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[Philthy]

I wish people would kind of EXPAND on what they're posting. Every thread is "New screen shots of some game no one has ever heard of" and then just screen shots.

Post a few paragraphs about what the game is. Just trying to be a quickest poster of regurgitated news from some other blog is pretty shit.

 

[hulot]

So has anyone bought this yet?

 

[sprocket]

It looks really fun, similar to everyday shooter or SSDHD. I just wish somebody would make a gradius like game or top down shooter for psn.

its nothing like SSHD. Think super sprint controls with bad hit detection.

 

[Speevy]

I like it from what I've played.

 

[Speevy]

its nothing like SSHD. Think super sprint controls with bad hit detection.

wanna fight?

 

[sprocket]

wanna fight?

Ar eyou going ot spin around me in endless circles like the enemies in NOVASTRIKE?

 

[FlyinJ]

I like it from what I've played.

Does it play like Raid on Bungling Bay?

 

[TTP]

I like it from what I've played.

Me too. But WTF WHY DO DEVS KEEP USING TRIGGERS AS MAIN BUTTONS?!?!?!

R1 and L1 ARE THE MAIN SHOULDER BUTTONS!!!
You see those "1s" there? One. First. Main.

God I hate you.

 

[Jim]

its nothing like SSHD. Think super sprint controls with bad hit detection.

So Time Pilot? If so, SOLD!

 

[Speevy]

This is what respected Neogaf contributor Bootay has to say

Yeah, it's an objective based shooter - you're given quite a wide area to roam in, but are directed towards objectives. Theres a whole load of weapons to unlock and then upgrade, enemy ships drop parts needed to research weaponry. Gameplay seems like fairly simple attack/defend stuff so far, but it's pretty fun and has a nice overall feel.

These impressions are favorable and therefore better than sprocket's.

 

[Sykra]

Bought it, finished the 1st mission now, liking it so far.

 

[LJ11]

This game reminds my of the old EA Strike games for some reason. I'll check it out.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

This game reminds my of the old EA Strike games for some reason. I'll check it out.

YES. It also gives me a Time Pilot vibe. I will get this and Commando 3 when I get home. If you get Commando 3, let me know. It has 3-player online co-op!! I am trying to convince Mr. Bob to check it out as well.

 

[Cmagus]

I purchased it and it's ok nothing amazing so far.I find your constantly bombarded with bullets and when you get objectives to blow up structures you die fast if you get to close.Design wise it's alright water looks a little plastic like but the islands and stuff look decent for a top down shooter.

This is the first self published game and I believe its by a small team so I give them props definitely as a small developer myself but overall it's a little bland and there is plenty of free games like this online that are on the same level.Still good effort for the team and it's nice to see a new top down on the PSN.

6.5/10 for me

Pros
----------
-Challenging
-Decent design
-Decent Controls

Cons
---------
Kind of bland
Music (techno stuff but nothing that is catchy like alot of top downs)

 

[Kasreyn]

Bought it and i loose track of time playing it. Does that mean it's good? Probably.

 

[todahawk]

Bought it and i loose track of time playing it. Does that mean it's good? Probably.

sweet. always a good sign.

 

[noonche]

Me too. But WTF WHY DO DEVS KEEP USING TRIGGERS AS MAIN BUTTONS?!?!?!

R1 and L1 ARE THE MAIN SHOULDER BUTTONS!!!
You see those "1s" there? One. First. Main.

God I hate you.

This. The controls in this game are painfully bad. I can't stand to hold on the triggers for long. Also, the game is tedious and the enemy shots are difficult to see. I'd call it: crap.

 

[Kasreyn]

I started playing on Soldier because I don't like when I can finish a game the day i got it. I'm trying to beat stage 4 now and it's pretty damn hard. Maybe i should have started it on Recruit but now I can't go back :/

 

[UntoldDreams]

I've been playing this game.

Its quite good in concept. They missed some things in execution though.

By the way I've been posting to the devs on the playstation Blog with suggestions and they are responsively taking notes.

I mentioned about the control buttons and how people would prefer a "custom" setup.
The difficulty is quite old school though.

I really wish they take this into account because there's just a lot to like about this arcadey shooter.

 

[buffi]

I posted some impressions in the playstation store thread but I'll post it again here

Some impressions of Novastrike:

It is a topdown shooter (duh), you control your direction with the left analogstick, shoot you primary weapon (targets air) with R2, secondary weapon (targets ground) with L2, toggles weapons with R1 and R2. X is afterburner boost in your current direction. Unlike blast factor/ssdhd/everyday shooter you can only shoot in you current direction.

When killing enemies they might drop upgrade kits for your weapons which makes them better/unlocks new weapons.

Game is mission based and you have a set of objectives to carry out such as "blow up that base", "protect that base" and so on.

