Yes, sometimes they do come back. True, they do not always have a warm welcome. Games evolve and change very quickly, and what a decade ago caused some delight, today it may seem outdated and completely secondary. Fortunately, this is not the case.
In fact, a remake of this classic (seemingly) game appeared on Google Play almost a year ago. And, most likely, many have been familiar with this game for a long time. I myself am not the biggest fan of mobile games and only got to it the other day.
The genre of the game, a vertical scrolling shooter, evokes memories of the era of the first PCs and school computer science lessons. Once these games were extremely popular, but today they are afraid for a place in the sun in Google Play and AppStore.
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The main thing in such games is convenient control. The score often goes for a split second and the inconvenient interface will immediately reduce all the pleasure of the game to a minimum. Fortunately, Sky Force 2014 is fine with this. Our airplane shoots on its own, we just have to control its flight with a swipe and activate super-abilities, which we still have to buy first. Moreover, it is worth taking your finger off the screen, as the speed of the game slows down almost to a complete stop, which allows you to intercept the smartphone more comfortably or wipe your sweaty hands with a napkin without unnecessary haste.
The player's task is to fly to the end of the level and destroy the boss. In addition, scattered across the map are figures of 'own' people who have found themselves in enemy territory and who can be saved. To do this, you need to fly up to the little man and hover over him for a few seconds. It sounds elementary, but in fact, sometimes it is a lot of hassle. Fixed targets in Sky Force 2014 do not last long and our airplane is no exception.
Defeated enemies drop stars, which are the local currency, bonuses on the rate of fire (valid until the end of the level) and hearts that restore life. There are additional destructible objects on the map, in which there may also be something interesting. Sometimes, flying through the level, you will notice a map icon – unlike bonuses on the rate of fire, it will stay with you forever and give one or another bonus.
It should be noted that just passing the level is a minimum task. In an amicable way, you need to try to complete additional tasks – destroy 100% of the enemies, save all people, go through the entire level without ever receiving damage, and so on. After completing four tasks, the next difficulty will open at the level, at which the enemies 'bite' are already noticeably stronger, but more money also falls.
Between missions it is worth looking into the hangar – this is where we improve the technical characteristics of our flying car. First of all, you can pump the armor and damage of the main weapon. Then – add a few additional upgrades, such as cannons on the wings, a bomb magician or a magnet that helps to collect stars.
Improving any parameter requires not only local money, but also time. At first it is only a couple of minutes, but then the upgrade may take an hour. There are two options – either wait or spend an additional amount of local currency. Honestly, there is usually no sense in rushing – one improvement in the weather will not do it anyway, and you still need to save up for the next one. And no one bothers to do this while waiting for the upgrade.
It is worth saying a few words about the donation system here. If the possibility of a paid disabling of advertising does not raise any questions, then the possibility of buying in-game currency is an innovation that is already much more controversial. I am sure that there will be quite a few people who will immediately declare that there is no balance in the game and without financial investments it cannot be passed.
In fact, this is not the case. Donut here is a way to slightly 'cut' a long way, but not a magic wand. Yes, there is not enough money at first – that's just not trying to force players to spend real money, but the law of the genre. Such 'old-school' games, which may not be very clear to young players, are originally designed for repeated passage of the same levels. Gradually, the points of appearance and flight paths of enemies, the location of people, objects interfering with shooting and other features of the level are etched into the memory, and you begin to understand that success depends much more on an accurate calculation than on the speed of reaction and the power of the guns. 'Accidental' deaths on an unclear enemy rocket that appeared from somewhere or from a collision with an airplane that appeared from around the corner of the screen seem so only at the beginning – in practice, events at each level develop strictly according to notes, and the player's task is to learn how to be in time.
If in some modern Andry Birds level you can just pass and run on without looking, then the approach is radically different. Complete the level once – if you're very lucky, even on the first try. Then replay a couple more times to complete all additional objectives. Completed? Fine! Now the same thing, but on the next level of difficulty. And then – a couple more times, this time with absolutely brutal enemies.
At the same time, this game, with all the desire, can not be called hardcore. Especially if you remember most of the game of the past, where any careless movement led to the fact that you had to replay almost the entire game. Rather, it's just a different approach to creating levels that are initially designed to be replayed several times. And where the goal of the game is not just to go through the mission 'somehow', but to do it almost perfectly, destroying all enemies, saving all people and never getting hit by an enemy shot. Each level is like a chess puzzle, in which there is much less room for chances than it seems at first glance. Yes, you can just buy more “stars” and improve weapons and armor to the maximum and just “fly” the game from start to finish – but does that make much sense? You can just as well buy the outcome of a chess game, but it is unlikely to bring pleasure from the game.
The second point is the number of lives. Initially, there are only ten aircraft in the hangar and for each unsuccessful attempt to complete the level, one is taken away. The number of aircraft is replenished automatically, but the construction time is quite long – one aircraft per forty minutes. Of course, if all the planes are out, and you still want to play, then you can buy them for 'stars'. Which, again, pushes players to buy these very stars for real money. But in practice there is also an alternative – to get a new aircraft, it is enough to watch a forty-second commercial. Yes, and a dozen lives spent are usually quite enough to make you want to take a break from the game.
In general, in my opinion, the game turned out to be quite successful. The graphics are beautiful, the controls are convenient, donate does not bother much, the gameplay is addictive. And the difficulty was chosen quite well – on the one hand, there is a clear smack of the same hardcore that many players have missed. On the other hand, it’s just a smack, there’s no trace of the draconian complexity of 'old school' games, which is not very appropriate on mobile phones.
