Writings of Mass Deduction

Maybe being a ninja, and shooting waves of other ninjas isn’t your thing in a horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up. Maybe you prefer starships instead. If so, it doesn’t get much better than “Valkyrius” that charges the maximum current price tier ($4.99) and easily earns it, for three reasons:

1) excellent production values, that look (and especially sound!) as good as XBLA titles that cost twice as much, or more.

2) skill levels that significantly change the game, turning it from full-on bullet hell on one extreme, to something casually friendly on the other; seriously, why do more shmups not do this?

3) a unique hook

A unique hook always grabs my attention. In this case, the hook is warping. You can actually teleport your ship around the screen. You have a degree of control over how far it warps. It’s easy to do, too, with each of the four face buttons corresponding to a different direction you can warp.

It’s really good, and comes to us from “Firestorm X” which previously brought us “Abaddon”, “Abaddon Retribution”, “Chopper Storm”, all of which I was fond of.

Here’s what the publisher (Firestorm X) has to say about the game:

“Blast your way through swarms of enemies and hulking bosses in Valkyrius, the indie shoot-’em-up from Iridescent Games! Weave your way through curtains of enemy fire with the aid of your fighter’s teleportation power. Spend the points you earn on each run to customize your fighter. Features six stages, high score tables, unlockable medals and artwork, five difficulties, and two player co-op.”