The game is pretty hard and I died at the first level playing the middle difficulty but I pretty much fucked up my last life by doing an accidental kamikaze attack into a large ship... Levels are pretty long with multiple objectives btw.

There are three difficulties. The easiest ones gives you 4 extra lives per level, the middle one 2 extra lives and the hardest no extra lives.

Graphics are nothing special. Sound is quite good. No multiplayer as far as I could see.

So far it seems ok, but it's a lot worse than blast factor/everyday shooter/SSDHD so purchase them first. I'd give it a 6/10 from my first 30 minutes of playing, but it might get better. This is just some first impressions

I'd like to change my grade to 4/10 now that I've spent some more time with it. It's rather bad. The controls aren't very nice (especially bombing ground targets), the graphics are somewhat nasty at places and it feels a bit like a cheap PC-game.

Purchase something else instead.

 

[Raistlin]

Game rather sucks. Not worth $10 .. maybe $3 ... maybe

Really? I'm rather enjoying it ... though HOLY SHIT! My shooter skills have gone down the tubes since the my Genesis/MegaDrive and TurboDuo/PC-Engine days 0_0

This game is pretty damn tough.

its nothing like SSHD. Think super sprint controls with bad hit detection.

Bad hit detection? Huh?

Aiming can be a bit difficult at times, but how is the hit detection bad?

 

[Raistlin]

I certainly wouldn't call the game perfect, but the tactical nature of its strike&retreat gameplay definitely gives it a different feel than many of the other available shooters.

 

[UntoldDreams]

I like the concept of this game quite a bit though. I'm having fun with it to the extent that I can pass the levels. I'm deciding between the frustrating points and the fun points and deciding how much they counter each other.

Good Points:
*) Mission based Arcade shooter with a small ship top down style
*) Limited shields so that you can make a mistake and take a hit yet regenerate if you can evade the enemy (which can be tricky but do-able)
*) Armor... If the shields are depleted you can take some damage without dying immediately
*) Multiple weapons to take on different types of enemies. Capital ships require heavy missiles versus the standard machine gun for smaller enemies
*) Afterburner Boost: Its really half the game being a maneuverable little ship. Mastering boost determines how well you can swoop in and out of an attack run.
*) Bombing at first seemed annoying, but after realizing that Boosting into attack runs and then boost evading was the gameplay I enjoyed it.

Their misses though are:
*) Old school difficult only appeals to people with a high skill level at shooters
*) Mandatory control layout. They should allow you to map the buttons to your choice.
*) The mechanics are a bit complex due to some unclear design decisions on weapon selection and controls. Omnicannon is cool but I need a third THUMB...
*) Friendly Fire... They should really make it so Friendly Fire doesn't punish you so much or kill your allies so easily.
*) Micromanagement of weapon selection detracts from the action. It should be simplified.

Overall I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10 but you have to have some pretty good ninja twitch shooting skills.

Since the Developers are actively taking notes I think they will update it. If they can address some of the criticism I think this could easily hit 7 or 7.5 score. (quite possibly 8)

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

looks kind of fun

Me too. But WTF WHY DO DEVS KEEP USING TRIGGERS AS MAIN BUTTONS?!?!?!

R1 and L1 ARE THE MAIN SHOULDER BUTTONS!!!
You see those "1s" there? One. First. Main.

God I hate you.

is this a PS3 exclusive? if not, they might be just using the mapping from a 360 controller?

 

[Torgo]

looks kind of fun



is this a PS3 exclusive? if not, they might be just using the mapping from a 360 controller?

According to a recent interview, it's a PS3 exclusive, and I don't think that it's "timed."

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

According to a recent interview, it's a PS3 exclusive, and I don't think that it's "timed."

thanks!

 

[GeoramA]

Goddamn this game is tough, but I'm liking it a lot. The mission-based gameplay is so much better than all the on-rails shit that's out there.

 

[UntoldDreams]

The stuff they got right is really GOOD though.
I'm doubly impressed that its a small independent developer who made the game.


=====MY GAME STRATEGY

*) Bombing an enemy base

The bomb shredder wasn't doing it for me unless its upgraded. On any island the first thing I try to get rid of is either the Missile Launcher or the Launch Bay "tie fighter generator".

Missile Launchers have to go because the missiles do way too much damage. I usually equip the heavy bomb and boost out of range, check my shielding, then boost in for a bomb drop. If I'm lucky I can hit two targets before I have to BOOST away to safety due to missiles. If shielding is low I have to fly around until it regenerates.

It sucks when you only have the shredder since it does little damage and you are stuck flying around doing the "shredding" rather than boosting in and out.

*) Air Combat
So far the best weapon really is the standard machine gun since you can spray in every direction and there are just a TON of enemies (those little gnat like tie fighters).

