This month, Namco will release a makeover of the classic game Galaga, called Galaga Legions. And what was never really an amazing concept in the original, fails to push the bar in any meaningful direction in Legions. Some stupid things that bothered me right away:
- A mandatory tutorial – seriously?
- Inconsistent and ineffective visual style
- Clunky/cheesy interface
put your right foot in, take your right foot out
After this initial setback, I did enjoy some of the new features. In Legions you now carry two turrets which you lay down with the right analog stick either parallel or perpendicular to your ship and which will fire whenever your ship does. The other big gameplay addition is a ‘preview’ of your enemies trajectory which is rendered with a simple path. This simple addition, combined with the satellites actually gives the player good opportunities to develop a strategy. As the waves get more difficult, your satellite placement becomes more and more important to survival.
Despite some these new features, Galaga Legions is just mediocre. The game lacks any enticing rewards or challenge, the result? Boredom. I think Namco’s biggest mistake with Legions was not studying the strengths and weaknesses of Geometry Wars. At least Bizarre Creations was taking notes and we can all play Geometry Wars 2 instead.
Related Links:
Galaga, Levels 1-9 [YouTube]