Void Gore Review

Void Gore is a shoot’em up, a.k.a. shmup, with a unique twist. While most games of the same genre will typically have players go through level after level and surviving onslaught of enemies and bosses, Void Gore is a roguelite shmup where players need to survive short waves of enemies. You need to kill as many enemies as possible in order to get the highest score and earn coins.

When you first start the game, you have two lives. And as with any shmups, killed enemies will also drop additional power-ups such as increased firepower and additional lives/health. While you do have a default machinegun, you also have a shield that has a unique premise. Unlike shields in most games, this one doesn’t protect you from damage but acts as a bomb. When enemies or their projectiles are inside your shield, pressing B will detonate the bomb and destroy any enemy or projectile inside it.

As mentioned, killed enemies will drop coins that can be used once you’re game over in order to upgrade your ship. You can purchase upgrades to make your ship’s movement faster, increase damage from your weapon, and increase the area covered by your shield; among other upgrades. Interestingly enough, you can also purchase perks that will apply once during your next attempt at the game such as double coins or bonus.

The game looks fine in all of its pixelated glory. I could’ve seen this release as an original NES game. The color palette is dark tone as a whole and the enemy variety is decent at best. Most enemies have re-used throughout most waves referred to as Hell in the game. The soundtrack is a thing; it’s there for the game’s ambiance, but it’s easily forgettable; I just put the controller down I can’t properly remember any of it.

While I do appreciate the RNG-heavy gameplay, it does cause a few issues. The first being your weapons barely do any damage to smaller enemies for some reason. Whether you purchase upgrades or pick up dropped power-ups, medium-sized enemies are easier to kill than smaller ones. It’s also very repetitive; unlike traditional shmups, you will die quickly, often, and early. And given that the wave patterns change every time, you can’t memorize said patterns and it also has a clear lack of progression despite buying ship upgrades. Also sometimes enemies are hidden behind enemy projectiles causing unfair damage.

Void Gore is a challenging and unique take on the typical shmup genre. Despite its flaws and annoying quirks, longtime fans of the genre will revel in this new challenge as they try to survive as long as they can. However, given its roguelite nature, this might not be the best shmup to play in order to dive into the genre. While shmup is often synonymous with repetition, it’s never across short gaming experiences. If you enjoy shmup or roguelites, this game is for you.