Negative Gamer Review: Platypus (Xbox Indie Games)

Thanks to their gift of a download code, the time has come for me to review Escapist Games’ sidescrolling shmup Platypus. It was previously released on the PSP and is now available as an Xbox Live Indie Game. As shooters go, it’s very traditional with none of the bells and whistles of more modern entries in the genre.

It feels more like a lost entry in the pantheon of 16-bit shooters than a modern title. Where modern shooters have introduced unique scoring mechanics, Platypus simply scrolls from left to right throwing enemies at the player until an inevitable boss encounter.

Back To The Front!

Platypus‘ art direction helps to distinguish it from other shooters. The Pixar-meets-claymation style is charming and makes the settings and enemies feel unique. Unfortunately, problems arise in distinguishing between whether objects and enemies are in the background or foreground. It seems like an almost inevitable result of the ’2.5d’ design philosophy. For example, in the background of one level a volcano erupts and spits out boulders that rain down over the screen. I found it difficult to tell which of these falling, smouldering boulders were just scenery and which were something to be avoided.

Platypus also has a habit of showing enemies in the distant background as well as the foreground. Some of these enemies come in identical shapes but different sizes and I would occasionally be surprised by an enemy that collided with my ship when I thought it was merely a part of the background. It wasn’t a persistent problem and on repeated playthroughs I soon learned to tell the difference. Nevertheless, it still felt unfair on my first few attempts at a level.

Shoot By Numbers

I can’t emphasise enough how traditional Platypus is in both its structure and mechanics. The difficulty curve, powerups and pace are straight out of any mid-90′s scrolling shooter. After some research, I found that there was supposed to be a heavy emphasis on co-operative play. However, during my time playing it by myself I honestly didn’t see any enemies or obstacles that required teamwork to overcome. Some of the bosses did take a fair amount of time to defeat, implying that with a second player they would have been defeated more easily. Other than making it easier to kill enemies that could withstand multiple shots, I can’t see co-op adding much to the experience.

Personally, I’m not much of a shmup historian. I like the genre but I tend to respond to more modern games with distinctive mechanics beyond just shooting enemies. The rhythm game elements of Everyday Shooter, polarity switching of Ikaruga and Triggerheart Exelica‘s grappling hook spring to mind as examples of the genre moving beyond a basic template. As such, I felt little motivation to play Platypus through to its conclusion. Even the powerups weren’t particularly distinctive and include a spread shot, rapid fire and missile launcher – nothing I hadn’t seen before.

A few other things worth mentioning…

• At 400 MS points, Platypus sits at the top end of indie game pricing on Xbox Live. That being said its still cheaper than the original PSP version of the game.
• Despite its generic feel, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the game. It’s competent rather than excellent.
• I found the difficulty curve to be a bit steep. By the middle of the second zone, the screen started to fill with projectiles. I soon found myself knocking it down to ‘easy’ and had a much better time with the game.

There’s nothing bad or frustrating about Platypus. Every game reviewing cliche’ could be used to dance around its lack of originality. Words like ‘solid’, ‘tight’, ‘slick’ and ‘classic’ spring to mind. The problem is that there are better games out there that whilst not quite as cheap, are still easily affordable. Once you get past the charm of its presentation there isn’t enough depth to make the game truly captivating.

You should buy this game if…

…you find the modern bullet-hell shooter intimidating and want a simpler and more old-fashioned type of shmup.

Final Score

An entirely competent shooter with excellent visuals that don’t quite make up for its lack of any distinctive mechanics.

(What does this score mean?)