Back in June, we brought you the news of Retaliate, a new shmup from developer Romans I XVI Gaming. They have kindly sent us a review key to take a look at the game and we give our initial thoughts here. The game will be available from 15th July 2024 on Steam.
While most modern shmups are a case of bullet hell-style gameplay with lots of explosions and frantic firing, Retaliate feels more like the thinking man shmup. The gameplay has a good twist in that you can only reload ammo for your ship by absorbing enemy fire through your shields.
It is a great mechanic which will see you constantly having to seek out the enemy blasts and activate your shield in time to absorb them. Each bullet that you suck in becomes one bullet to fire back at the enemies. It feels very natural once you start getting into the nuances of how it works.
Retaliate has a lot going for it and the added story mode gives a little bit of longevity, as does the missions to complete. Some of the bosses are brilliant as well and overall this feels like a very different type of shmup to most we feature, and long-time readers know how we love a good shmup. Get this on your wishlists for the 15th July 2024 release.
