I think it´s safe to say that most people must think that I’m some kind of masochist when it comes down to my personal enjoyment of hard games. Well, I can’t help it. As I truly enjoy that feel of accomplishment that comes after torturing myself with difficult games. And that´s why I decided to review yet another bullet hell title that goes by the name of “Hyperspace Invaders II Pixel Edition”, which caught my interest after seeing that rhythm is part of the gameplay.

“Hyperspace Invader II Pixel Edition” is a score based shoot ’em up game where the only thing that matter is avoiding getting hit, and killing as many enemies as you can to get the highest score on each track. And I noticed that enemies spawn at the beat of the rhythm, and some of them will attack in sync with the rhythm. And sure, that is a nice touch. However, sometimes it can be a problem for some tracks will do nothing but spam you with lots of enemies that you won’t be able to dodge even if you try.

Most enemies will not shoot at you but instead try crash into you from virtually every possible direction imaginable. And since the controller is a little stiff when moving around, and that makes it almost impossible to dodge certain object coming at you at faster speeds than what you can actually move. And unlike other bullet hell titles, you can’t activate a bomb that wipes all enemies and bullets on-screen. No, instead when you are hit by any bullet (or enemies) a barrier will activate destroying everything on-screen like a bomb would regularly do on other games. You get an attack bottom that uses energy, which allows you to shoot faster and certain bullets will disappear if you shoot at them with that energy shot.

This game has a very basic menu with just play and option. The only option you can change is the global volume, music volume and shaders (which control the lighting on the background). This game doesn’t have any difficulty setting. However, once you hit play the game will allow you to choose from 12 music tracks. And each one offer its own difficulty (in which starts from track 0, which is a quick tutorial level). On the track selection, you will see numbers that indicate the duration of the track and the speed of its rhythm. Each track are about 5 minutes long on average, and then you got some tracks that will require you to have a really good attention span for they are 7 and 9 minutes long.

So, what about gameplay issues and such then? Well, the biggest problem that I encountered in “Hyperspace Invader II”, is the fact that the game itself is having way too many colors on the screen. As it makes it impossible for you to tell bullets, enemies and souls apart. Especially since the enemies and bullets share the same list of colors. And they come in every color of the rainbow…So whenever enemies (or bullets) have the same identical color as you. Then the only thing that helps you to tell yourself apart from the enemies, is the blue lasers which you are always firing. If that wasn’t confusing enough the game have some weird lighting on the background that can cause epilepsy in which will blend in with enemies and bullets making it even harder to tell anything apart. I suggest turning the shaders settings completely off to make the game a lot more playable, and it will help reduce the chances of getting an epilepsy attack while playing it.

I really tried to enjoy “Hyperspace Invaders II Pixel Edition” (especially since I really like shoot-em-up games). However, thanks to the amount of flashing lights in the background and the amount things that were in movement on the screen, it was pretty much impossible for me to tell them apart because of their colors. And that caused a lot of stress on my eye sight, which made the game unplayable. I was also forced to take breaks after the first 15 minutes. And after turning off the shaders settings, the reduction of the amount of lightings helped me a lot. As it reduced the high levels of stress to my eyes. Sure, not by a lot, but at least allowing me to play in sections of 40 to 50 minutes before my eyes started hurting.

Pros:
+ Provides good challenge
+ Controls are basic

Cons:
– No epilepsy warning
– There is too much stuff going on-screen
– The player is limited by movement
– Causes a lot of eye strain

Gameplay: 3/5
Graphics: 2/5
Sound and music: 4/5
Controls: 2/5
Replay value: 3/5

Verdict: 3/5
I wouldn’t recommend “Hyperspace Invaders II Pixel Edition” to anyone who has epileptic conditions or sensitive eyes. However, If you don’t suffer from any of those medical conditions. Then feel free to enjoy a decent shoot ’em up mixed in with music.

Title: Hyperspace Invaders II Pixel Edition
Developer: Entity Medialab
Format: PC
Genre: Indie/Shoot ’em up/Bullet Hell
Resolution: Highest possible for PC
Release date: 2015-09-04
Difficulty: Hard
Spent time: 10+ hours
Average grade internationally: 80.00% Gamerankings.com
PEGI/ESRB age rating: N/A
Price: 5 Euros via Steam

Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor

Bengie Rodriguez
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @BenjusMaximus

More by Bengie Rodriguez:

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• Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus PC review – A very sexy and entertaining beat-em-up game
• Wasted PC review – A crazy fun FPS/RPG/TPS post-apocalyptic experience
• Project G PC review

Tags: Entity Medialab, Hyperspace Invaders II, Hyperspace Invaders II Pixel Edition, Indie games, PC review