DELTAZEAL Review (PC)
From Triangle Service, creators of the exceptional XIIZEAL we’ve reviewed earlier this year, comes a new exciting release on Steam thanks to DegiGames. DELTAZEAL is a vertical shooter game, which was conceived at the same time as XIIZEAL, but follows more of the established conventions of the genre while also improving upon it and adding its own flavor.
Remember the time when you would play a vertical shooter and would pick up a different power-up only to realize it resets your weapon to default power. In DELTAZEAL you can mix and match variety of different weapon power-ups. Your default weapon at the start is a wide shot, but along the way you can add many missile and laser power-ups. You can play with it and see if you like a particular mix or you want to just stick with one type of the power-up.
Better yet there is an unexpected special weapon. You can charge and release a miniature black hole onto your enemies. And how cool is that? The use for black hole is to protect you from the oncoming shower of bullets that at the same time gives you additional points. The only downside is that you have to wait and shoot down a lot of enemies to recharge it.
DELTAZEAL supports gamepads, and using them is a must. Of course, you can customize the controls to your liking. You even have the option of picture rotation which lets you play in an authentic arcade format so you can get a nice, big picture. If this feature is useful to you depends on your level of commitment to the genre. Either way this feature should be included in more shmups as it can greatly enhance the experience.
There are a variety of enemies, including tanks, planes and ships, with bosses that can take a number of different forms. It is a real joy to blast through them, as the debris fly all over the screen with powerful explosions everywhere. This is in part because of the game’s highly detailed pixel graphics. I just loved all the effort that went into making the backgrounds, like boats that are washed up on the dried up river banks.
A new feature in DELTAZEAL is a level branching, where you can play different stages depending on some condition, like number of enemies killed or the side of the screen you were when you killed the stage boss. There are some secret routes and enemies which makes the replaying even more enjoyable.
There are 9 stages in total. You can play all the stages from the classic Arcade Mode, or you can choose a stage from the Score Attack Mode after you unlock it so that you can practice that particular stage. There is a difficulty setting so that everyone can adjust it according to their skill level.
Remember those times you would invite a friend over to play a game together? In DELTAZEAL there is a local multiplayer so you can play with a friend. Steam features that are supported are achievements and score leader-boards. You can also save your replays, so you can impress your friends or co-workers.
This title is highly recommended for every fan of vertical shooters, but also can be a great place to start appreciating the genre.
DELTAZEAL launches tomorrow, 16th October, on Steam. It will also be a part of a compilation pack with XIIZEAL, along with the soundtrack for both games.
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