The title says it all.  Cyborgs are invading and a brave army soldier dude must shoot them all in this 2-D sidescrolling run and gun platform 16-bit styled action title.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Your little soldier dude can run, jump, and shoot.  He can also climb across overhanging ropes.  And that’s all you need to do!  You’ll shoot all sorts of hooded baddies and avoid their projectiles as well as do a bit of platform hopping, too.  Simply progress left to right to finish a stage.  If you get hit, you’ll lose some energy.  Lost it all or fall off a cliff and you must start over at the beginning of the level or at your last checkpoint.  Sometimes enemies will drop things like health pickups or new weapons that give you a temporary boost.  There are 30 levels in all, with a boss at the end of every 10 levels.  You’ll travel through jungles, snow, and swampy jungles in 16-bit style.

The game has a few minor problems.  Your character controls like a rock and falls like it, too.  If you get hit while hanging from a rope, you’ll usually fall to your doom, which is frustrating.  I wish there was more level variety and there’s not much replay value after you beat it.  Some may complain it’s also too easy, as I was able to beat it in a few sittings and I’m usually not very good at these kinds of games.  But you get plenty of health, unlimited continues, and lots of checkpoints.  So because of that I was able to finish it at least.  So if you want a not-so-stressful run and gun game, you might want to check this one out.

Kid Factor:

Brave Soldier: Invasion of Cyborgs is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  You shoot a lot of pixelly hooded guys and robots who just explode when defeated.  If you get hit, you just yell ‘argh’ and fall on your back when you lose all your energy, and that’s about as violent as it gets.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary just to play.  Even though the game is pretty easy, younger gamers may still need help with the tougher sections.

Tags: Game Reviews