The machine gun + omnicannon do enough damage so that I usually use it as a standard weapon. Its annoying having to point the omnicannon around so I usually just shoot forward.

Switching weapons is a PAIN though. Ergo, I usually just use the heavy air to air missiles and such on enemy CAPITAL ships. Those capital ship battles are INTENSE. Those things are HUGE compared to our little Scythe.

*) Escort Cargo Ships

For me the strategy was pretty clear. You have to avoid shooting your own ships since you can kill them off WAY too easily.

I found that ignoring the little ships and going after the blatantly STRONG enemies works fine. As long as I didn't shoot my own ships, and the strong enemies are chased away/killed... The cargo ships can take the beating and survive.

Its pretty tricky to shoot at enemies when in the middle of the Cargo ships but sometimes its necessary to chase an enemy aircraft away.


*) Defend a base
I usually just boost to the highlighted "Red Arrow" enemy. I meet him nearly head on and use the Machine Gun + Omnicannon. By meeting them early they seem to lose focus on firing any missiles at the base.

I tend to let the base defenses duke it out with any smaller guys running around. I always focus on the highlighted enemy.

 

[Speevy]

good grief guys, harsh

 

[UntoldDreams]

Kevin McCann from Tiki Games the maker of Novastrike has said he'll "drop by" NeoGAF to read up on comments about Novastrike! Awesome!

Okay Gaf... We like to share our opinions. Here's our chance to help out a small independent developer by providing helpful input.

Also... Buy the game people. Its a good game and it can be made great with the right suggestions. Support these guys they deserve it!

DO IT!

Plus... I was just playing it again. Now that I'm getting better at the controls I could up this to a 7. Its a good game that just needs some tweaks to make it more accessible to different people.

 

[Speevy]

Well I hope they'll make more PSN games. I bought their first game and I'll get their second one.

 

[Froschi]

I read the title as Novastorm at first . I liked that game.

Me too. Fuck. I was only about to jump and scream like I just don't care.

 

[chubigans]

To the Novastrike team:

First off, congrats. This game is pretty fun and I wish you the best of luck in future projects. Someday I hope to be where you are now (makin' indie games for consoles), so consider me a customer for life.

Secondly, as far as game tweaks? I'd love it if the secondary fire gun (that fires into the ground) had some kind of reticule...in fact, that goes for all the guns. It's too hard to see if you're lined up properly before it's too late.

Lastly, I wish there was another level of easy difficulty with infinite lives. Because of the objective-based nature of the game, it would still prove to be a challenge.

So, thanks Tiki and I hope Novastrike does well!

 

[Bearillusion]

Also... Buy the game people. Its a good game and it can be made great with the right suggestions. Support these guys they deserve it!

Hopefully they address the issues people are having with it. If they do that then I'll think about buying it. Not before.

 

[Bearillusion]

3.5 at IGN. Ouch.

 

[TTP]

3.5 at IGN. Ouch.

Can't say I disagree.

 

[noonche]

3.5 at IGN. Ouch.

That's about what I'd give it.

 

[borsdy]

What did the IGN review say?

 

[Big-E]

Game is perfectly fine. A 3.5 this is not. Just finished the game on the easiest setting and I enjoyed it. To give it a 3.5 suggests its a garbage game which it isn't.

 

[BobJustBob]

What did the IGN review say?

Paraphrased: "This game doesn't have a big budget, so we give it a low score."

 

[imperium]

A 3.5 seems overly harsh, at its core it's a fun but flawed game..

A few things I'd like to see changed:

Remove or give the option of turning off friendly fire. It adds nothing to the game play other than making a fairly tough game even tougher. It's really annoying to have to worry about destroying your own buildings when you trying to target a swarm of annoying gnat fighters.

Allow the controls to be remapped or at the very least allow the user to toggle the R1/L1 and R2/L2 functions. R1/L1 seem to be the more natural choice for fire but since I recently received the Messiah trigger grips, I find R2/L2 to be the most comfortable option. On a side note, I love the trigger grips, I'd highly recommend them. But the metal piece they include with them is more worthless than an abstinence pamphlet at a whore house.

My biggest gripe is probably with the weapon cycling method. Pressing R1/L1 to cycle through 4 weapons each works, but the game is pretty hectic and I often find myself accidentally selecting a useless weapon in my given situation, which almost always leads to my death.

A better method IMO would be hold L1/R1 to bring up a weapon selection wheel, with each weapon mapped to one of the four primary directions on the D pad . I'd also hot key the default weapons to the click down function on the two analog sticks.

I think these are reasonable fixes that could be done with a patch and honestly, it would make me more likely to buy their next game. As is I like the game but it lacks the polish to be the digital crack that is SSHD.

