Twenty years after the Virus Wars, you return to Gota IV as part of the newly formed Soldner-X defense force. Your mission: to free the galaxy from the D’aarg, a technologically superior race that is threatening mankind. Staged across seven unique action-loaded levels, Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype delivers a must-have, shoot’ em up experience, blending classic gameplay with the astonishing audio-visual capabilities of the PlayStation3 system.
Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is being rolled out on the PlayStation Store at a price of € 12.99. It’s been a while that you could not see a scrolling space shooter that will surely evoke a nostalgia effect arcade and old times. But old does not have anything 2 Soldner-X: Final Prototype, its 2D graphics (3D-Pesudo at times thanks to some dynamic backgrounds) colorful and vibrant leaves almost open-mouthed, so simple but so nice at the same time.
The game consists of a fast-paced gameplay with three playable ships (only the top 2) and first 4 levels. Just so, only because the other four stages are unlocked by finding hidden in the first pictures of the Keys, when fully unlocked the pictures later. You will also have three weapons available, switchable with R1 and R2, of course, replaced by others, but always remain third. A rating system will judge your gameplay in real time by setting the difficulty of the picture.
Chains are the key element, or series of objects to be recovered and unlock additional bonuses to your ship, like a special attack. Most of these items to the shoot-em-ups as we know, such as the chaser (mini astro world giving you a hand and shooting around), laser weapons, hidden bonuses, and action co-op with 2 players where the damage received is shared on a single health bar. At the end of the picture is the classic boss in several phases that will be threatening to make things harder.
- Seven unique action-loaded levels with fierce boss battles, staged across underwater worlds, ice caves, tunnel worlds, space and other deadly scenarios.
- Unlock bonus features in challenge mode, ranging from useful to prestigious rewards.
- HD graphics with 3D backgrounds in up to 1080p, combined with addictive, classic 2D gameplay.
- Dynamic score-linked difficulty system, making the game accessible for newcomers, yet challenging and rewarding for hardcore gamers.
- Two new player ships with distinct characteristics and weapon systems to choose from.
- A new bullet pattern system that requires more skill than ever.
- Brand new limit attacks and fourfold chaser system to face the most dangerous tasks.
- Detailed online high score ranking tables and replay file sharing.
- Hidden bonus elements, including a tribute to Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer.
- Adrenaline pumping soundtrack with 30 unique tracks and hundreds of dedicated sound effects.
- Multilingual text support: English voiceover with English, French or German subtitles.
Game Plot :
One of the best classic style space shooter published on the Sony Playstation Network home (and more) is definitely beautiful as difficult and frustrating Himmelssturmer Soldner-X, a true "gift" to the hardcore gamers of yore and shining example technique applied to 2-dimensional graphics, unjustly relegated to the role of supporting actors in this generation of consoles. Thanks to the amazing audio-visual sector – the Full HD can be counted on the fingers of one hand – and the proposed level of challenge, the title distributed by EastAsiaSoft and produced by the talented guys Sidequest Studios has captured a large share of critics and audience.
During the entire game, the beauty and special effects are worthy of the PS3. A typical electronic music is perfect for this kind of soft, and even the sound effects are great. He never missed more than two Soldner-X: Final Prototype fined its concept, and there oh joy, happiness and joy, the developers were given a simple but effective: to current game elements in an old type of game . At first you will only quad levels and it is your responsibility to unlock the rest. Or, you can retrieve in the different levels of spheres of yellow (hey, it reminds me vaguely something) that allow you to unlock Challenge mode. This is an opportunity to test your skills in the various levels of the game by completing a specific task like "get 999 rings in the second world" or "finish the first three levels without losing a life." In short, everything has been thought to take the game up.
You will understand, many small aspects of the first Soldner-X have been enhanced during this sequence, the most notable of them is redesigning the system of chains. In fact, we now get the rings dropped by enemies to fill the famous mark. Once full, the latter will still allow you to unlock a new bonus but beware, it may fall to zero if you tend to get into space or if you delay collecting rings. Eventually this new system will push you to take a few risks and especially not to fire at all costs. Another new size makes its appearance: you can now choose the ship you fly, each of them has the basis of two very specific weapons. Two engines are available from the start but you will also have the opportunity to unlock a third. You must be familiar with this concept: everything is not accessible from the start in Soldner-X 2 and must be willing to sweat to find out more slowly.
