Angle of Attack adopts a modern take on classic Asteroids play control but mixes it with more of Defender-style of gameplay. Although the gameplay is smooth, the repetition makes it feel like a chore before the first half dozen stages are cleared.
Playing as a lone fighter jet, it is your job to shoot all enemy craft, air and water, until everything blows to smithereens. Each mission, aka each stage, is exactly the same – kill them all – despite what the title of the stage might initially suggest. The problem is the horrendously boring repetition. There are a few enemy types but they all act the same. Sometimes they shoot a handful of machine gun bullets then pivot in the air. Sometimes they launch seekers and then pivot in the air. Sometimes they spawn other craft, acting as a generator. Sometimes there is an occasional bullet sponge submarine that just sits there. However, without upgrades or power-ups, the player will see everything the game has to offer by the end of the second stage.
There are other problems too. Like, sometimes there is a massive gap between bouts, requiring the player to boost for long periods before encountering rogue ships. There is also no controller map and no tutorial so the player needs to awkwardly figure out the control scheme on the fly, no pun intended. The lack of a level select is another odd omission but at least there are three difficulty settings. For the most part, Easy works but I still managed to die several times. Which is annoying since each stage is little more than an act of attrition. Most stages are entirely too long, making death after a ten-minute dog fight rage quittable. It is also cheap when several ships literally spawn from nowhere. The crazy, heavy one looping music track doesn’t make the experience any better either.
Even though there are problems gameplaywise, credit must be given to the control scheme… once you figure it out. Using the left stick to aim and move while boosting with RT feels good. The floaty controls are not accurate to actual gravity, as the plane can mostly hover without falling to the ground, but it works as a gameplay element. The basic machine gun bullets are a little rough though because they are so small. Using small bullets to hit tiny missiles out of the air is based more on luck than skill. Still, if this control scheme was adopted into a more robust gameplay setting, it could be something special. Instead, players will need to admire the fun flight controls wrapped around a boring, repetitive slog. Let’s hope for a sequel one day that adds some spice. Co-op would be nice too.
SCORE: 6/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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