Voxatron has just debuted as the star of the latest Humble Indie Bundle. It is a platform shooter where you play as a robot. It isn’t just that though; there is a level editor where you can make your own levels and then you can put them up for other people to play. So I will be looking at all the different aspects of this new game.
I broke that tree and this one is next.
To start I will talk about the game Voxatron itself with the levels the company made. My first impression of this game was how cool it was that I could destroy everything with my gun. After playing more, I still think that is awesome. Also the death animation that blows everything up is the best.
If I have to die, then let me take everyone else and a good portion of the map with me. Most likely someone with better reflexes than I possess could finish levels by going Rambo and blowing everything up, but for the average person this game requires thinking and planning. Looking around the room to see what resources you have and when to use them is a fun part of the game. Some of the effects surprised me at first. Overall I find the game well planned and enjoyable and this is only the alpha. I can only imagine what it will be like later on.
Making an object with level editor gives a lot of options.
The level editor for Voxatron was confusing at first for me. After fiddling with it for a while though, I could see how to make a level. You have a lot of different parts that they use for the main game and the enemies as well. At this point in time you can’t make your own enemies, but that is supposed to be coming. You can make your own items to place on the level though and make conditions for the enemies to come out. It is a pretty good level editor overall. I could actually make a level with it unlike some others I tried before.
Add as many enemies as you want. Look at all these snails.
The best part of Voxatron for me is looking at the levels that the players have created. I was surprised at the quality of levels I found when the game has just been released. There were some well planned theme levels like a Space Invaders level with the invaders in the background and the shields at the bottom where your character is. The enemies came in waves and more appeared after the last disappeared.
If you went past the shields though you were punished by a bunch of higher level monsters. Many of the player made levels had nice themes and seemed more complicated than I would expect at this point. I did find a few duds like a blank field, but most were enjoyable. It should only get better too with players being able to make their own enemies in the future. I can see myself going back to look for more levels to play in the future.
Overall I have to say Voxatron is one of the best games I have played in alpha. Already having the ability to have player made stages from the beginning bumps this one way up for me. Normally that is an option that comes way down the line. If you don’t have Voxatron, hurry and get it before this Humble Bundle is gone.
I just picked up the bundle, and after looking through the options on voxatron, found out you can use a controller. SO MUCH BETTER.