As tradition dictates, scrolling space shooters leverage everything but the plot, usually channeled on the tracks of alien invasions and the like and a mere pretext to disintegrate everything that moves on the screen: Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is no exception – as the first chapter of the saga, after all – and puts the player in the shoes of pilot turns at the controls of the usual and ultra technological star fighter (there are 3 in total, including one unlockable). During the first moments of the first game you notice a significant difference from Himmelssturmer, or the size of "sprites" and especially of projectiles that flood the screen, they are all relatively large and clearly visible; what follows is a race to the lower the game difficulty also associated with less hand crush of programmers, who have definitely been listening to a wide audience of admirers "not hardcore gamers remained severely scalded by the experience with the prequel to the problem exaggerated and in some passages extremely frustrating, to limit Launch joypad against the TV.
Stages :
Long game levels were replaced by seven stages (4 available from the start, the rest are unlocked by special keys) with smaller dimensions that reduce the longevity of adventure about a half hour of play, unless in past but in line with the average congener products, where the core of longevity / replay value lies in the rankings for the best scores (including online) and the unlockable items, which are present here in abundance. The gameplay is around binary standard for classic shoot’em up space and of course does not differ one iota from the formula adopted in the prequel: skill and speed are the keys to get the better of excited phases, and study and attention attacks on the rise are the best way to break the powerful boss at the end, as required by tradition.
Some Stages List :
- ZEUS SECTOR : Deep within the outer rim of the galaxy lies this isolated solar system. A number of colonies have activated their distress signals. However, no contact has been established since that time.
- REEF COMPLEX : Reef’s lower levels were abandoned almost fifty years ago. Recently, a growing amount of magnetic activity has been recorded. None of the deployed scout drones have returned.
- ETHIA RUINS: Known for its unstable tectonic constellation, Ethia presents a dramatic landscape. A satellite has registered seismic impulses from an ancient burial site – an increase of presence?
- ELLJE WOODS : Ellje was an idyllic recreational world, but invading D’aarg troops have raided the defenseless planet. Most of the enemy forces seem to be concentrated in the centre of an ancient forest.
TURADY DEEP SEA : Turady was captured by D’aarg forces early in the war. A jumpgate array connects it directly with Sol, Gotha and the Reef Empire. Whoever controls Turady gains the power of reinforcement.
Weapons :
The number and type of weapons available, bonuses, combos and special weapons that they clean the entire screen are all features known to fans of the genre, they will find bread for their teeth at every stage (the horizontal and vertical scroll favors fun and dynamic solutions) but for one thing above all rejoice; an evocative and superb technical facility.
From the perspective of graph Soldner X-2 is at the top shooter with a similar breathtaking views (that mix elements in 2 and 3 dimensions), enemies – especially bosses – particularly inspired design and a host of special effects and found 12.99 Euro justifying the need to take home the latest work by SideQuest Studios. Even the audio portion was treated with great care, despite a rather anonymous rhythms tecnho soundtrack and sound effects in line with other productions to emphasize the presence of long sequences of dubbing, rather unusual in this kind of games.
We find for example the system of keys hidden in the scenery which can be accessed later stages: only the first four levels are initially available, it must recover the keys to achieving progressively the other three. You can unlock 17 more full-bodied challenges: it may as well be back at least 24 keys in one part or 999 rings of chains in a single level … This second album is generally more accessible than its predecessor and you certainly will not hurt to finish the adventure mode easy, things get more complicated still a little when we tackle both normal and difficulty levels you can unlock the remaining will reserve probably real challenges in providing patterns simply diabolical. A level system also complements the table: the more you killed enemies in total, you will have more such credits at the beginning of the game. In short, if Soldner-X 2 is apparently easier than its predecessor, it still offers enough alternatives and challenges to unlock bonuses to keep you busy for quite some time.
Some Tips and Hints :
- For the third and last ship, you must successfully complete the challenge "Assassin".
Bonus Levels : You must accumulate enough secret key to unlock the various bonus levels.
- Level 5 : Earn at least a total of 4 keys in any level.
- Level 6 : Earn at least 4 keys per level in three levels of your choice.
- Level 7 : Earn at least four keys in each of the first six levels.
Conclusion :
Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is a great shooter that does not suffer from the comparison with these ancestors such as R-TYPE or GRADUIS. Quite the contrary, it has adapted to the new generation of consoles and players. The developers at Soft East Asia have done a commendable job at the very large video game studios, and we were able to serve a result more than adequate. At this rate, the software will become a reference of its kind soon.
For my part, I hope Soldner-X3 will arrive as quickly as possible because nothing beats the enjoyment of seeing its name in the Table of High Scores PSN. In conclusion Soldner-X 2 is definitely a title to have if you like the frenetic action and space if you have some nostalgia for old times. Maybe a little more could be done at the level of longevity and adding a few more stages to complete Challenge but for now I am feeling a complete and enjoyable experience, especially 2. Too bad there is not a co-op online on PSN.
Unfortunately it lacks online multiplayer mode, which would certainly be beneficial for low relative longevity of the product, however this is a welcome coop for two players locally, as in the predecessor.
