Astrogeddon Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: May 24, 2005 Until recently, you could count the number of good Asteroids clones on a single hand. Finding one is easy, as developers have slabbed out countless imitators over the years. But with rare exception, they either played like clunky versions of the original or failed to bring anything new to the table. With the release of Astrogeddon, however, you're going to have to start using two hands when you add up the rock blasters worth your time. Like the classic from which it draws inspiration, Astrogeddon gives you control of a small ship deposited in the center of your screen. Using your mouse or keyboard, you can turn and move in any direction, and even slip off the edges of the display to appear on the opposite side. Wave after wave of whirling rubble coasts across the screen, threatening to make you one with the great void of space. Thankfully, your ride is outfitted with enough explosive power to pulverize every threat. The developers don't stop there; rather, they toss in several new ingredients to create an experience more intense than the original. For instance, in addition to asteroids, you'll fight off enemy ships, many of which attack in formation. Fortunately, you're not stuck with the space age equivalent of a pellet gun, but can grab powerups to temporarily increase the power of your twin-barrel laser and equip your ship with missiles. There are two kinds of missiles: Regular and homing. You begin with a few of each, but have to grab more from the wreckage of your enemies if you want to survive. Other weaponry includes a bonus that lets you spew fire instead of lasers for a short time and a pickup that turns into an expanding circle of explosive bolts on contact. Astrogeddon doesn't overload you with weaponry; rather, you'll always be on the lookout for pickups to keep your missile bays full. This adds urgency to the gameplay. You're going to need all of that firepower, too, because Astrogeddon throws an impressive variety of enemies at you. Just when you tire of looking at alien ships, a huge creature will snake across the screen or a tangle of claw-like vessels will split into smaller units. It's not just the number of different enemies that's impressive, but also the diversity of their attacks. Some aliens drop mines in their wake, as though they were leaving a trail of toxic bread crumbs for you to eat; others fire small projectiles that track you until you hit them with gunfire. One ship drops a small explosive that expands into a ring of plasma; another has a shield guarding its nose, forcing you to change your tactics. It's quite the ballet of space-born death. Astrogeddon is split into missions of ten stages each; every tenth level, you'll face a boss or a more aggressive wave of attackers. Getting through that stage unlocks the next mission. You can quit and start a new game beginning with any mission you've unlocked, but that's as close to saving as Astrogeddon allows. You can collect extra lives along the way, but once you're out of second, third and fourth chances, you'll be looking at either the title screen or the high score board. Having made it to level 57, I'm sold on the gameplay, even though it gets frustrating and repetitive. At times, there's so much stuff hitting you, Astrogeddon feels more like a bumper car simulation in space than an arcade shooter. Good hand-eye coordination and a quick trigger finger alleviate this problem, but you're going to need a lot of skill to win, even on the easiest of the three difficulty levels. Although one stage plays similar to the next, I like how the levels are paced; in most, you need to wipe out one wave of attackers before the next appears, or else space gets crowded fast. Luckily, the controls are tight and responsive. Graphically, Astrogeddon won't pop open eyes or drop jaws, but it holds its own. The smoke trails of the missiles, the lava-red asteroids and the deep space backdrops are all nice-looking, but the ships lack the visual clarity a high-resolution game should have. The sound effects are a notch better, especially the teeth-rattling explosions. Even in this age of high-speed Internet, many people still use a dial-up modem, which makes downloading any game a time-consuming risk. If you like arcade space shooters, though, the Astrogeddon demo is worth trying; if you're good at them and want a challenge, you might find yourself plunking down some hard earned coin to play the full version.