Steel Ego

It’s almost a certainty at this point that shooters are not going anywhere, given their popularity with the crowds and the fact that they continue to evolve in terms of gameplay and graphics. However, gamers are aching for retro experiences as well, which is why 8-bit games are fairly popular nowadays too. Granted, it’s not easy to design an old-school game either.

Steel Ego is a top-down shooter with fast-paced gameplay mechanics and simple graphics, in which your goal is to kill enemies as quickly as possible and make sure you survive the ordeal. There are no groundbreaking ideas at work, and the overall experience could use a few fixes, but you can still have a lot of fun if you just want a bit of action.

The game allows you to choose from two characters, depending on your play style. Hence, you can either be a hardcore soldier and make use of a variety of weapons, or you can opt for a stealthier warrior that strikes silently and without warning. Regardless of what you choose, the levels are quite difficult to pass, especially if you are new to the genre.

The goal of each stage is to kill the required number of enemies, and obviously avoid getting killed yourself. You can also shoot a few nasty monsters while you are at it, as well as destroy crates in order to look for better weapons or a couple of upgrades. Each character has special abilities, such as less recoil when shooting, or faster movement speed.

As far as the graphics go, you should obviously not expect too much in this regard, but the retro style should go great with the overall atmosphere. The controls are snappy and responsive, as they should be in a fast-paced shooter that rewards speed and precision. Since you can use the mouse to aim, it should be fairly easy to get accustomed to the control scheme.

In the end, Steel Ego is obviously not on the same level with a triple-A production, but it packs quite the punch and it should provide you with a good time. Thus, it’s a neat experience as long as you are in the mood for some retro fun.