Also On: PS3, PS4, PC
Publisher: Curve Studios
Developer: Puppygames
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: Leaderboards
ESRB: E
Titan Attacks! is not a game that tries to hide its influences. Basically, itโs equal parts Space Invaders and Galaga.
And thatโs it, really. There are upgrades and powerups and whatnot that may or may not have been around in the early โ80s, but at the end of the day, the gameplay in Titan Attacks! will be familiar to virtually everyone under the age ofโฆ50? 60? After all, Space Invaders and Galaga are two of the most widely-played, influential games ever, and itโs hard to imagine thereโs anyone out there with even a passing familiarity of gaming thatโs not acquainted with how those two games work. Aliens move sideways across the screen, getting closer and closer to the bottom, while you โ as a tank โ shoot them down. Like I said, itโs something everyone is familiar with, and if youโre notโฆI just have so many questions as to how you came to be reading this review.
Because Titan Attacks! is so heavily indebted to those two games, Iโm not really sure what there is to say about it. When youโre basically directly copying one of the archetypal ways of gaming, thereโs not a whole lot you can do wrong. The aforementioned powerups add a little bit of variety, but they still donโt fundamentally change what youโre doing. As youโd expect (seeing as there have been all kinds of advances over the last thirty years), it looks a whole lot nicer, with vibrant neons combining with moody darker colours to give it a retro sci-fi feel. Titan Attacks! also sounds like a combination of old and new, with old school โpew pewโ laser noises sitting alongside distinctly more modern downtempo electronic music.
Obviously, thatโs about the only thing new going on in Titan Attacks! By any standard, itโs the very definition of an old thing getting a new coat of paint, so if youโre going into it hoping for something new and fresh, youโll be sorely disappointed.
However, if you go in simply expecting a nicer-looking take on an old classic, you should be a little happier with what you get out of it. Titan Attacks! wonโt surprise you (unless, again, youโve somehow come to this review without ever having played Space Invaders or Galaga), but it is a good reminder that sometimes those old games knew exactly how to make a virtue of forced simplicity. Itโs basic, but itโs also super-addictive, so if you donโt mind a walk back in time, it might be worth checking out.