Cosmic Combat

There are certain video game subgenres that didn’t quite make it over the decades, even if others prospered and managed to remain relevant to this day. Shoot ‘em ups are not quite dead yet, but they are obviously not what they used to be years ago, even if the genre is still pretty popular in Asia. Thus, big studios are certainly not interested in it, which means that indie developers are the only ones trying to keep the tradition alive.

Cosmic Combat is a retro shoot ‘em up in which your goal is to make it as far as possible while destroying enemies and getting stronger with every passing moment. The graphics and the actual gameplay mechanics are not impressive at all, but the thrill is there, and it may just keep you busy for some time if you enjoy retro shooters and have nothing against pixelated graphics.

The simplicity of the game is obvious from the first few seconds, because you don't have to do anything but press a key in order to start playing right away. There are no choices to be made and no intricate story to clutter your mind, just a black background with hordes of enemies coming toward you. Shooting them is the only way to advance, so it should be a no-brainer for everyone, regardless of any previous experience with the genre.

To keep you from getting bored, the game provides you with a variety of power-ups that drop from the enemies you manage to destroy. These allow you to increase the damage and spread of your weapon, making it easier to deal with multiple hostiles at once. Every now and again a slightly tougher enemy makes an appearance as well, which is basically a boss fight that puts your skills to the test.

As mentioned before, Cosmic Combat is not a looker, given the fact that it barely features any background artwork. The only thing that changes about the background is that sometimes you pass over a planet or a star, which disappears rather quickly anyway. Other than that, the only slightly dynamic visual elements are the weapon effects, which evolve as you manage to upgrade your guns.

Even if Cosmic Combat is not revolutionary in any way, it’s a classic shoot ‘em up that does exactly what it’s supposed to do, which is to challenge your reflexes and your hand-to-eye coordination. Hence, the fans of the genre should feel right at home from the first minutes of gameplay.