Take on waves of enemies in this tower defense style game where you as Dave Paprovshy must stop the aliens from destroying the spaceship and save your friends in the process.
General Gameplay
Spacejacked is an action/platformer tower defense style of game where you go from 3 different levels on your spaceship and set up defenses to stop aliens from destroying your computer core for that area. The Game Visuals for Spacejacked are done in an 8-bit style where all the game from the characters, enemies, and backgrounds are in a pixelated style of design. The colors in the game are bright and vivid to see on the screen and everything is easy to tell on the gameplay. As the game uses text to show conversation in the game, it is clear and easy enough to read on the screen. The game does not offer a colorblind mode and it is not needed as the game is easy enough to see on the screen. In our play testing, we did not run into any issues with the game graphics. Audio in Spacejacjed is also in a midi 8-bit style to match the graphic style of the gameplay. As you would expect to hear in a shooter style game the lasers blast, your primary weapon, space explosions, aliens sound and other sounds from a sci-fi game series. The background music is done in a midi style that matches the gameplay. The game does not have any spoken audio but more text to move the story along, so when the characters are talking it is more text style of speaking within characters to each other. The game is presented in a 5.1 surround sound environment but also works well in 2.0 stereo and headsets as well. In our playtesting, we did not run into any issues with the game’s audio. Controls in SpaceJacked are very user friendly. As there is a button to move your character, a button to go from normal stance to upside down to reach other platforms, an interaction button to move around and build your defenses. The controller settings are perfectly designed to make it easy to use in the game without having any trouble with the fast pace action of the game. In our play testing we did not have any issues with the game controller settings as they were well rounded and easy to use in the game. The game can be played with the standard controller and there is no need for a special controller to play Spacejacked.
“Take tower defense, simple controls, and gameplay and you have this great game that is fun and easy to pick up and play. Don’t let the game fool you as there is some strategy and challenge to this great game.”
Family Friendly
Tower defense games are very hard to come by as only several games are available on console and a handful of them exist on the PC, so when we saw a tower defense game come through for us to review we did have some reservations on how well will this hold up, especially it also being a 2D action platformer, well we were happy to see that this balance worked well for Spacejacked. The game balance of 2D action and tower defense style of gameplay works well. The game controls do take some use to as you go from normal stance to inverted to place defenses around the three maps and know what works and not in placement alone is one of the many challenges that the game does right. In the game there is a story mode where you must place defenses in three key locations to protect the core and as the game progresses, the enemies do get tougher and faster, so it is a balance that you have to master, do you replace an defense, upgrade it or just sell it and place another someone where it will be more effective against the horde? Another interesting twist is that you have limited resources to use to construct the defenses, or if your core takes damage that you must use to repair the core with the limited resources. You can earn more resources from defeated enemies, but it adds more of a strategy dynamic to the gameplay, that is where the game shines. Another great thing about the game is that once you save one of your friends that between levels that there is a cool mini game that you can play to earn more resources which was a nice touch from the general game. The different modes from an endless attack mode, to challenges and the story are great modes for gamers that love tower defense games. Also, in the story mode as you progress in the game’s story mode there are other people that you rescue, and they help you upgrade both your weapon and defenses. Overall, we will have to say that the game is fun for those in your gaming family that love tower defense style of games or just anyone looking for a challenging but fun game. The only complaint that we had about the game was that the difficulty of the game does ramp up later in the game, but with a save mode and continue from the last day, it makes it easier to play as you learn from your mistakes and move forward knowing what to expect in the level. In our special needs game testing, we did not see any issues with the game visual, audio or controller setting. Spacejacked is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Spacejacked is a fun, exciting game that takes the tower defense style of gameplay and adds an action/platforming to it. The story and challenge modes are fun and very addicting to play, this is a game that is a must buy for your digital library.
