Ace Of Space (PC) Review
Review
By Thonos
7/11/2020
Ace of Space is a good start to a space shooter game. I say it’s a good start because it is far from perfect. The game has no real story to it. You just take your ship and shoot everything on screen. While the game does have some good mechanics, it also has some flaws.
The game has four different stages. Each stage has its own ship that you use. Each stage plays out the same where you destroy every enemy that shows up on the screen. You use the mouse to move your ship while the game auto fires your main gun. You can fire your missiles and use your special ability when it is charged. Destroying enemies gives you experience and once that bar fills up you get a perk like instant health back or extra money. The game has a checkpoint system that refreshes your missile supply and lets you respawn at that checkpoint if you get destroyed. Each stage has four checkpoints with the last one being a boss fight.
When destroying enemies you also earn money which can be used for ship upgrades. The upgrade system for each ship is a pretty linear system which lets you upgrade weapon fire speed, secondary weapon damage, special recharge speed and overall ship upgrade. The system works well and each upgrade you do is noticeable. However, the flaw with this system is that you really only need to upgrade the overall ship and weapon fire speed. The power jump from getting the overall ship to max level is insane and lets you pretty much destroy everything on screen with the exception of the stage boss. Still, the fact the developer implemented a system with visual upgrades is a nice touch.
The main issue I have with this game is all of the reused assets. While I liked the graphics for the player ships, enemies and backgrounds, you see the same enemies on every stage with the only difference being a color change. Then you have the mouse controls which work, but it could have been implemented better. Then you have large amounts of screen lag when you had any major combat on the screen. None of these issues are game breaking, but combined they show a game that could have used more polish before release.
As I said when I started this review, this is a good start to a game. The game is functional, looks good and has a decent upgrade system. But this game has issues that show it's a first time game for a developer. There is nothing wrong with that and this is not a bad game. This is a game I could see the developer patching and expanding on in the future if they choose to do so.
By Thonos
7/11/2020
Ace of Space is a good start to a space shooter game. I say it’s a good start because it is far from perfect. The game has no real story to it. You just take your ship and shoot everything on screen. While the game does have some good mechanics, it also has some flaws.
The game has four different stages. Each stage has its own ship that you use. Each stage plays out the same where you destroy every enemy that shows up on the screen. You use the mouse to move your ship while the game auto fires your main gun. You can fire your missiles and use your special ability when it is charged. Destroying enemies gives you experience and once that bar fills up you get a perk like instant health back or extra money. The game has a checkpoint system that refreshes your missile supply and lets you respawn at that checkpoint if you get destroyed. Each stage has four checkpoints with the last one being a boss fight.
When destroying enemies you also earn money which can be used for ship upgrades. The upgrade system for each ship is a pretty linear system which lets you upgrade weapon fire speed, secondary weapon damage, special recharge speed and overall ship upgrade. The system works well and each upgrade you do is noticeable. However, the flaw with this system is that you really only need to upgrade the overall ship and weapon fire speed. The power jump from getting the overall ship to max level is insane and lets you pretty much destroy everything on screen with the exception of the stage boss. Still, the fact the developer implemented a system with visual upgrades is a nice touch.
The main issue I have with this game is all of the reused assets. While I liked the graphics for the player ships, enemies and backgrounds, you see the same enemies on every stage with the only difference being a color change. Then you have the mouse controls which work, but it could have been implemented better. Then you have large amounts of screen lag when you had any major combat on the screen. None of these issues are game breaking, but combined they show a game that could have used more polish before release.
As I said when I started this review, this is a good start to a game. The game is functional, looks good and has a decent upgrade system. But this game has issues that show it's a first time game for a developer. There is nothing wrong with that and this is not a bad game. This is a game I could see the developer patching and expanding on in the future if they choose to do so.