Official Score
Overall - 60%
60%
Son of Scoregasm is a challenging game that demands your complete attention. Less patient gamers may be turned off, but those looking for an experience that requires both skill and pattern recognition will appreciate what is present here.
It’s you versus the world in Charlie’s Games’ twin stick shooter Son of Scoregasm. Should you set off to find the king’s biscuits, or is this one battle not worth fighting?
Son of Scoregasm Review
Son of Scoregasm takes the elements found in shooters like Geometry Wars and Asteroids, and boils them down to their most basic elements. Players navigate small polygonal areas with the left stick and fire at anything that moves with the right. However, there is another move in your repertoire – the Pulse Attack. With this move, players can attack anything within a small 360 range of your ship. To recharge, players must continue to shoot at enemies. This leads to an offensive style rather than a defensive one, an absolute must when enemies fill the screen and rush toward you.
It’s real basic stuff that you’ve no doubt seen done countless times before, but the added Pulse move adds some depth. All levels practically require you to use this move, and it is also the secret to getting your multiplier up and a high score on the leaderboards.
Each stage is fairly straightforward, tasking players with shooting everything that moves before doing it all over again. The stages start out mellow enough, but quickly escalate in difficulty in mere moments. Though each one lasts only a few minutes, players will likely be playing each one multiple times, as you die in one hit. This leads to some frustration and a serious learning curve, one that requires memorization on top of reflexes. A penchant for patience is an absolute must.
Successfully completing a level opens up two portals, each leading to a different stage. These can vary in difficulty, and the world of Son of Scoregasm is a branching one similar to that found in Outrun of all things. Each stage has a different gimmick to it, from radar setups to laser grids, and some stages even pack in boss battles. These help to break up the game, but can also get frustrating due to the speed and sheer amount of stuff they throw at you.
Presentation-wise, this game is pretty basic. Everything is low poly, and its independent roots are on full display here. It feels at times like a school project, which can be a little disheartening.
Son of Scoregasm is a challenging game that demands your complete attention. Less patient gamers may be turned off, but those looking for an experience that requires both skill and pattern recognition will appreciate what is present here.
