I got a chance to try out the upcoming shooter on the PlayStation Vita called Project Root. This game is actually already available on Steam for $9.99, but, soon, you will be able to take it on the go! After all, I always wanted to take a giant ship and blow stuff up on the bus. There is not too much to the storyline; you are a group of rebels against an evil organization, so you go destroy things! I should also mention that this is a twin-stick shooter, which automatically catches my attention. The main menu and just the menus in general I found to be very bland, at least in this build. What bothers me most about the menus is that certain options are only accessible with the touchscreen while the rest can be selected with the D-pad and buttons. That felt very inconsistent, and I hope they fix that when the game actually gets released.
You have a couple difficulty modes to select. The first level you play is a tutorial to explain the controls and basic flow of the game. You use the Left analog stick to move around and the right one to rotate and aim your ship’s weapons. You have two primary weapons; your standard bullets to attack enemies directly in front of you and missiles that attack enemies on the ground. You are given a variety of objectives in the levels, such as destroying certain targets, getting to a specific area, protecting an object or escorting a support character. As you destroy enemies, they will drop life ups or special weapons that are very powerful. When you complete a level, you are given experience which can be used to purchase upgrades for your ship such as improved defense, attack power or speed. The thing is, on the normal difficulty, you will need these upgrades as the enemies can really pack a punch. They do a lot of damage and can take a lot of abuse. The first couple levels will be relatively difficult as a result, but, once you buy a few upgrades, it is not too bad.
Enemies can come from any direction, which is normally fine. However, I feel that the radar does not do a good enough job warning you of danger. Way too often an enemy appeared on it only for me to take damage as soon as it popped up on the radar. Also, I found it incredibly difficult to dodge attacks from behind because the ship always stays towards the bottom of the screen. It would be nice if the ship had an evasive maneuver, such as a barrel roll to make Peppy Hare proud. Your ship is fairly big, and enemies will shower the screen in bullets making it tricky to dodge certain attacks without taking a few hits.
So far, Project Root is decent, but there is plenty of room for improvement. One area they should definitely improve in is the font. It is way too small during dialogue scenes which happen both during and in-between levels. The ones that happen mid-level are particularly annoying because I have a hard time paying attention while dodging all of the attacks. Project Root will be released on the PSN on April 28.
