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### Streambolt Desero [PC]

#### Reviewed By M. Rawlings

From the first second of playing this game, you know it's something special - especially when considering everything excluding the music was created by one person; Gustav Kilman. Gustav solely programmed and created the graphics for this marvellous run 'n gun game, his only assistance being in the audio department, with the music supplied by Joakim Sandberg (Creator of the popular 'Noitu Love and the Army of Grinning Darns').

Streambolt Desero is an updated version of Gustav's original 'Streambolt' and boasts a major overhaul on both the graphics and game-play. It was entered into the Swedish Games Awards 2007, but unfortunately didn't win in the main category (all I can say is there must have been some excellent games entered into the competition). Gustav did however pick up the 'One-Man Game Factory' award, deservedly so in my opinion.

Run 'n gun games are generally popular with gamers because not only do they satisfy players after frantic game-play, calling upon lightning-fast reflexes, but they can also be tackled at a slightly slower pace by trying to formulate strategies to best beat each level. With this game it's possible to merely run through most of the level as enemies will not attack you until you've stayed in their field of view for a few seconds.

The game plays very similar to Gunstar Heroes in many ways, an example being how you are stopped from running past enemies when it's time to face a mini-boss (which must be defeated in order to progress). That being said, although it isn't particularly necessary to fight with the basic enemies, unlike games such as Contra, it doesn't mean you won't want to!

A lot of fun can be had with pulling off some special combat moves such as shooting up into the air giving a flying head-butt or two, swiping at enemies with your sword or simply blasting everything in sight with lasers or missiles from either ground, or air making use of your jetpack and bringing 'death from above'. So even though it could be argued that you only really need to fight with the bosses, you will still spend most of your time eradicating everything in your path with your loveable super-hero (who closely resembles a Chao from Sega's Sonic Adventure, albeit a Chao in Ninja gear).

This coupled with the graphics; which are simply brilliant, colourful and well designed, make this game an absolute pleasure to play. My only problems with the game (which are hard to find) are two-fold: The controls, whilst nicely kept to two buttons and four directions (much like a NES game), are a little clumsy when you first start out trying to perfect different moves and instead of putting the buttons side by side, one is on top of the other, which isn't the most natural of set-ups.

The other problem is that it's simply not long enough! The game is basically a demo, featuring only the first level, which is definitely a shame as you will want more. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like the game will ever be released as a full version. The name also perhaps hints this, as 'Desero' translates from Swedish into 'Desert', which could suggest the games been abandoned from further development (Gustav has himself verified that this is all we'll see of Streambolt in this incarnation due to faults in the game engine - JM).

Even though it appears this is all we will see of 'Streambolt Desero' it's still definitely worth a look. It's an indie game with a retro feel and worthy of anyone's attention.