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rRootage

Review by The Gerat Escape

By now youve probably seen the screenshots littered around the page, and your thinking "what is that spoony bard up to this time ?" or possibly " I dont want no Rez type stuff, im outta here", and with that you hit the back button. Never to return to a review of the game that has me hooked so very badly, and with a little luck and some literacy it will have you hooked to the same degree. There is no escaping its addictive lure. If you have future appointments you need to keep, then look away now!

Graphics

As the screenshots show, the game uses a classy, Rez influenced vector style. It looks very impressive, especially if you havent played Rez, or dont even know what Rez is (shame on you!). Its all very chaotic with "bullets" flying around everywhere, and lots of transparency effects. The playing area is about 1/2 the screen, strait through the middle (see screenshots) with scores and lives, etc on the right and left. It runs reasonably smooth on my Duron 1400, Geforce 2 MX400 but there are some sections when the bullets will slow down. Im not sure if this is due to my sissy MX400 or a design feature (probably the former).
OpenGL is required for the game to run, and there is a lo-res version included for low-end computers/video cards (*cough*tnt2m64*cough*).

Sonics

Following the Rez theme again, the music in rRootage is an electronica style that suits the game perfectly. There are obviously only a handful of songs, in order to keep the download size small, but the ones that are there suffice perfectly. My only complaint would be the lack of music for the main menu. Sure you dont spend a lot of time on the menu, but at least some ambient sounds would be nice.
The in-game sounds are good, and do their job nicely while at the same time keep the download size small.

Playability

Theres no story line, no FMV, no real characters, yet this game is incredibly addictive. Its got features from other great shootem-ups, including the light/dark mode from Radiant Silvergun (havent played RSG, so thats a guestimate) which is among 4 different game modes. The Aim of the game is:

"Control your ship and avoid the barrage. Use the laser to destroy the battleship of the enemy. You can cause more damage if you fire the laser close to the enemy."

Thats straight from the readme. And that about sums up this game.
There are areas that could be improved on, such as an clearer layout, different looking enemies and little things. BUT for free, im not going to complain one bit.

Overall

Not only is this a great game, but its completely FREEWARE. No ads, no spyware, no shareware, no time limits and no nagware. I would say there are 2 kinds of people in this world: Those that like shoot-em-ups, and those that dont or are too sissy for them If you actually read this review, by now you would know what category you fall into. As i said before though, even sissy's should have a shot, and at just over 4mb, what have you got to lose?

Graphics
90- Apart from some hard to read text, they fit the bill perfectly.

Sonics
87- Great for a 4mb Download, but no sound/music on menu is a downer.

Playability
95- Utterly addictive, well crafted brilliance. With 4 different modes you wont have any reason to stop playing.

Overall
95- Probably the best freeware shoot-em-up ever. Get it NOW!

Screenshots


If you liked this then check out: Silpheed, Rez, Noiz2sa, Raiden Trad, Radiant Silvergun =)

Download rRootage

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