Crispy Gamer: R-Type Command Review

Crispy Gamer writes: "For over two decades now, the R-Type series has been synonymous with a specific brand of mindless space shooter. In these games, strategy and planning aren’t as important as twitch reflexes and simply shooting everything that moves. It’s a formula that’s given the series a moderate amount of success in its niche through a half-dozen or so sequels. So it’s a bit surprising that R-Type Command throws out that formula and instead tries to build a typical turn-based strategy game on top of the R-Type universe. The result, less surprisingly, is a largely broken game that is almost entirely forgettable.

There is a story behind the action in R-Type Command, but it doesn’t really go much beyond the extremely generic "aliens threaten Earth" premise that was present in the original series. The writers try to add some pathos to the proceedings by presenting events through the lens of an inexperienced pilot who’s been thrust into a leadership position as humanity’s last hope. The writing and translation are so bad, though, that it’s impossible to feel any connection to the proceedings. These text-based diary entries occasionally provide vital strategic data for the battles ahead, but this information is shoehorned in so inelegantly that it makes one wonder why they even bothered trying to craft it into a believable story in the first place. They may as well have tried to write a backstory for a game of chess."

What’s Hot:

-Familiar character design

-Interesting stages

What’s Not:

-Anemic story

-Brain-dead AI

-Overly simplistic strategy