[Review] Dragons vs. Spaceships

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In the top-down shooter genre there are some pretty memorable games. The classic 1942, Jackal and more recently Ikaruga are just a few that immediately come to mind.

Game Production Studios, based right here in London, Ontario, has released Dragons vs. Spaceships, their answer to the genre via Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG). Their website for the game actually features a surprising back story to the whole dragon/spaceship war and why they don’t see eye to eye. Check it out as this lead-in is not included in the game itself. Basically, dragons have been the unquestionable rulers of the universe for millenia, and while many races have attempted to overthrow them, all of them failed. Then, at some point, a mechanized race came along and obliterated most of the dragons. Four of the most powerful dragons left are pissed and they’re going to set things straight!

Before getting to the review itself, allow me to temper your expectations for a game like this accordingly. This is not a $60 retail game. It’s not a $15, $10 or even $5 Xbox Live Arcade title. DvS costs 240 Microsoft Points, which is equal to roughly $3. That’s it. The full game costs the same as a new song for Dance Central 2 or a prop for your Xbox Live avatar.

Menus and Gameplay

DvS has just a few static menus where you can view leaderboards, the credits or exit back to the Dashboard. Upon starting things off, you have the option of teaming up with a partner (local multiplayer only.) You then choose from one of four dragons that are each a different colour. The only difference between them is the colour as each of the dragons start off with the same weapon. After choosing your dragon(s) a simple, one-screen tutorial pops up to show you the basics of weapon orbs, powerups, special attacks and controls.

After this the game starts right up with waves of attacking enemies flying around the screen. Weapon orbs drops randomly here and there and allow you to change your primary attack between fire, lightning and metal. Fire and lightning attacks seem to have similar characteristics while the metal attack ricochets off enemies striking other enemies. Powerup orbs also appear randomly and collecting two of these will result in your current weapon being completely powered up.

Weapon orbs also dictate what type of special weapon you have at your disposal. A set of two orbs produces one of six possible types. These are unleashed by waiting until your HUD glows telling you it’s ready. Your score is also tallied on your HUD and you earn extra lives based on how well you’re doing.

At the end of each level, a boss battle awaits. Pretty standard fare here. Figure out the pattern and weak point(s) and you’re set!

One aspect I really appreciated about the gameplay was the lack of collision detection on the dragons’ wings. Like Ikaruga, if a bullet or enemy passes through your wing, you will not die. It must contact the body of the dragon. This saved me in a number of situations and I really used it to my advantage.

I did come across one major bug while playing that forced me to exit to the Dashboard. I had reached the end of the first level, just before the boss appears. Naturally, I was holding down the fire button as I always do in shmups and I managed to shoot the boss at the instant it appeared. Well, the boss just vanished and my dragon kept on flying… and flying… and flying. No further enemies appeared but the screen kept scrolling. Protip: just don’t shoot it for a second and everything appears to be fine after that.

Graphics and Sound

I played DvS through my 720p projector to an 82″ screen and the dragons, spaceships and accompanying backgrounds were all very crisp and pleasant to look at. Nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. The sound and music on the other hand are pretty generic. I didn’t notice any hiccups or glitches with anything. It’s worth mentioning that the trailer for the game looks quite choppy. This is not representative of the final product; it plays very smooth.

Hits and Misses

DvS definitely has some things going for it such as:

• The price-point was a very wise move by Game Production Studios. At just 240 MSP it will definitely attract some buyers.
• The style and gameplay immediately bring back great shmup gaming memories. They certainly went with the core gameplay that’s proven to be solid many times before.
• Multiplayer – it’s always great to grab a friend to help out!
• Graphically, it’s nice to look at. Again, the style gets my shmup nostalgia going.

Unfortunately, there are some points about the game that bring the score down. They are:

• The option to continue after you die might as well be ’start over’ because that’s what happens. No matter where you are in the game, it starts you right back at the beginning. I’m inclined to think that continuing should start you back at the beginning of the level you’re currently on. I found it very difficult to advance in the game because of this.
• In multiplayer, successfully advancing to the next level should bring the other player back in if they’re dead. It would be much more interesting that way.
• Since the tutorial at the beginning of the game gives no information on how the special weapons work, I had no idea how the majority of them behaved. This lead to me just randomly firing them to see what would happen. In most cases, something that should have helped me greatly ended up having little to no effect.
• I understand that part of the game’s challenge is that whenever you die, your weapon’s power is reset. However, fighting a boss is made to be a bit too tricky when powerups rarely appear and you’re stuck fighting a powerful enemy with a very underpowered weapon.

Conclusion

DvS is a game that brings back great memories of old-school gaming. It’s certainly a solid game at its core and while there are some aspects that could be improved upon, you should at least check out the demo if you’re a fan of the genre. The fact that the full version of the game costs the same as a prop for your Xbox Live avatar makes it plainly obvious to me where the better value is. The next time you’ve got 240 extra MSP in your account, head over to the XBLIG section and support an indie developer. Games like DvS are waiting and worth checking out!

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The GAMES DAY Podcast received this game at no charge for review purposes.