Exophobia is an homage to the roots of the shooter genre. Putting action and exploration first, this retro throwback is the perfect new, old first-person shooter fans will enjoy.
Fighting your way through a crashed alien infected spaceship, this purposely pixelated adventure looks almost like classic Wolfenstein but in space. With no reloading, no jumping, and the inability to look vertically, this is an action-first experience. The speed of movement is also high, similar to Quake, allowing the player to zip through each room if the player’s skill is high enough. This is double downed thanks to the slide dash which grants the players temporary invincibility. It is also possible to stun enemies this way, creating some depth to combat.
While there is a focus on shoot-first action, the entire journey is wrapped around a Metroid-like experience. Starting with a peashooter, eventually key cards will be obtained to gain access to locked doors and increased firepower can eventually blast into new areas. To keep track of it all, there is a unique map system. Pressing a button makes a top-down radar map appear. However, this map is on a battery. Use it too much and it will start to fade to nothing, forcing the player to navigate on memory but visiting a map station recharges it. While an interesting concept, I found this limited map use to be annoyingly restrictive. Since the hallways of this space station look the same, the player pretty much needs to reference the map in every room to figure out orientation and where to head next. It is also handy to note where there is a blocked entrance to return later. I feel like this fading map system should have been reserved for the Hard difficulty especially when checkpoints can be far away.
Speaking of checkpoints, the difficulty spikes can be rage quittable. Due to the speed of movement, it is common for enemies to sneak to you or have difficulty lining up shots. Further, laser beams, conveyer belts, and pits of death make it easy to instantly see the game over screen. This gets disheartening when you’ve ventured far, then die, and need to retrace your steps since the last save. The limited health bar means the player always needs to play cautiously, which contradicts the speed of the game play. Sure, it is possible to increase health stock by finding permanent upgrades, but it is rare to find health restoring drops between saves. I found myself clearing a room, then backtracking to the save since enemies do not respawn, the double backing to clear the next room, until eventually making it to the next checkpoint, which is a cheesy but necessary way to play.
Although the experience isn’t as fluid as it could be, Exophobia is still a quality retro shooter. I think not giving the player the ability to look up and down is a bold decision, one that pays off in the end as it keeps the focus on the action and exploration. Having more enemy types would have been nice, and the map system deserves respect for being different, but this corridor explorer is a great way to burn a weekend especially if you favor original first-person shooters.
SCORE: 8/10
Also Try: EchoBlade
Better Than: Project Downfall
Don’t Forget About: Witch Rise
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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