WOLFLAME love the “Shoot Em’ Up” genre and wanted to try their own hand at a game like the legendary “Raiden”. We think they brought an interesting twist to it.
Addressing the Name WOLFLAME
As far as we know it’s supposed to be a play on “Wolf Flame” instead of “Wolf Lame”. Otherwise the game would send you a strange message.
A Departure from Supercharged Robot VULKAISER
This game is more about other aspects of classic 2d Shmups rather than the story. The game centers on you trying to save your people from the alien “Adorians”. The focus is on gameplay and art rather than a quirky story like their previous game VULKAISER.
This game is all about the enemies instead of a complex story.
While it doesn’t bother us we could see this being a problem for some. You should decide for yourself it works for you.
Unusual bullet shapes are important for any new game in this genre.
Furious Pacing
WOLFLAME has a frantic pace on each level. Enemies attack from every angle, as with any good Shmup. For players who want a real challenge “Insane” caters to the true Shoot Em’ Up Aficionado.
Upgraded weapons fill the screen with all the destruction you expect they would.
Recovery Systems for the Moderate Player
Perhaps the most interesting part of the game was after I died once. I found a power-up which returned me to the previous level of power-ups. It’s a nice thought for moderate players. You will of course have to clear it on one life to receive the top score.
Bombs are a big part of any good Shmup.
Classic Gameplay with Funnels
As anime fans know them, your ship has two funnel-style support systems on the side. Each device has several upgrades. At the base level they fire like a light slap. At full power they launch a hellish apocalypse that fills the screen.
Unique enemies fill the screen on each level. The unit variety is excellent.
A medal-collecting scoring system rounds out the game. It’s a classic setup which we’ve seen in many other titles. And yes, there are also bombs for blocking enemy shots and dealing huge boss damage.
Bosses even leave remains behind when they die. It is a nice touch to the art we’ve seen in other beautiful games.
Bosses and Crashes
Each boss has a unique setup from walkers to an assault train. Any enemy that crashes leaves an outline as well. While that is something we’ve seen in other games it does add another small positive touch to the art.
Multi-Stage Animations
While playing a large sub-boss style enemy came crashing to the ground. In a normal game that would be it. But the boss split in two and the halves crashed into the ground.
Several enemies break into spectacular burning wreckage.
This is a level of detail you would expect from a much larger developer. Many of the enemies and bosses show this level of detail as well. It’s an innovation in art and that receives extra points from us.
Final Verdict 4/5 – Great – WOLFLAME combines great action with excellent art. It’s enjoyable, the controls work well and everything performs as you would expect. That’s not enough to make a game great for us. The sheer level of effort and detail put into the art makes the game quite impressive. What finally puts it into the category of great is detail and variety of the each stage. With variable difficulty it’s a great buy for new players and experts alike. Be sure to check it out on Steam.
