Rrootage

If you’ve ever played a shoot ‘em up game and wanted to just kill the bosses without having to go through the whole level then this is the game for you.

rRootage is a game from Japan which features a selection of big things to destroy and there are a lot of things to destroy. Each one of the zones has about five enemies or “bosses” as I like to call them, because in any other game they would be. Anyway, each boss has two transformation stages which makes for an outstanding number of enemies to destroy and when coupled with the four modes of play this produces an astronomical number, which equals one thing – replayability and lots of it.

The graphics are a stylised glimpse into the future with sleek glowing enemies and a golden interface, the game is a treat to look at and with the actual enemies being, apparently, randomly generated there is seemingly infinite things to look at.

The game play is fun and will keep you hooked in with the incredible amount of levels and enemies to play. Needless to say, a fan of shooters will enjoy this game to no end. Highly recommended.

Looking at the screen shots of rRootage, I have to admit that, while there was a lot happening on the screen, it really didn't look like much. Playing it for a while, the only thing that kept me going was the endless boss variety. Tons of attack patterns to evade, constantly evolving game situations, and neat effects will draw you in for at least a little while, but rRootage has much more to offer than a simple romp through Galaga-land.

To start it off, the graphics are more than competent. The bullets split apart and spiral madly across the screen, rarely ever causing anything that resembles lag (Though you should note that I have a pretty beefy rig). And when it did occur, it was usually when one of the bosses disintegrated into a spinning mass of particle effects, and the slow-down gave it an almost cinematic quality. On lo-res, it's not quite so cool, but still enough to make you grin the first few times.

But the real wealth of the game comes in the form of the four very different gameplay modes. Normal mode is the standard shooter, and PSY mode has you grazing bullets with your green shield to fill a meter (and then unleash a super attack). GW mode is probably the best implemented, and gives you the ability to switch 'auras' to absorb certain bullet types and direct their power at your enemy. There is another mode, but I'll leave you to discover it for yourself.

Overall, rRootage is probably the greatest freeware arcade shooter I have ever played, with the exception of lockOn. The defining feature here is that you will never see the same boss twice. The gleaming yellow battleships are randomly generated, and each has its own method of attempting to eradicate you. Which also goes to say that you will never be attacked the same way twice. Gone are the days of the predictable bullets of Galaxian's aliens.

Easy to learn, yet difficult to master, rRootage deserves to blast its way into and occupy -at least for a short time- 4 megabytes on your hard drive. Download and play. Unless you dislike old-school blaster action with a modern twist, you won't be disappointed.

When I first downloaded this game, I was skeptical of its high rating. Now that I've played it, I think it was well earned.

Although the levels only consist of you fighting one massive boss-like arcade ship, you still get plenty of variety in the way it looks and shoots. Starting off fairly simple, with only occasional dodging necessary, this game quickly gets quite difficult. After playing a few levels, I tried the last one just for kicks, and didn't get past the first part (I still haven't managed to beat the 4th battleship). So far, I've gone about halfway through in two modes, and tried out the other two, although they don't appeal to me as much. One of the only things I didn't like was the main weapon, as it just doesn't seem right. They probably could have made it not follow perfectly in fron of your ship while your moving (like a ballistic weapon) or have it fire instantly (like a laser).

All in all though, this game is well-rounded, and if you're a fan of arcade-style, you should definitely try this one.

Rating:
Graphics-8
Sound-9
Gameplay-9.5
Overall-9

This game is really boring. There is nothing special in it.