Assault Android Cactus review
A blast of arcade fun
There are two types of games on the market today: those that aim to tell a fantastic story and have their players experience a world outside of their own, and those that simply aim to challenge players to some of the most gruelling and punishing gameplay, bringing a sense of relief and accomplishment upon completion.
Brisbane-based studio Witch Beam’s debut title, Assault Android Cactus is quite emphatically the latter, harkening back to the punishing arcade shooters of gaming’s early days. With a very minimalist plot and character and sound design that speaks volumes to the hectic gameplay, Assault Android Cactus provides constant challenges as players navigate the five sectors of the space freighter, Genki Star.
One of Assault Android Cactus’ standout features is its cartoony, Pixar-esque character design, which brought to mind some of Rare’s early work on the Nintendo 64 and is extremely easy on the eyes. The game brings a rather rudimentary plot to the table; Interplanetary Police Department constable Cactus crashes her ship into the aforementioned Genki Star, inadvertently rescuing a bunch of fellow androids from rampaging, rogue robots. The other androids agree to help Cactus investigate who or what may have caused the robot mutiny on the massive freighter, and the game begins.
After that initial cut-scene, the story takes a slight backseat to the fantastic and nail-biting gameplay. Each of the nine playable androids have two weapons; a primary and secondary one, each unique to a character. Cactus, for instance, uses a standard pistol as her primary weapon, with a destructive (and damn fun) flamethrower as her secondary. It’s quite obvious — and not just because her name is in the game’s title — that Cactus is the default character, and she’s definitely a good selection for those new to twin-stick shoot-’em-up titles; her kit and play style allow players to ease into the game, and although some of her humour feels quite forced, her quips before the five boss battles are sure to make players smile.
The most surprising thing about Assault Android Cactus is the fact that most of the levels can be completed in a non-linear way, unlike many other twin-stick shooters that require players to complete levels in a certain order or simply complete a certain number of levels in order to face the boss. Once inside a stage, the objective is very simple — kill all the enemies. There isn’t much variety other than that, but it is never boring due to the many different robots that Cactus and the other androids will come across on their adventure, each requiring different attacks and strategies to take them out effectively.
To add to the craziness of every combat situation, your android has a limited battery life that they run on, which slowly drains over time. If the android is knocked down by an enemy when their shields are down, the battery drains a small amount faster than normal, and players can restore some charge by collecting power-ups from defeated enemies. This mechanic definitely adds another layer to the hectic gameplay, but there were some stages where I felt that this mechanic didn’t translate well. Players can also level up their primary weapon, increasing its firepower and range, by collecting small orbs from the enemies as they go. It is extremely satisfying levelling a weapon to maximum and seeing the annihilation you can bring to the army of robots trying to stop Cactus and her new friends from learning any more about the Genki Star.
Some of my most significant issues with Assault Android Cactus are actually quite subjective. The most notable of these is the fact that some of the bosses came with insane spikes in difficulty, owing to their ability to throw one-hit attacks marked as a red projectile that knock your android down no matter how much shield they have remaining. It’s quite understandable for each subsequent boss to grow in difficult, but some of the projectiles the game expects the player to dodge and weave around were sometimes a bit too difficult.
Challenging games are usually filled with taxing encounters and attack patterns that are difficult to dodge, but there were times where I took damage that was unavoidable. Games like Contra are renowned for cluttering the player’s screen with projectiles and enemies to the point where it was impossible, but those titles are their own genre and there is a reason that they are much rarer nowadays. This is, of course, not to say that Assault Android Cactus was bad due to the above issue, but even games such as Contra allowed the player to use their skill to avoid some of the most cluttered spaces. I lost count of the amount of times I had been knocked down during Assault Android Cactus’ last few bosses due to some projectile or attack that seemed to blend in with the rest of the fun-filled chaos. Difficulty is usually subjective, so obviously some players might not have struggled in areas where I did, but considering how tight and responsive Witch Beam has been able to make the game’s controls, it was disappointing to see that they only went so far in dealing with a little too much clutter.
With that being said, it is difficult to be frustrated at a stage or boss for long when it’s set to a soundtrack like this, equal parts atmospheric and toe-tappingly fun. Having created some very cyberpunk-esque beats and rhythms, composer Jeff van Dyke does a brilliant job creating a sense of tension in each of the stages. The character select music is some of the best I have heard, and it really readies the player for the frantic action awaiting them. Players can even hear old arcade beeps that really accentuate the atmosphere of the Genki Star, even while fighting some of the intimidating bosses. Overall, the music is such a joy to listen to that some players might even find themselves bopping their heads along to the beat at the best of times.
For a debut game, Assault Android Cactus does a lot of things right — especially as a love letter to some of the frantic shoot’em ups of the old days, more specifically, the challenge of some of these older games — but it still has some flaws. Challenging bosses and stages keep the players on their toes, but some of the unavoidable deaths and insane spikes in difficulty caused a lot of frustration, especially for someone who isn’t as familiar with the genre as others. Going into the game not really knowing what to expect, Assault Android Cactus was a blast to play, and will definitely remain in my Xbox One library for years to come.
Our Verdict:
A brilliantly designed debut game from Witch Beam, Assault Android Cactus is not without its flaws. The combat is fast and exhilarating and it has a brilliant soundtrack, but with some of the craziness comes unavoidable deaths and insane difficulty spikes, leading to some frustrating moments in an otherwise joyful game.
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