Blaster Force 3000 Review

Blaster Force 3000 is a straight forward, simplistic first person shooter reminiscent of classic 90s shooters like DOOM. However, unlike the John Romero classic, this indie game is score based. Meaning, while you can still complete level, the overall purpose is to score the highest amount of points.

The game features 36 levels across three different environments: dungeon, mansion and space. You’ll start off with a machinegun with a max of 50 bullets. And thankfully, you’ll find additional ammo throughout the killings of aliens. But there are some creatures you cannot kill; if you do, you lose 20 health. And these fuckers have a tendancy to get in the way often.

As you make your way through the various areas, you’ll come across new weapons such as a shotgun or sniper rifle. But while a little diversity is nice, the newer weapons aren’t more powerful; still takes 2-3 bullets to kill enemies. However, note that there’s no health refill. You have to make through otherwise it’s back at the start of the level.

The game looks good. It features a blocky, pixelated look for a bit of nostalgia factor. Each of the three area is unique and stand out from one another to avoid environment repetitiveness. Levels are colorful as well. Enemy design is fine; nothing really outstanding, but you do get a decent variety as you progress further. The soundtrack is some generic hard rock-lite stock score. Nothing too noteworthy.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with Blaster Force 3000 but it does feel limited in terms of gameplay. Each level is quite short and pretty straightforward. Newer weapons don’t feel stronger than the previous one. On top of that, you can’t switch between weapons; once you get the new one, you lose the previous one. Also the game does feel a bit too claustrophobic compared to other similar games.

Blaster Force 3000 is an enjoyable, albeit sometimes irritating, indie shooter. It’s pretty straightforward and most levels are bite-sized, so you can enjoy this game while playing it in short bursts. The shooter feels a bit stiff, but nothing too cumbersome. Upgrading to new weapons doesn’t really do anything. If you’re looking for something short to chew on, you can’t go wrong with Blaster Force 3000, especially at this price.