Circuit Breakers Demo

Twin-stick shooters are a relic of the past nowadays, or so it would seem, given the fact that most of them are designed using retro graphics as well. However, the concept is solid enough to work in modern video games too, depending on how efficiently the developers manage to integrate the mechanics in a three-dimensional environment.

Circuit Breakers is a retro shoot ‘em up in which your only goal is to shoot as many robots as you can and survive level after level of punishment. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn’t evolve that much as you manage to pass the levels, which means that you might get bored quite quickly, which is not good news in the genre. On the other hand, there’s a co-op mode included as well, so that might get you to stick around for a while longer.

You start each stage in the middle of the room, and you have to watch out for enemies from every direction. They come in greater numbers the longer you manage to survive, not to mention the fact that they also get stronger and more difficult to kill. Unfortunately, your character cannot maintain his level as you progress through the game, which means that you start every round from nothing.

In order to get stronger, you have to collect the energy dropped by the enemies you manage to put down, but that requires you to constantly be on the move. Thus, by leveling up you are unlocking stronger and faster weapons, not to mention the fact that you also have a shield in your possession that allows you to absorb a few projectiles and push back any robots that get too close.

Finally, the co-op enables up to four players to face the robot hordes together, and there are multiple characters to choose from, each one of which comes with a different specialty. Thus, while one of them is great with a shotgun at short range, another makes use of rocket launchers to clear entire groups of enemies at once, albeit in a much slower and imprecise way.

When it’s all said and done, Circuit Breakers is more than capable to keep you entertained for a few hours, but it falls short after that, because it lacks diversity. However, the fun can go on if you manage to find a few friends to enjoy it over the Internet.