Guns. The modern day evolution of sticks, stones, arrows, and swords. They exist to make jobs easier, to give progress to battles, and to be the final statement in conflict. It helps that using firearms, especially in video games, can be incredibly fun, and can be the deciding factor between victory and defeat. A weapon is only as good as how it’s wielded, and in Mothergunship, you’ll need your skill, and cutting edge firepower to survive. The situation is dire, and you are the sliver of glimmering hope left.
A mysterious alien armada has enslaved the earth, dooming the inhabitants. These strange race of aliens are an odd meshing of flesh and cybernetic computer, who have come from an Unfathomable distance to complete their mission. Why they are here and why they are committing such destruction is a mystery. You are the last of your squad, and the only way to defeat this terrifying foe is to navigate through all four of their mammoth capital ships. Inside each ship are a series of hazards, obstacles, and dire threats. Turrets, bosses, and a variety of firepower line your path. It’s up to you to destroy them all.
Mother gunship comes from the same team that created a similar game called The Tower of Guns. Taking place in an eclectic steampunk world, Tower of Guns was a procedurally generated, rogue-like first-person shooter, where players were tasked with ascending a mysterious tower filled with enemies. There were a variety bosses to fight, each stage of the level was loaded with obstacles and challenges.
The player can acquire new abilities to give them an advantage in combat, such as more speed and weapon enhancements. The biggest mechanic was not to get hit and to keep the multipliers running high as to enhance special attributes to the weapon you are carrying. Mothergunship plays out in a similar way, but it will be more than just a reskin. The game promises much more from what was established in Tower of Guns. New designs, more weapons, new bosses, and much more all line up what is expected in this spiritual successor.
The demo had players inside a massive vessel, firing at all sort of enemies strewn about. Machines, turrets, and other enemies lay in the player’s path. As I observed, I could see new enhancements to the gameplay, such as duel wielding and using futuristic alien weaponry. The insiders these ships was vast, haunting, and intimidating. They left quite a lot do room for navigation and strafing targets. The game definitely featured more verticality than Tower of Guns and even adopts more of its bullet hell philosophies as players were jumping across levels and around enemy hordes.
Mid-mission, players can acquire upgrades to enhance their characters skipping rooms of enemies is an option, but doing so may compromise the mission as you may not have the upgrades necessary to complete later levels. New to the game is gun customization, meaning you can take existing firearms and create true weapons of mass destruction, no matter how weird it may be. These customizations include more barrels and modifications. This feature felt incredibly refreshing, as it gave more personalization and tailoring to the overall gameplay experience.
Playing the game felt absolutely smooth, quick, and tremendously fun. The game was barking back to earlier days in shooting, where speed, mobility, skill, and a tenacious fortitude were required to complete the challenges of the early FPS games. At the same time, the game felt modern and unique with its settings, firepower, and gameplay.
I came across the final boss of the level; a wall sentry clouded with armaments and defensive systems. I jumped, strafed, and moved like lightning to avoid enemy fire, which was challenging given that the boss was inside of a boxed room.
I proceed to discharge as much firepower as humanly possible. As I poured on the damage, I noticed that the boss could regenerate it’s turrets, making the battle tougher. I tried going underneath the behemoth and had limited success. Other defensive turrets emerged as soon as I destroyed them, causing damage to my soldier. At that moment, I had to work my way back to the center, and start hitting the alien sentry directly.
I poured plasma fire and cannon shells using the duel wield weapons. I kept firing, avoiding as many shots as I could. All this is happening as the alien taunts me, calling for my demise. The sound of gunfire and explosions permeated the atmosphere. The game was not easy, and the challenge had seriously ramped up. Inevitably, his health ran to zero, and I successfully took down the sentry.
As the Boss exploded, a door unlocked. An alien voice warned me not to go inside. As I did, a massive button, that clearly said “Do not Push,” was present right in front of me. Naturally, I did the only impulsive thing I could do, and I jumped on the button, pressing it, and triggering an automatic self-destruct system.
As the ship crumbled around me, I made my way to an escape pod, barely surviving the fiery explosion of the vessel. While I may have successfully conquered the ship, an armada came out of the sun’s glare. On the horizon was a sinister fleet of ships. My mission was not over…
The battle for the Earth had just begun.
Mothergunship had me on the edge-of-my-seat, and for the short time I was with the game, it was a tremendous experience. From the presentation and deep-space sci-fi atmosphere to the incredible shooting combat, Mothergunship is slated to be an amazing sci-fi action adventure. Mothergunship is expected to release sometime in 2017.
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