Border Wars Hot

Border Wars is a well-designed horizontal shmup (the SHoot-eM-UP genre of flying through, around, and between waaaay too many bullets). The basic “story” is that the game takes place on the border of a note, the random doodles of a mind long since lost focus, and the doodles at in constant war for supremacy. Indeed, the game even starts with a simplified version of MSPaint, allowing you to draw your own spaceship, and place your hitbox inside it, making the most devout shmup fans giggle with the glea of optimization. The first few levels are comfortably easy, getting you used to the gameplay mechanics and the idea of “buying” upgrades, but by stage 3 (each stage has 4 zones, called “pages” to it), you’re in the thick of bullet-hell, just like you’ve always wanted.

The game has a fantastic charm to it, a juvenile appreciation for that guilty moment we all spaced out in school, and the art style delivers a “crude” theme throughout, much like Paper Mario or Yoshi’s Island had their “crude” artistic appeal. The only downside to the art design is the sound effects: while the music is enjoyable, the bullet noise, something you hear non-stop, was seemingly designed for both kitsch appeal (it is someone making the “PEW!” sound) and its annoyingness (try going “PEW PEW PEW” for an hour).
For original shmups that deserve your time and money, Border Wars can’t be beat. It doesn’t have a multiplayer mode, which is a shame, but there is replayability enough in an “Arcade Mode” that is unlocked upon beating the single player. The game’s easy start will soon have you gasping and cursing by the later stages, so don’t panic if your idea of good mechanics involve blinding twitch reflexes!

I would seriously give this game 10/10 in a heartbeat, but I did come across a seemingly-random-and-rare crash that forced me back to the dashboard upon completion of a page. Of posting, the developer knows of this flaw, but has not been able to get a patch out. (Given the time cycle of patching, this is not unexpected – the game has been out less than ten days, and patches take time to plan, implement, and review). I wouldn’t suggest that anyone avoid this game because of this danger, and there is a save-function once you complete a stage, but it is definitely worth noting. Robert Marra, you get that fixed, you got a 10/10 shmup.