Rigid Force Redux (PS4) Review
Release Date: December 23, 2020
Publisher/Developer: Headup Games/com8com1 Software
Platform: PlayStation (Reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, originally on PC
Price: $15.99, $19.99 Deluxe Edition
A PC release a few years ago, Rigid Force Alpha received a console port in the name of Rigid Force Redux; mid 2020 for some consoles but December for PS4. A traditional side scrolling shooter, it adds a modern polygonal polish to classic R-Type gameplay. The game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up to optimize it for console systems. Rigid Force Redux by and large doesn’t try to break the mold but adds it’s own polish to help it come into it’s own.
The big catch in Rigid Force Redux is the amount of control players have over their ship’s attack patterns. Besides your traditional front-facing armaments, powerups will add additional pods to attack with. Shoulder buttons move these between shooting behind, scattershots forward or back, or assisting your front cannons in a super powerful attack. Different types of weapons change the overall attack pattern too, meaning you have a myriad of ways to take down your enemies. A special bar is filled with little item drops from finished enemies. This can be used to unleash mega attacks or give yourself a microsecond reprieve from the bullet hell raining down on you. It’s a risk/reward system, as you can take down a wave of enemies or hack a major chunk of a boss’ health bar down, but you lose the energy that could save you in a dire situation.
There are plenty of different aliens for you to mow down as well, from little bugs and ships to giant screen-filling behemoth bosses. The weapon loadout you have when you get to the boss can make a huge difference in how difficult it is. With the default gun, you face a huge challenge, but some weapons are so powerful there are trophies centered around taking down particular bosses in mere seconds. Finding those combinations and flight patterns are fun, but I do admit it got a little tedious after you know how to take down a boss easy, as the game only has six levels and going for that high score record is where the replay value comes in.
I’ve never liked space shooter games that add wall collision damage, because sometimes you’re threading the needle of bullets only to be taken down because you’re too close to the wall. Rigid Force Redux finds a middle ground by allowing your ship to take a couple of hits before being destroyed, so one wall hit isn’t the end of the world. The game is challenging, but it doesn’t quite fall into “bullet hell shooter” mode. Also, while the fully polygonal environments and enemies are cool looking, I dislike enemies using the background environment to zoom in for attack. Sometimes a wave of enemies flies by in the background to loop into the playfield, and they just look like smaller versions of the same enemy, a practice that could logically work in this kind of game. Eventually, I would figure out the patterns, but first time through I’d dodge something that wasn’t even a threat to me and put myself in a more precarious situation. I do like that if you play story mode, clearing certain areas will allow you to start at the next section, so every “new game” can help you progress further.
Rigid Force Redux’s “Deluxe Edition” is another $5 and contains the soundtrack. The music is good and fits the gameplay, but I’d suggest looking it up before you buy the full version, as you don’t get anything else that I can see for the main game. The game is tightly designed to the point I haven’t seen any graphical errors or glitches, controls are tight, and it is overall a fair designed shooter to where I could understand why every death happened. I feel as if I’d enjoy it more on the Switch, as shooters like this are good for those short-bursts of gameplay you’d get on the road, but it no doubt deserves it’s place among the pantheon of excellent side-scrolling arcade shooters.
Pros:
-Very well designed and presented
-Tough but fair
-Unique adjustable firing features
-Behemoth bosses
Cons:
-Only six levels
-Both good and bad to find really fast ways to take down bosses
-Background enemies are distracting
Special thanks to Headup Games/com8com1 Software for providing a code for review!