Twin-stick shooters have tried to differentiate themselves with expansive multiplayer options, innovative power-ups, and more. “Pulse: Fight the Night” doesn’t have any of that. So what does it have? Fog of war. And fog of war is awesome.
As anyone who’s played “Advance Wars” (among other games) knows, fog of war hides sections of the screen outside of your unit’s immediate field of vision. It improves games by constantly surprising the player, and by making unit positioning on screen more important. Fog of war in a dual-stick shooter is a natural idea, one that I’m surprised I haven’t seen before. I also like the fact that “Pulse: Fight the Night” has a maze-like feel as well which, paired with the fog of war, really offers some seat-of-the-pants gameplay.
Oh, and did I mention that the background pulses along with the music? Or that your field of vision with the fog of war gradually shrinks, with the only way to expand it being to shoot enemies? Well worth 80 Microsoft Points for its innovation.
Here’s what the developer (Six String Games) has to say about the game:
“Pulse: Fight the Night is a twin stick shooter with a twist: not only are you fighting hordes of enemies, but also the all encompassing darkness of the world! The arenas of Pulse are shrouded in darkness, and the only light you have is the ever shrinking light that comes from your ship. Only slaying enemies can push back the darkness so you can see to fight on! Includes 6 arenas and high scores.”
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