Green Phoenix

When Zerouno Games described their newest release as an "on-rails 3D space shooter," my mind immediately jumped to the classics of the genre, like Panzer Dragoon and Star Fox. But after playing the short and disappointing Green Phoenix, I quickly realized that the more accurate comparison would be with the barely-remembered shoot 'em up Microcosm. That was a full-motion action game where you mostly just dodged obstacles while being fed a ridiculous science-fiction story. That summary perfectly describes Green Phoenix, a new on-rails shooter where the narration is the real star and everything else takes a back seat. If you're one of those genre fans who constantly complains that shoot 'em ups don't have enough of a story, then boy do I have the game for you.

This is the story of a bird-like spaceship that is jumping through a futuristic world in hopes of collecting Heligium. We're brought into this world thanks to the ship's computer, who waxes nostalgic about the last twelve years of working with the pilot. It's almost bittersweet how the computer will reminisce about mining the asteroid fields, all while revealing important information about an evil corporation known as SCyMo and their part in creating this dystopian world.

For the most part, I would consider Green Phoenix to be an aggressively straight-forward shoot 'em up. You'll flap your wings along the on-rails path dodging space debris and shooting down objects with Heligium crystals. The names and locations may be different, but you've seen this kind of thing countless times before. However, there are a number of odd choices that really set this game apart from all the other shooters on the market.

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The first thing you'll notice is that there are no enemies. You'll spend the entire first stage avoiding flying cars in a futuristic Blade Runner-inspired metropolis. There are no bad guys and no bosses, just marked cars you're supposed to shoot down to collect Heligium. The second stage is nice enough to introduce us to homing mines we'll need to shoot down, but the regular bad guys don't show up until halfway through the game's four levels. And don't look for a lot of cool bosses, either. Where most shooters would have one after every single level, Green Phoenix saves that fight until the very end of the game.

The more you play the game, the more you start to notice that it doesn't do the things you would expect from this kind of shoot 'em up. For example, there's no points, no combos and definitely no score multiplier. There are also no power-ups or ship upgrades. About the closest the game comes to a special item is occasionally replenishing the ship's health after killing certain enemies. Most of the cliches and tropes you expect from the genre are missing, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I suspect that the shoot 'em up action has been stripped down a bit in order to turn the focus over to the story, which is constantly being narrated to you by the ship's computer. The problem I ran into is that I had a hard time paying attention to what she was saying. While she has a nice, soothing voice, I found the computer effect they used made it hard to understand what she was saying when the action heated up. I suppose that's why the entire game is subtitled, but I think it's fair to say that this is not the kind of genre that lends itself well to reading subtitles. It was only after I transferred the captured video for this review that I had a chance to really piece the story together, and by that point I had already been underwhelmed by the ugly ending.

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I would be a lot more forgiving of the narration if the shoot 'em up action was more compelling, but it's easily the weakest part of this game. The biggest issue is that it's hard to know where you're shooting, which ends up being a real problem when the difficulty spikes in the fourth and final stage. You would think that the ship is aiming right in front of it, but it depends on the angle of the camera and the position of the ship. It's also a shame that the bird-like ship doesn't have any evasive moves, such as a barrel roll. Green Phoenix is a game that seemingly recreates all of the problems that plagued the full-motion shooters of the 1990s, including Microcosm.

To be fair, it's not all bad. Although the visuals are inconsistent, I think the first-time developer has done a good job with the two stages set in futuristic cities. I also like that an Arcade Mode opens up after you beat the game for the first time, offering up a never-ending version of the game where you survive wave after wave of bad guys and obstacles. Best of all, it's dirt cheap, which may sway some shoot 'em up fans to give this game a try. I would recommend saving your money, because Green Phoenix disappoints as both an on-rails shoot 'em up and a narrative experience.