It is, perhaps, a little alarming that the most notable launch title for the newly-released Playstation 4 is Resogun: an indie release from Housemarque, the studio that developed the PS3’s addictive asteroids-clone Super Stardust HD. Like Super Stardust HD, Resogun is extremely simplistic, yet also increasingly difficult. Its addictive qualities culminate in one of the few launch titles for the PS4 that will have players compulsively returning, over and over again.
In many ways, Resogun is an exemplary showcase of the power of the PS4. A plethora of voxels fill the environment when each enemy is destroyed by the ship, which players pilot, and an abundance of particle effects are displayed as massive amounts of numbers flood the screen. The goal is simple: maneuver through the barrage of bullets and debris, shooting anything that comes into sight until enough enemies have been decimated for the boss of each level to show up.
What makes Resogun slightly more engaging than its spiritual predecessor is that it adds the extra objective of trying to save all 10 humans in each mission. This is completely optional, and many will skip it because of how challenging the game can become later on, but saving a human will give the benefit of a weapon upgrade, extra bombs, more points, or even an extra life — all of which will come in handy on a very frequent basis.
The game also consists of online co-operative play, allowing users to play with each other to try and get through the unrelenting waves of enemies. The major complaint that Resogun warrants however, is that it does not have local co-op, which would have been great for those players who play together offline.
The game is also extremely short, with only five levels to enjoy, and the environments themselves are not extremely memorable. However, having had the game for a couple days now, it is the one title that I keep playing, despite having beaten it a couple of times already. Replaying it on different difficulties, with different ships, and also trying to save all the humans gives a longevity to the game that is welcoming and maybe a little destructive to one’s social life.
Resogun is so great that it actually makes the rest of the PS4’s line-up feel inferior in quality. While it may not be the graphic powerhouse of a game like Killzone: Shadow Fall or Battlefield 4, its gameplay is above and beyond those titles. After boosting through an onslaught of enemy ships and dealing incredulous amounts of damage with your overdrive — a fancy name for “laser” — addiction becomes an inevitable reality.
