Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: BE-A Walker
Developer: Tequilabyte Studio
Publisher: Sonka
Genre: Action, Shooter, Simulation, RPG
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: Feb. 28, 2020
Price: $9.99
BE-A Walker (it stands for “Bipedal Enhanced Assault Walker”) is a side-scrolling walker simulator game, where you control a mech that looks like an AT-ST walker from the Star Wars franchise and the main goal is to travel from one point to another while killing natives that try to kill you because you work for the invaders and they are protecting their home planet, Eldorado. Earth is dying, so the humans colonized a planet rich in natural resources, as humans do. Eldorado has a toxic atmosphere so your oxygen level inside the walker needs to be monitored along with the overall HP of the mech. It’s easier said than done, as controlling the walker can get unnecessarily complicated from the get go. The movement is quite clunky, and you have to press ZL for precise leg movements, especially when you want to step on the attacking natives to splat them dead, which is both horrifying and impressive at the same time. You can switch to auto mode at any time when there are no enemies around. Your ammo is also limited and takes a bit of time to reload. When you reach your destination, you get points (or credits… it’s not really specified) for completion, which you can then use to upgrade your walker. You can upgrade the armor, oxygen level, weapons, and other attributes of your walker. Then off to another mission for you.
The story of this game is very similar to that of the movie Avatar, which also stole its plot from Fern Gully and Dances with Wolves. So, yeah, the story of this game is not the best one. Truth be told, when I played the few minutes of the game, I thought that it was not very good, with the gameplay getting very repetitive fast. The gameplay indeed got repetitive very fast, but there is quite a good feeling of satisfaction having your walker upgraded and get more efficient in killing aliens. I guess it is just human nature to like killing others, and this game really highlights this well.
The game is divided into chapters, and chapters into missions. As you progress into the game and you successfully complete missions, you earn enough points to add upgrades and weapons to your mech walker, like tougher armor or better oxygen retention or new guns. The points you get depend on the difficulty of the mission you choose, plus you also have to first repair you mech before you buy upgrades, and repairs also cost points.
Of course, it’s not only you that gets upgrades. The natives also gradually become harder to beat, as they get improved weaponry of their own, like with spears and rocks making way to flaming projectiles and explosives. Making decisions on whether to stump on some of them or blasting them to smithereens or just continue walking past them as your oxygen and armor levels drop can get quite suspenseful.
Now, if killing aliens is not your thing you also has the choice of fighting FOR the natives. Now, this is another Avatar-inspired twist, and now it’s up to you to win the war for the little creatures. Where does your loyalty truly lie? To your own kind, or to the downtrodden?
Overall, BE-A Walker is a decent game and can be very enjoyable if you can look past its overly repetitive gameplay. Since it is on the Switch, you can play it in short play sessions anytime anywhere. It doesn’t look bad at all, and the cel-shaded art style is actually quite good. The music is also good, though not very memorable. Go give it a try if you like games like this, but there are much better indie games in the eShop, to be completely honest, but it also has a good price point, so you pretty much get what you pay for. Which is really not bad, but your mileage may vary.
REPLAY VALUE: Medium
PROS
- Decent and clean-looking art style
- Excellent walker animation and sound design
- Can get quite gory as the blood of the enemies you stomp on accumulates at your feet
- The walking animation is quite good, despite being a chore at times to control
- Has a good range of customization for armor, equipment, and weapon upgrades
- Very good use of HD Rumble
- Ideal to play in short play times in handheld mode
CONS
- Very repetitive gameplay; some missions do not involve killing enemies but they are far in between and they are not that interesting themselves
- Bland story
- Missions cannot be re-played
- No checkpoints between missions, so if you die at any point, you start again at the very beginning, which makes some of them very frustrating to play
- Lacks variety in enemy design
- Clunky controls
RATING: 3.5/5 sticks and stones vs. mechs and drones
No comments:
Post a Comment