Polybius PS4 Review

Polybius is a shoot em ups game for PS4, which was developed and published by Llamasoft, as the game was created by Jeff Minter, who is known for his earlier work such as Tempest 2000 and the spiritual successor TxK. The game's title was taken from the original 1981 arcade game was also called Polybius which was a gaming urban legends in popular culture that inspires the fan-made game and of course the Llamasoft's 2017 game for PS4. Unlike the original game, the creator decided not to reproduce gameplay from the original arcade version, but instead this game was designed for a fast-paced 3D shooter gameplay which shares the elements from multiple other classic games such as Space Harrier and S.T.U.N. Runner was sounds different from the original game, but slightly better overall game in my opinion because this game is actually quite fun due to addicting gameplay, impressive visuals and cool game modes to play, so I wasn't feel regretting pick this game for my PS4 because I'm a fan of the Llamasoft's game titles such as Tempest 2000 and TxK.

So without go further do, lets start the review.



Presentation

As the game starts off with health and safety warnings on the screen to ensure the gamers to fully understand the concerns of the motion sickness before playing the game. The title on the screen has well designed fonts size, but it somewhat has creepy dark blue backgrounds with illusion effects which is looked kinda disturbing for shoot em ups title, but it's still looking cool. As the game starts, each of the level has different kinds of designs depending what level you're on. The beginning of the level has nice checker board mixed with blue and purple on the flat surface, while most of the later levels has cylinder shaped, U shaped, tunnel shaped and many different kinds of shapes are looking spectacular for level design choices. What really made the game looked insane is that where you collect the pills during the gameplay which causing the stages to change colours into random LSD effects which adds up the overall atmosphere of the game, wow talking about being on crack while playing this game. They have the weird random stuff on the levels are bunch of screaming cows, horns, space invaders like aliens, cubes, ships, shattering glass, flagpoles and etc. which adds ups the overall presentation very well done for this type of arcade shooter game.

Overall, it has well presenting levels, atmospheric and weird characters in the game.



Gameplay

This game features classic modes where you had to complete over more than 30 levels, so your goal is to race through the stages until you reached the end of the level. You take control of player's ship by using the left analogue stick to move from left and right side of the level and it has only one basic fire with no special weapons and upgrades, which made the game quite simple to play as you use the basic fire to shoot down the enemies in the level, but your ship will able to go faster by passing through the each horns or collecting the pills which increases the overall speeds of the ship's firing and acceleration. You also need to be careful by dodging the collisions objects and enemy's projectiles nearby before you're accidentally bumped onto the objects or got shot by enemy which causes to lose your shields, but your shields will increase after you beat each levels which is no problem. While your ship becomes faster, it gets really harder for players to evade the hazardous area due to overused collisions objects and enemy's projectiles unless you master at the game by practising it more, the easier it becomes which gives a player worth challenging to play. Talking about the challenge, some of the levels that increasing the fun factor of the game such as run past the flagholes in correct way, shooting all the fried eggs without any miss, complete each levels without damaging shields and make your ship fly in 50 seconds which rewards the player's in-game scores. The player's score can be added to online hi-scores to show the best players out of thousands for worldwide.

There are another two interesting game modes are featured in the game such as pure mode where you start off with first level, but unlike the classic mode which has level selection, you can't able to continue the level where you left off, so your goal is to complete all the levels as possible without losing all the shields and the other one are survival mode which is similar with pure mode, but without increasing the shields after beating the levels. These two modes are actually fun to play which gives a great arcade experience for players to enjoy. So far the game's controls are quite responsive when controlling the player's ship and I didn't have any issue with lags and delays which made the game so playable.

Overall, it has great controls, cool game modes and fast-paced stages.



Graphics

The graphics in the game are very old-skool looking which fits well in the whole game. It very like the Llamasoft's previous titles with cool 3D polygon shaped design for enemy's ships and collisions objects which is well built for classic style arcade titles. Most of the environments are very colourful for level designs choices due to magnificent checker boards on flat surfaces and unique 3D shapes giving a 80's style look of the game and the special effects are very well done with the use of LSD effects and illusion animations. The game was also has Playstation VR compatible which allows you to use VR headset to experience a virtual reality of this game with the use of VR effects that made the whole game looked awesome. If you don't have a Playstation VR, the second options are 3D glasses which is also cool, but I think you should stick with the VR version, if you have one already. 

Overall, it has cool 3D polygon design, colourful environments and impressive special effects.



Music and Sounds

Most of the original soundtrack was made by several of Llamasoft's musicians such as Peter Duggal, Gareth Noyce, Rodger Poker and others. It sounds similar with the previous game such as TxK that uses the early 2000's trance music style which is acceptable for this type of game, but I felt it's not quite entertaining as the soundtrack from the tempest 2000 because I prefer the 90's techno style a lot better in comparison with this original soundtrack, but still it's sounds pretty decent overall. I also liked the song from the music videos called "Less Than" was composed by industrial rock bands Nine Inch Nails which featuring woman playing Polybius.

The game has retro styled sound effects which borrows the elements from the classics Midway's and Taito's arcade titles such as defender and space invaders which are the best part of the game that uses the same sound effects from the olden days gaming. 

Overall, it has decent soundtrack and awesome sound effects.



Special Features

This game featuring two playable game modes, online leaderboards, and trophy supports, but no unlockables features.



Advantages

Well made presentation

Fast-paced gameplay

Cool game modes

Old-Skool Graphics

Decent soundtrack

Retro style sound effects


Disadvantages

Overused collisions objects

Punishing difficulty

Lack of local 2-player modes

No unlockables features




Final Verdict


Presentation 8/10 - Well presenting levels, atmospheric and weird characters.

Gameplay 8/10 - Great controls, cool game modes and fast-paced stages. 

Graphics 8/10 - Cool 3D polygon design, colourful environments and impressive special effects.

Music and Sounds 7.5/10 - Decent soundtrack and awesome sound effects.

Special Features 7/10 - Two playable game modes, online leaderboards, and trophy supports, but no unlockables features.


Overall 8/10 - Polybius is a excellent shoot em ups title for PS4. You'll be amazed with this game that blows your mind with fast paced gameplay, insane special effects and cool game modes because it's challenging, it's entertaining and it's very addicting to play. If you're into with Llamasoft's past titles or type of game like this, then you should download this game from PS Store. I definitely going to look forward seeing the Tempest 2000's sequels in the future is gonna be sounds kick ass.




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