The shoot’em up represent one of the classic genres most loved by the most veteran players, a type of video game that has given its space to other approaches of the arcade action but that still occupy an irreplaceable space in the heart of many players that t
hey lived their golden age of the late 80’s and until the mid 90’s in the West, since in Japan they have never stopped occupying meritorious position
s in the sales rankings. One of its most emblematic representatives is Raiden , a saga that was born in 1990 from the hand of the missing Seibu Kaihatsu and who followed ahead years later in charge of Moss, company formed by excomponentes of the original study that never left its series shmup fetish.
After many years without a new numbered delivery, comes Raiden V: Director’s Cutto PC and PlayStation 4 , an improved version with more content than the original 2016 release for Xbox One. Let’s learn more about this definitive version of Raiden V in our analysis .
Bullet hell, yes, but with personality
The Raiden saga has always tried to stay true to its own style , taking advantage of a common base to the genre but devising not so extend
ed mechanics; and this fifth part is not the exception. Raiden V is a clear bet for the most direct and offensive shmup, rewarding the player who most quickly eliminates enemies once they make an appearance on the screen. M
aybe it is not the saga with more projectiles on screen, but we must be clear that the enemy units will appear everywhere, firing at our ship in a more direct and blatant than in other similar titles. To all this we must add a punctuation system more aggre
ssive than in other shmups; the faster we finish the rivals, the more points to our scoreboard with higher multipliers.
Director’s Cut: more and … better?
With Raiden V already as f
amous shmup in the Xbox One catalog, what improvements does this revision provide for PC and PS4? Actually it arrives with a good handful of news regarding the original title, starting with a fantastic addition, the local cooperative for two players . While it is true that Raiden V already had a kind of momentary assistance of a second player via onli
ne-a kind of invocation by energy bar to increase our firepower for a few seconds, now we can play with a friend elbow with elbow. This tran
slates into countless hours of fun if we have the right partner for this type of arcade action. On the other hand, this version of the director adds voices that will tell us a story of “white label”which will serve as an excuse to unleash our most frantic instincts.
The plot is somewhat cumbersome and does not help precisely the presence on screen of lines and lines of English text-of disheartening size-and v
oices also in English with cinematics merely testimonials made with the very engine of the game. This review is completed with exclusive new levels that go a little deeper into a script that takes us back to defend the Earth from its own arm
ies after an infection on a global scale at the hands of an enemy force. With three fighters at our disposal from three different nationalities -Azuma, Spirit of Dragon and Moulin Rouge from Japan, the United States and France, respectively -, we can find the ship
that best suits our abilities thanks to its variables in the form of resistance, speed and shot, with its main armament -which we can choose when starting our game- and secondary, in this case, typical of each combat fighter.
As usually happens in the genre in question, we can collect weapons and power-ups in full game after finishing our enemies ; in this case, and according to the moment when we eliminate certain rivals, we can collect three types of improvement and thus have the corresponding shooting mode, either “vulcan” type, laser or plasma, each with its own adva
ntages and disadvantages. It will be our decision to opt for one type or another depending on the situation and the type of rivals that we have before us, in addition to continuing to improve a specific type up to its maximum power after ten levels.
Raiden V bets for a quite peculiar interface; so much so, that the screen is divided into three distinct vertical sections . Thus, the widest and most prominent section is that of the video game itself where all the action takes place, respecting the very n
ature of classic shoot’em up. On both sides we have two information panels; one with the starting data as energy or health bars and weapons and another with information online and the story itself. The problem is that the interface is chaotic and at no time is pres
ented in a clear and concise, making it almost impossible to read in full game if we pretend to survive the constant storm of projectiles and explosions. In this sense, Raiden V presents another setback; and is thatthe similarity of our bullets and those of the rivals is too high , making it impossible on many occasions the differentiation between them.
The most demanding players will surely opt for a 1CC experience – that is, to overcome the game with a single credit – in order to achieve the highest scores and thus unlock the alternative paths of each phase, a feat only available to the most deman
ding players.skilled. Of course, along with the difficulty selector we will also have the opportunity to resort to infinite continuations, an option that will encourage the majority not to abandon the game after dying again and again in the first screens. At a visu
al level, he is committed to a three-dimensional look that is quite sober but effective thanks to a multitude of graphic effects; even
so, the austerity of certain models will not go unnoticed. The Director’s Cut that concerns us adds some other visual improvement and native 1080p at all times. You will not miss the interesting Boss Rush mode with online leaderboards or an art gallery to unlock thanks to our advances.
The action intersperses sections at dizzying speeds with others more leisurely , in settings of the most disparate environment, from deserts to research facilities, through jungles, canyons or the same ocean, all with a remarkable sound section, especially
by a band sound with rock themes characteristic of the genre – the most seasoned will recognize the style at the moment – and endless sound effects with explosions and shots everywhere. A detail that will please collectors: the physical version for PlayStation 4 comes accompanied by a CD with the soundtrack of Raiden V.
