Also On: PS4
Publisher: MixedBag
Developer: MixedBag
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E
To some extent, Futuridium EP Deluxe is cut from the same cloth as TxK from earlier this year. It, too, is a space-shooter thatโs very, very heavily indebted to some of the earliest video games. Itโs got relatively simple graphics and gameplay, and it wouldnโt be too hard to imagine playing it on an old school arcade cabinet.
At the same time, though, thereโs something undeniably modern about Futuridium. Part of it is the graphics; as retro as they may be, if you look closely youโll see little flourishes โ things like intentional ghosting of the little squares youโre blasting โ that separate them from the straight lines and angles of a game like TxK. Likewise, even if the gameplay itself is pretty basic, consisting of nothing more than flying through space and shooting at enemies and cubes, itโs still got a present-day sensibility as far as its level of difficulty goes. Like a lot of todayโs retro-inspired games, Futuridium is unforgivingly punishing, and leaves little margin for error. It may only have fifty levels, but theyโre fifty of the hardest levels youโre likely to come across.
And then thereโs the music. Futuridiumโs gameplay may have its roots in the โ70s and โ80s, but its pulsating electronic soundtrack could only have been created now. Itโs a mixture of drum & bass, breakbeat and electro, and itโs not at all surprising that it can be consumed separately on a 45-minute soundtrack thatโs being sold independently of the game. In fact, I wouldnโt be at all surprised to discover that the music works even better outside of the game than it does as part of it; here, the beats donโt always match up with the music, leading to little moments of audio-visual dissonance.
Theyโre not so great that they impede Futuridiumโs overall quality, of course. Whatever minor dissonance may be created by the occasional wrong note, itโs more than made up for by gameplay thatโs simple, fun, and insanely addictive.