Cross it, crack it, twitch, update it
In 2011, Sergey Ulasen (Kaspersky Lab computer) discovered STUXNET, a malicious worm spread through Microsoft Windows that hit Siemens’s industrial control systems.
STUXNET was defined as a dormant threat, the first malware discovered to spy on and compromise industrial systems, and the first that included a threat to the so-called PLCs, that is programmable logic controllers. From this premise, Broken Arms Games puts us in the role of the Atomine star virus , and does it in a setting that, it must be said, is immediately inspired by aesthetics and gaming mechanics.
In Atomine, which basically is a pretty classic twin-stick shooter, our virus can (as in reality) evolve and become ever stronger and versatile than the threats it will face from time to time.
By exploring the maps generated procedurally, from time to time you come across a station that allows you to gain a new boost and, at the same time, go to reprogram the weapons and the characteristics of the virus. You can unlock a variety of different bullets including lasers, missiles, electric beams, blaster, which can be programmed in turn with respect to the speed of fire, distance, and the ability to bounce on the walls.
There are a lot of collections to find, and once discovered some of these can also unlock a new version of the basic virus, which sometimes starts with more energy, more speed, or already equipped with an advanced bullet that would normally be found along the levels.
In this sense it must be said that Atomineit stands out from any other twin-stick shooter for this programmable software feel that it is able to give, even and above all thanks to all the aesthetic of contour that plays a not-for-profit role in production.
Code strings scattered wherever they go through the idea of hacking coding, electronic music, a few colors and loads of acidity, always to give the technological feeling of green font and black screen very expensive to programmers. Enemies are likewise non-defined polygonal entities that appear to be out of a hacking scene of a 90s movie and, in this case, make a much better effect. Unstable Atomine Iterations
it has to be dealt with strictly with a gamepad because it immediately puts the player in the condition of never breathing again, and this is his biggest problem. It is a challenging challenge in such titles, but Atomine is more frustrating than passionate.
The main clutter is its roguelic structure coupled with the casualness of the levels. We find ourselves too often in overwhelming situations where, in order to survive, we need to go far beyond good reflections and vision. It happens to be found in long corridors with dozens of enemies hidden from the camera, thus coming to see them only when they have been flooded with their bullets.
Or in spacious rooms without shelter, where you are surrounded by myriads of enemies ready to shoot the impossible. These are not fortunately the majority of the cases, but they are not so small that they can be confined to their exclusivity. It does not even help the energy, which remains the same from level to level and is rarely left by defeated enemies.
In this sense, they help the boosts that double the energy or increase the percentage of release of the same by the enemies, as well as the bonus that slows down the enemy’s bullets (to say nothing basic), but being totally entrusted with the case we find ourselves repeat the game over and over again in the hopes of finding the right combination, between bullets and bonuses, to continue without falling into despair.
