Superbuu3's Review: After Burner Climax

Lol yes i thought screw it and bought it, but did i regret my decison?! Read on and find out.
EDIT: here's video of me doing a complete playthrough:

Spoiler:

Story
Theres a laughable attempt at some dialogue for all of ten seconds, bad guys doing bad things i've got 5 seconds to launch, personally i see this as a plus this is the kind of game you want to blow shit up in.

Gameplay
If you've played any of the original after burner games you know what to expect this is that while climaxing... Oh yeah i forgot to explain that bit, but go ahead with those dirty thoughts. The game is basically you hurtling at an unfathomable number of enemy aircrafts, you basically have only limited movement, you can move up, down, side to side effectively only to dodge and to lock onto things. Well basically move left and right your targeting reticule and you move together, up and down you move the opposite directions, the game works on balancing offensive and defensive manouvres. You can also roll to out manouvre missiles attacking you from the rear, this is way more fun then it should be and honestly i get distracted rolling and the result is getting shot to pieces by other things at times.

The new feature in this game is climaxing, basically you get to slow down time for a few seconds, anything you lock onto will be caught up in a hail of missiles the instance that you stop climaxing. This is an amazing addition to an already fun game. Tactically building up your climax to unleash its full fury into a wave of enemies is rather satisfying especially when done correctly, but you can completely mess this up i forgot that your not invincible in this mode and ate about 4 missiles in the face by accident.

Also forgot to mention the plane has machine guns and heat seeking missiles hence the very heavy focus on locking on to enemies before they lock on to you.

Difficulty curve
Have you ever been running along turned to the side to chat to your friend and gone face first into a wall, I haven't my friend did it was hilarious. Anyway Your first 3 attempts at this game will feel like that, but suddenly you realise this game rewards failure o_O. Yes its true die too many times and the game will give you the option of increasing your lives. Various tasks once completed will increase/decrease various parameters. I will say this I have never felt so in control of a game in my life. Personally cause i'm that hardcore i keep the settings high for now just to make sure i can only complete when i have the skill, but these parameters will add lots of replay value.

Graphics
Better then the arcade machine and not any sign of any glitches or drop in frame rate despite the chaotic screen, the colours are vibrant to making me now realise just how bland most games on home consoles are these days.

Overall
Do i recommend this game? Hmmm thats a tough question. Firstly if you know what afterburner is and it gives you a nostalgic feel buy it, if you've played the arcade machine and enjoy it buy it. For anyone who feels they wish PS3 games had a quick pick up and play fast action thrill ride i'd say buy it to. Basically if this even sounds slightly fun to you i highly recommend it. Really I think this is the kind of game that should be on the PSN more often. We actually have a better then arcade version of a great game in your own home. For me justifying the purchase was simple would i put 8 credits into this arcade machine and the answer was yes. So as soon as i played 8 credits worth of lives i felt the purchase was justified and now i still just want to play it even more.

Replayability
Various unlockables, lots of parameters to fiddle with I'd give that a big yes, this is the kind of game you will complete hundreds of times.
Any questions ask away and Simian I seriously recommend it i'm sure you played after burner as a kid.

Yeah, my local arcade had the sit down cabinet that tilted as the plane did. Good times.

This is on offer this week, might get it. Any online?

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

This is on offer this week, might get it. Any online?

na just leaderboards

its not a very long game but it is a very fun game just work out if you like this kinda gameplay

If you like afterburner i'd say its a definite buy

Definitely a game I should've gotten sooner. WAY sooner than like, yesterday or something. lol

Yeah its one of the best PSN titles i've seen. Not only visually but the fact its a very solid arcade style game and there's not much else like it on the system.

Also means i never have to play this in an arcade again, although i did and finished it in one sitting, because i'm way more pro at the game now.

Is this worth £2? Take into account that I've never played or had any interest in this genre.

For you probably not, i doubt you'd play it more then once.