfectamente el género y la estética. Wild Guns mob riseup
Ah y está cuidado al milímetro, que para un jueguito tan frenético indie te esperas peor pulido. Jugad esto por favor es además baratísimo es que lo tiene todo
Ah y está cuidado al milímetro, que para un jueguito tan frenético indie te esperas peor pulido. Jugad esto por favor es además baratísimo es que lo tiene todo
lindíssimo, gameplay gostosa e viciante, oq mata é essa dublagem horrenda.
uma hora eu volto pras fases extra
uma hora eu volto pras fases extra
i played this game
Me encanta como este juego usa el sistema de cobertura y no pierde dinamismo. El hecho de que tengas que mantener pulsado arriba para cubrirte y soltarlo para salir de la cobertura hace de la mecánica algo muy natural. Le sumas a eso que las coberturas pueden romperse, enemigos con ataques que o se enfocan en las coberturas o pasan por encima de ellas, otras dos opciones defensivas (voltereta o romper proyectiles con un ataque melee) y tienes como resultado un aspecto defensivo que no ralentiza el juego y que aporta complejidad a los enfrentamientos.