The thing about Indie games is that they allow a developer to create whatever they want. The only restriction they have is their own imagination whereas bigger developers are constantly under pressure from larger figure heads. In the case of Don't Die Mr Robot though I feel that the developer's imagination may have got a little bit out of hand.
In the face of it Don't Die Mr Robot is a puzzle game which requires some precise thinking. The tutorial is rather vague but it does the job it needs to do. It shows you the three fundamental objectives; avoid the enemies , collect fruit and most importantly Don't Die! Very easy on paper and straightforward in the tutorial but once you get into the main game to difficulty dial is turned up rather quickly.
You control a little square robot in what seems to be an infinite flat world that is filled with hostile robots. The only way in which you can destroy the robots is by collecting fruit which randomly appear in the world. Upon collecting them they send out a wave which destroy the enemies. If a fruit hits another fruit that to generates a wave which increase a score multiplier.
Again this sounds very straight forward but it really is not. You see the different robots have different movement paths. Some move diagonally, sone horizontally, some in a wave pattern and some even fire lasers across the playing zone. All these different types of robots can potentially be on the screen at the same time so it feels like an old 16 bit game where you spend most of your time dodging danger! I cannot complain too much about the difficulty as it is suppose to be challenging but other than being hard there is not much else to do. It is a game that you play in very short bursts, perhaps when you are waiting for something or someone. At the start you may find it rather difficult but the more and more time you put into the title, the more skilled you become. You will find yourself dodging and collect fruit like it was second nature.
For a simple game it does boast a few modes to keep you busy though. The main mode is called Remix- here you have to complete certain challenges to earn medals that allow you to progress to further levels. Challenges range from collecting certain fruits to surviving without any fruits. Again, simple on paper but it can get very hard. There is an arcade mode which is endless and the main goal of this mode is to score big so you can mark your place on the global leader boards. Time mode is another way in which you can play - this is a great mode for players that only have a short period of time to play. How short - 2 minutes 30 seconds. The difficulty has been slightly tweaked in this mode resulting in more challenging gameplay. Finally you have the Chill Out mode - the game moves at a lot slower pace and is really meant for a wind down session.
It is a perfect contender to show that the Vita is starting to compete with mobile phone gaming but not the best example of what the device can offer. Do not get me wrong, the game can be fun and very challenging but for me it is not leaving a lasting impression. You may find something here that you find hard to put down but for me it sits as a title that I will only play now and again.
6/10
Who Should Play This?
- Fans of Retro feeling games
- Any gamer looking for a good time killer
- Gamers looking for a serious challenge
Who Should NOT Play This?
- Gamers looking for more than a mobile game
- Hates a serious challange
- Players looking for high quality graphics
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