For those that are regular readers to our hallowed pages here in the VideogameUK universe, you will know that the Final Prototype main game was extremely well received by us, scoring a 9 out of 10 at the time, so there is no excuse for you to be reading this and not have your hands on it. We’ve been following the people at SideQuest Studios as their quest for world shoot-em-up domination runs along at an alarming pace.
As if the 7 worlds, challenges too numerous to mention and a difficulty level that makes open heart surgery look like the equivalent of drinking through a straw weren‘t enough, they only decide to add another 3 stages and 13 challenges to the mix; and also the extra hard difficulty level, named Massive Attack (not to be confused with the classic dance band from the 90’s).
It’s always nice to get extra stuff for a downloadable title, especially when the original is of a high quality, not to mention the fact that the low price tag for this expansion really whets the appetite at £3.99 (or $5 in US currency). The three levels are very reminiscent of the old school feel we have come to get used to from Soldner, but there are some rather nice surprises thrown in too.
The first of those three levels has you in typical R-Type style as your ship tries hard to negotiate the almost limitless amount of enemies as they hurtle towards you in a way that can only be described (for all of us normal players anyway) as chaotic. The Zephyr Station has that typical sh’mup feel of bullet spewing sci-fi gaming, perhaps more so than the other two levels. It’s a nice way to get things kicking off for the Last Chapter’s story, as you hurtle towards your encounter with the evil D’Aarg overlord at the end of it all, although in my own personal case it just feels a little strange when you’re missing the 7th stage because you’re not good enough and moving on because I haven’t seen the original ending yet.
As you now expect with the Soldner X series, the visuals are really impressive. And the feeling of being back in the arcades again, after being away from the game for as long, was extremely powerful and I was not expecting that to be the case. But I’m certainly not complaining. All of your usual power ups and chain combos are there (if you’re good enough to make them work for you, seeing as how my grades looked like I needed to stay back for about a decade) and veterans of the series will no doubt feel right at home.
The enemies are always fun to watch and destroy, as well as some quite quirky bosses. The first stage has your typical big robot style foe at the end and it is nice to be able to get stuck in, but you always know that in the back of your mind you have to keep the chains going and watch out for secret keys and so on.
My favourite part of the expansion is undoubtedly the second new stage, which really does lend itself greatly to the third level of the original R-Type, as in it you’re encompassing an almightily huge ship and trying to destroy as much as possible. The only difference this time is that there is a boss at the end of it, but that attention to its roots is what really makes this series stand out as much as it does in the genre. I’m not going to tell you all about the final part because you need to have something fresh to look at without me spoiling it, but what I will say is that it’s very colourful. If you think a cross between Gradius and Columns you get a rough idea, and has a great finish to it (once you get there you’ll see what I mean).
This genre as a whole, as much as this game to be honest, has always had a reputation for being hard, but I have to say that this expansion does feel a little more lenient than the others. I did have to use a credit to carry on I admit, but compared to the almost unforgiving difficulty incorporated into the main game, then you start to think that you can get through the whole lot reasonably well due to your performance on the Last Chapter. The challenges are just as mind boggling as they were before, with one involving getting through stage 8 (the first of the DLC) for two and a half minutes without losing any health. I have more chance of doing the Zumba on Strictly Come Dancing.
You could never really complain about what would be on offer in terms of content, mainly because the price of it all is very reasonable, considering most people have paid nearly twelve pounds in the past for 3 multiplayer maps here or there, so to get three fresh stages, many challenges and a whole new ending is a really nice offer and one which I think people should do with immediate effect. There may well be a full pack with the expansion and main game, as this is what usually happens, but why wait when the combined total for all of this old school love and affection is not too shabby.
Any DLC that makes you not only want to play the fresh stuff, but relights the pang for what you had to start with deserves praise and Soldner X2’s new add-on most certainly gets it. I’m all for neo retro games and this has been in my firm favourite list for a while now. It still is a great little shooter for the money and has a difficulty level that’s harder than Chuck Norris’ maths exam, but that is its appeal. I now have a belief that this three lettered abbreviation we use for extra things in gaming has a whole new meaning….: DAMN LOVELY CONTENT!!!!
VideogameUK verdict: 8.5/10
