Kromaia Omega

Not long ago, I reviewed a game called Voxel Blast. Pitched as a cross between Star Fox, Tempest and After Burner, I had high hopes for this indie shoot-em-up. Unfortunately, the game's awful controls and claustrophobic setting made it near impossible to have a good time. As much as I hated playing through the action game, it left me yearning for a competent 3D space shooter.

As it turns out, I didn't have to wait very long, because Kromaia Omega is everything Voxel Blast should have been. In fact, it's something most 3D shoot-em-ups should aspire to. It manages to feel deep and complicated, all while mimicking the fun of Star Fox. That's not the easiest tight rope to walk, but the developers at Kraken Empire managed to surprise and amaze with their console debut.

Not unlike Dark Souls and the games it inspired, Kromaia Omega is purposely vague. We're given only hints about what's going on, with the game hoping we'll be intrigued enough to dig deeper. The action revolves around a small but agile spaceship that is looking to take down the four Gods that govern this universe. While this may sound straightforward, the approach is anything but.

After poking around, you'll begin to discover that there are four large areas to explore, each with their own unique weapons and items to locate. The goal is to fly through the stage picking up a series of 20 parts that will ultimately open the jumpgate. Once you've grabbed all the parts, a giant boss will show up and an epic fight will ensue. This is Kromaia Omega at its most traditional, giving players a real taste of space combat. It's messy and chaotic, often mesmerizing at times.

But as tempting as it is to race from one checkpoint to the next picking up pieces of the jumpgate, that's only part of what makes this game so compelling. You might not realize it at first, but the four stages are absolutely massive and full of additional areas to explore. Flying off the beaten path will not only uncover new areas, but also new puzzles to solve, modes to unlock and items to collect. There were times when I was spending more time exploring the floating debris than completing the objectives.

With so much to find in each stage, it's probably a good thing you'll be making return visits. In order to beat the game, players will need to beat the four Gods with the four different weapons you collect from each stage. Your ship starts out with the basic machine guns, but it will quickly unlock homing missiles, a focused laser and a melee-style attack. But here's the rub -- you can only use one suit at a time, limiting the weapons in your arsenal.

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While the different weapons don't make a big deal when fighting through the various stages, they do change the way you approach each boss fight. The green seeking missiles have players sitting back, while the blue melee strike sees you up close and personal with the four massive bosses. The good news is that each ship has a powerful secondary attack that will charge over time. If you can defeat the bosses with all four colored weapons, you'll come one step closer to understanding the truth.

It helps that our little spaceship is incredibly easy to navigate. It zips around with incredible ease, able to strafe up and down, roll around, and boost in all directions. There's a lot to get used to, but I found it accessible and easy to pick up. The emphasis here is on action, and the gameplay does a good job of giving players enough control to handle every situation. This is a genre that hasn't fared well on home consoles, so it's refreshing to see a company get the gameplay mechanics right.

Kromaia Omega also nails the presentation. Before you even have a chance to search for hidden items and locate the jumpgate pieces, you'll spend a few minutes just trying to get your eyes to adjust to the utter chaos happening on screen. With meteors floating through space, ships flying around, bullets going everywhere and other debris to contend with, the visuals can be overwhelming at times. But that only adds to my enjoyment. There are times when I want to sit back and take in the beauty that surrounds my tiny ship.

Even with all this going for it, Kromaia Omega does make a few missteps. For one thing, I wish the game offered more than four areas. Don't get me wrong, the stages themselves are extremely large and full of areas to explore, but repeating them with different weapons feels a lot like busywork. More could have been done to change the dynamics of the stages with each new visit. As it is, the stage progression feels a bit repetitive.

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It's not just that you'll have to replay the stages multiple times, but also that the missions repeat. You'll be stuck tracking down jumpgate pieces, when that's only one of the mission types that could have been created in this universe. As somebody who thoroughly enjoyed the space combat and exploration, it's disappointing to see the developers hold back when it's really important.

Kromaia Omega is a visually intoxicating space shoot-em-up that absolutely nails the core mechanics. It could use a few more stages and another boss or two, but I cannot say enough good things about the action-packed combat. Kraken Empire has created a game that perfectly captures the arcade fun of Star Fox, while adding the amount of depth you would want from a modern game. Best of all, it finally washes away the horrible taste of Voxel Blast.