 

[TTP]

A 3.5 seems overly harsh, at its core it's a fun but flawed game..

A few things I'd like to see changed:

Remove or give the option of turning off friendly fire. It adds nothing to the game play other than making a fairly tough game even tougher. It's really annoying to have to worry about destroying your own buildings when you trying to target a swarm of annoying gnat fighters.

Allow the controls to be remapped or at the very least allow the user to toggle the R1/L1 and R2/L2 functions. R1/L1 seem to be the more natural choice for fire but since I recently received the Messiah trigger grips, I find R2/L2 to be the most comfortable option. On a side note, I love the trigger grips, I'd highly recommend them. But the metal piece they include with them is more worthless than an abstinence pamphlet at a whore house.

My biggest gripe is probably with the weapon cycling method. Pressing R1/L1 to cycle through 4 weapons each works, but the game is pretty hectic and I often find myself accidentally selecting a useless weapon in my given situation, which almost always leads to my death.

A better method IMO would be hold L1/R1 to bring up a weapon selection wheel, with each weapon mapped to one of the four primary directions on the D pad . I'd also hot key the default weapons to the click down function on the two analog sticks.

I think these are reasonable fixes that could be done with a patch and honestly, it would make me more likely to buy their next game. As is I like the game but it lacks the polish to be the digital crack that is SSHD.

Agree with all the above. About the weapons tho, I dont think there is even the need for that many. One for air. One for ground. Both upgradable. And that's it.

Also, game lacks visual clarity. You don't ever realize you are getting hit at times. SSHD is like 100 time more chaotic but yet you never get lost in the mess. Work done on visual cues there is impressive.

 

[imperium]

Yeah I agree about the weapons. Most of them seem pretty specialized and/or underwhelming. Fewer weapons with better upgrade paths and a better wow factor would've been the route to take.. One of the things I love about SSHD is that any of the weapons can get you out of a tight spot, even if it's not the ideal one. Not the case here, pick the wrong weapon and you're toast.

I'd also like to see some non weapon upgrades thrown in. This game is so unabashedly old school that it should have upgrades like limited shield invincibility or fighters that flank your sides for added fire power for a limited time. It never aims for innovation so why not just go crazy with the power ups?

But unfortunately we're talking about wish list stuff that could be in a sequel or maybe DLC but I doubt we'll see any of this in a patch. I hope the game does well but honestly I think this game should have been priced at $4.99. It's not a bad game but it has a very nice shareware vibe, especially when you compare it to some of the other same price options on PSN.

 

[GrayFoxPL]

3.5 at IGN. Ouch.

Ign guys were always a bunch of pussies.

Playing the game is like eaitng raw meat - are you man enough to handle it?

I love it

 

[UntoldDreams]

Finally found time to beat this game! Its a nice arcade contrast to MGS4.

It was a lot of fun but I now tend to agree about the number of weapons being overkill. I'm not sure given the frenetic pacing whether we need quite so many weapons or at the least they should make weapon mapping more PRECISE. Weapon cycling is just annoying.

...But the thing is the mission variety is what adds nice flavor. Bombing, air to air combat against little guys, escort missions, enemy boss ships...

Its really quite cool. It just needs some tweaks to iron things out and it would be great.

 

[Dead Prince]

Did you download Novastrike? It's PSN's first self-published game from independent studio Tiki Games. The game got a rough start when it released a few weeks ago, but after listening to player feedback, the developers are going to adjust the game and make it even more accessible to the masses. The biggest complaint with the title appears to be the relentless difficulty: "These modes were meant to be along the lines of casual, normal, and hard difficulty. Based on responses we've seen so far it looks like we ended up with something more like hard, harder, and hardest. Umm, oops?"

A new update, planned for August, will not only rebalance the difficulty to make it feasible for mortals, it will also give fully customizable controls, a new fine-aim mode for weapons, and a larger player ship to make it easier to see the action. Most excitingly, PSN trophies will also be supported (with fifteen being added to the game).

Once these tweaks are done, the patch will be made available for all that purchased the game already. In addition, this newly updated version of Novastrike will be made available for European gamers as well. We're rooting for you, Tiki Games -- as an independent developer exclusively supporting PlayStation, we certainly commend your efforts.

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/25...nt-update-and-european-release-in-a/#comments

;o

 

[Speevy]

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/25...nt-update-and-european-release-in-a/#comments

;o

cool

 

[Kasreyn]

And some more of this.. I'm still on Khara (stage 4). Doing this as "soldier". Yepp, it's still hard. This will be one of those games I start up every time I want to feel beaten.

 

[Tiduz]

so, the patch will come within 2 weeks right? or did i miss a delay announcement.

 

[Firewire]

Did the update hit?

I like the game, but damn the ship is small and I need the customizable controls! Trophies would be a nice addition if its added!