Booster Trooper
In this day and age indie games are rising in interest in the eyes of most gamers, but there is one problem: most of these games are puzzle based, and in fact action indie games are losing attention. And that is why I decided to buy Booster Trooper, a simple game where you are killing each other using some normal weapons, and some very cool futuristic weapons. Unsurprisingly though, the main feature is the use of the jet pack, which is pretty easy to control.
The game has no story at all, no basis for why you are fighting, and basically nothing else to do apart from the game modes, and amazingly this doesn’t mean that it’s boring. In truth, the fact that you can just play a game is brilliant, because it means you don’t have to go through a cut scene, instead you launch yourself straight in. The different game modes are: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and destroy the beacon. The most played mode is deathmatch, and you feel this is the mode the game was designed for.
The controls are pretty basic, with the simple WASD and the aiming and shooting with the mouse. However, it is not a first-person shooter, it's a zoomed out 2D side scroller. This makes for slightly more interesting gameplay, as you can’t just hide somewhere, as there is only one level to the game. The jetpack is also incredibly fun, and it adds a great element of skill to a game that you don't really need if it wasn't for the jetpack.
The servers on Booster Trooper have very few people on them, if not none. This means that instead you play against bots, or play with a friend with and against bots. These bots are surprisingly well done, but even as you start the game, you feel like you're amazing, because, compared to the normal difficulty bots, you are. It is fun being top of the league for some time, but this can get very dull. However, the game claws back some credit, as after playing the game on the same map for an hour, I switched to a different larger map, and found I was being beaten by the very same bots I was killing before. But, as I went back to the first map, I was once again winning. If I went back to the first map after a few weeks, I would feel like I did in the second map. Confused, but adapting and getting better after every kill.
However, as I look back at Booster Trooper, I feel like I had finished the game in two hours. And here’s the most important thing about Booster Trooper: it has no lasting gameplay beyond those first few hours. Of course, I can return to it later and maybe have the same feeling of enjoyment, but that is after a few weeks, and I am not sure I want to do that, what with the new games I’ll be playing
Booster Trooper is like having a puppy, it’s cool at first, but you soon realise that it isn’t all fun and games. You can return, but it still doesn’t have the same feel as when you first began. The price of Booster Trooper is a bit steep for an indie game - £4.00 on steam, though I got it for £1.60 in a Steam deal. In my opinion I would wait for another sale, but if you want to have a quick bit of fun with a cheap game, this is a good option. Also, when buying with steam, you get the achievements, of which there are 260, all of them are of the "kill this many enemies with this weapon", "stay alive for a certain amount of time" type. Lots of them are very easy to get at the start, with about four popping up on the screen at once, which gave me a sense of happiness, and a little buzz.
So, in a month from now, on the 12th of October, I will play Booster Trooper again, and see how much I enjoy playing the game again, so look out for that, if you liked this article and are interested in Booster Trooper.
My rating: 7.0: good old fashioned fun with simple controls, but not enough content to keep you playing longer than 2 hours in one go.
link - Booster Trooper (on Steam)