I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game (XBLIG) every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and are not well represented in the top 50 lists on the Xbox Dashboard. Today is day #351, and today’s game is “The Last Pod Fighter”.
“The Last Pod Fighter” is another student-created game, like “Minions!”, “Mr. Gravity”, and “Inertia!”. “The Last Pod Fighter” has real strengths and is definitely worth 80 Microsoft Points for anyone interested in space combat.
First, from the developer (Fighter9):
“Fight your way through waves of ships in this 3D arcade style space shooter! Use your laser blasters and specialized weapons called “Pods” to destroy your enemies. The Pods’ effects range from giving your ship a speed boost to creating a gravity well to suck in your enemies. Rack up the points in Survival or play through Arcade mode where you’ll fight your way through to face the capital ships!”
The game’s very polished, with strong graphics, tight controls, and challenging gameplay that forces you to react to what your enemy does. Each wave of enemies has you fighting off growing numbers of fighters that are attempting to pave the way for a capital ship to arrive and destroy you. If you haven’t taken out all the fighters by the time the capital ship arrive then you may have a problem on your hands, as you’re forced to divide your attention between them. This gives the game real life, and the game’s intuitive (at least for me) system of choosing what enemy you want to be locked on to becomes crucial in these moments. Interestingly, the game tells you at all times how long until the capital ship arrives (perhaps you have it on long-range sensors), so planning for its arrival is key to coming up with a successful strategy.
“The Last Pod Fighter” doesn’t have every feature I wish it had, and there’s room for an update or a sequel to expand on the game, but what the developers did implement works well and is very enjoyable. It’s inconceivable to me that fans of space combat games won’t get the cost of admission out of it, and that leaves it highly recommended.
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