Arcade games are tough to make. When building a game that relies on the idea that a player will be doing the same basic mechanic and levels over and over again, developers have to make sure the gameplay is tight, smooth, and entertainingly difficult to keep things interesting. Battle Planet: Judgment Day packages in the core ideas of a classic arcade twin-stick shooter in a gory, gripping game that sometimes goes too far for its own good.
Story
Three dangerous prisoners are being transferred to another facility when they suddenly crash land on a micro planet and have to fight off armies of space creatures and space police. Moving from planet to planet, they search for ways to escape and be free from the government while just trying to stay alive.
Gameplay
Survive, defuse bombs, and shoot stuff. That is basically the whole game. Battle Planet: Judgment Day follows the classic and sound formula of twin-stick shooters with various upgrades, waves of enemies, different planets, boss fights, a speed boost, and special weapons.
The three prisoners that a player can choose between have intrinsically different stats and guns that aren’t really too different. So if you’d rather balance—some extra speed or other extra stats—your options are there, but it won’t matter all that much. A player does have to unlock the other two characters, which seemed to be an odd choice when they are the base characters in the story and don’t alter the overall gameplay.
Overall, the game feels great to play. Every moment is a dance of shooting in this direction while dodging that direction. The enemies are brutal, the damage to the enemy health ratio is solid, and being aggressive to get health packs is a great risk/reward. Movement is responsive, pacing and shooting feel smooth and consistent; as I said, the game just feels great.
Along with the traditional gunplay, there are short-term weapons that can be picked up and bigger special items like bombs or drop shields are used through the playthrough to help in a pinch. However, something that is very unique to this game is a slow and steady progression system for each character.
Instead of starting back at the first planet, first wave from scratch every time with the bare bones of a character, players will slowly accumulate money to spend on permanent upgrades for their characters: a larger health pool, larger ammo reserves from picked-up weapons or making special weapons recharge faster. This additional progression encourages the player to come back again and again and be able to progress further, easier. Even though this does break the “hardcore” nature of the game to some degree, I think it is a welcome addition to this style of game, rewarding those players who may lack somewhat in skill but have lots of dedication.
There are a number of other things like couch co-op, different objectives in each wave, and planetary destruction that add to the game’s overall uniqueness and entertainment. There is a lot of meat to this game; it’s well put together.
Visual
Bugs, guns, and blood splattered everywhere on a brightly colored neon palette? Yes, please. I was pleasantly surprised at how the game and details look just as good in handheld mode as while docked. The game kept the framerate high and looked great every moment. Also, in a game like this, it is normal to have some clutter. But I would lose objectives a little too often because I couldn’t find them with so much happening on screen.
Sound
The music is fitting and atmospheric, but nothing beyond what I would expect. The noises and sound design for weapons, gore, and aliens were really good. Hearing the splatter of space creatures never got old and got more satisfying the larger the enemy.
Replayability
A player will get through probably the first level and most of the second level with no real problems, but this game expects you to die and lose a lot. And that is fine because it is fun to play. With procedurally-created planets, multiplayer, beefy perks, an ongoing upgrade system along with various other variables, this game is just asking to be picked up every couple of days to play for an hour or two and try again and again to get further and slowly grow your character.
What It Could Have Done Better
The main problem with Battle Planet is also one of its best parts. I would consider myself a pretty good twin-stick player, I’ve played games like this my whole life. However, this continuing progression system that provides more health, more damage and powerful upgrades feel 100% necessary to finish the game. Even if a player had incredible luck and skill, I don’t think they would be able to output enough damage to make it past the halfway mark of the game. It is nice to have a progression system and reward players for continued playthroughs, but I think that the game should be able to finish with just enough skill and luck. Also, as mentioned above, some objectives are really hard to find and the enemies can crowd very fast and totally eat through health far too quickly. I would just want less clutter and better-telegraphed objectives.
Verdict
Threaks has made a very interesting game. There are a lot of potentials and great risks to make a very unique spin on a classic formula here. Sometimes the risks backfire with some real discouragement, but overall Battle Planet: Judgment Day is a great game for arcade enthusiasts who want to play hardcore for days on end or pick it up once in a while with friends.
