Rigid Force Redux review

Rigid Force Redux has players piloting a spacecraft against an onslaught of aliens in order to save the universe. Players will need to mix their offensive and defensive skills in order to overcome the waves of endless enemies, from small to gigantic. Your general Psye will provide support via your communication device.

Rigid Force Redux is a classic side-scrolling shoot’em up, or shmup, where players need to survive enemy onslaught across 6 different levels. In order to make it through, players can pick up a decent variety of power-ups and unique weapons. You can also have a ball in the front of your spaceship, à la R-Type, which will not only fire additional bullets but will also be able to shield you from enemy bullets. The shield-like add-on can be moved to the back of your ship, allowing you to fire bullets behind you to take out otherwise unreachable targets.

Along with the game’s story mode, players will be able to tackle an Arcade and Boss Rush modes. The game tries to be as approachable as possible by featuring multiple difficulty settings in order to tailor to newcomers and more experienced shmup players. The ship can take up to three hits before exploding giving players a chance to make up for a few missteps. Unfortunately, it’s still a shmup, so players can expect a spike in difficulty midway through the game. Lower difficulty levels will give an appropriate challenge to newcomers, but mid-way through the game, bosses can feel like insurmountable beasts which will require a bit of practice. Having to re-do a level after dying to a boss can be a deterrent for newcomers to the genre.

Enemy variety is definitely one of the game’s strongest aspect. Enemies vary from level to level and require players to have eyes everywhere on the screen as they can come from the front, back, skies, and ground. To keep players on their toes, they can also expect mid-level bosses and imposing end level bosses which will all require their own unique strategies to defeat.

Every downed enemy will spawn orbs which you can collect either by flying through them or by absorbing them. As you accumulate orbs, the meter at the bottom of the screen fills up; as long as there’s part of it filled, you can use a devastating attack by holding down the X button. Depending on the power-up you currently carry, the attack will vary. It’s pretty fun and very useful against bosses.

The game’s most frustrating feature is definitely the save/resume feature. You have to clear a level in order to be able to resume from it. It’s insanely frustrating having to re-do the same previous level over and over as you try to progress forward. This can potentially counter it’s approachable nature for newcomers. Imagine reaching the final mission in Call of Duty, dying and having to re-do the second to last mission over and over as you try to resume from the final mission. Non-sensical!

Rigid Force Redux looks great; it’s visually appealing and colorful; each level are uniquely designed and thankfully, it’s done in a way where enemies and enemy bullets are lost in the background. It features modern 3D graphics and is a visual homage to classic shumps. Sound-wise, the game’s soundtrack is a synthwave 80s soundtrack fitting the game really well. It’s upbeat and enticing. Feel free to experience it for yourself here.

Rigid Force Redux is a great addition to the shmup genre and a great way for newcomers to be introduced to the otherwise hardcore game style. Thanks to its save system, health system and fun power-ups, this game will appeal to all types of gamers. Despite a few difficulty inconsistencies, this is an overall great experience and a surprise gem that should not be missed.