Considering that first experience with Milkstone Studios was the wretched Avatar Ninja, the videogame equivalent of clamping your hands in a vice, I didn’t exactly have the loftiest of expectations for Infinity Danger. So, I was delightfully surprised to discover that Infinity Danger is not only a pretty flashy looking twin-stick shooter, but it’s actually a pretty darned fun one as well.
The premise is to destroy as many increasingly complex mechanical bosses as possible before time expires, which really gave the game a fun arcade feeling. Destroying a boss yields a time bonus, while dying is accompanied by a penalty. The first few bosses had the defenses of a marshmallow and would have self-destructed had I just hurled verbal slanders at them, but as the opposing ships blossomed into metallic networks of rocket launchers and lasers, I realized it was best that I swallow my tongue and and get serious.
Each boss is comprised of a central blue orb that is surrounded by additional pieces and various firearms. The mammoth constructions are very modular and kind of feel as though were constructed from Legos or some other kind of building blocks. A heat-seaking missle here, a few lasers cannons there, and voila! It’s pretty easy to blow off the chunks one-by-one to expose the juicy bueberry core, but doing so wastes tons of precious time and points. The challenging, and thus exciting aspect of the game is destroying the pieces that link various parts to the central hub to decimate vast sections more quickly. Of course those pesky conjunctive pieces always seem to have the most armor, so sitting out in the open to fire away at them leaves you quite vulnerable to the kajillion or so defensive weapons.
Since there’s no story to speak of, the main motiviating factor to keep playing is to accumulate as many points as possible, which is made far more enjoyable by the exceptionally well implemented leaderboard system. There is a countdown in the corner of the screen that constantly reminds you how you stack up compared to the rest of the world, and it was incredibly satisfying watching the number dwindle as I advanced through the levels. The ubiquitous leaderboard made it ever-aparent how I was progressing as a player, and provided the requisite prod in the butt to keep going when I was embarrassed by my intial scores.
My only real gripe from the game is that while the enemies continue to evolve and improve as the game progresses, your ship is stuck with its dinky spread shot for the entire game. There aren’t even bombs or any of ther kind of special moves. A few power-ups or light RPG elements would have gone a long way towards making it a bit more capitivating.
But, it’s pretty hard to be too upset about the simplicity of a gorgeous and addictive $1 twin-stick shooter. Infinity Danger is a very fun game that is well worth checking out, especially if you have some buddies to challenge to a little friendly competition.
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Infinity Danger was provided for review by Milkstone Studios and is available for $1. Click here to download a free demo.
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