Review – Under Defeat HD

Vertical Shoot ‘Em Up

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

Rich

Aw, man.  I was looking forward to this.  With Rising Star currently spoiling the fuck out of us with all these lovely shoot ’em ups, it’s easy to forget that games like Under Defeat HD don’t come around that often.  So it’s a shame that Under Defeat makes it over here when it’s pretty much the least-inspired shooter this side of Sine Mora.

Bullets and stuff.

Generic battlefield backdrops, the usual mix of tanks, planes, bigger tanks, bigger planes and the occasional boat to shoot at and a pitifully small choice of weapons all conspire to make this one of the least interesting examples of the genre.   Add to that some ‘what the fuck hit me’ visual issues and this game is about as fun as accountancy lecture.

Under Defeat HD does offer a reasonably stiff challenge to fans of the genre (mainly thanks to some bullshit bullet patterns), and conversely a set of piss-easy achievements for the whores amongst us, and the Xbox 360 dual analog control option massively improves on the original control set up.

The new hi-def New Order mode improves the visuals but squishes it all into a 16:9 ratio, making it even harder to avoid the swathes of death coming at you.  That said, this is an easier game than many other shoot ’em ups but it’s also way duller.  It’s not visually exciting, it’s not interesting when it comes to the scoring mechanics and it’s really no more evolved than the likes of 1943 and Flying Shark.  Stick with the masterful Akai Katana, Guwange or Deathsmiles instead.

Rating: 4/10