I'm a fan of traditional stick shooter + wave games. There's something with anticipating what's coming next, and the classic arcade feel of enemy hordes attacking you that I find satisfying. RED. is a new game from Knife Media in Cape Town, South Africa. It runs for $2.99 with a free trial, but that $2.99 is for both the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 versions. Buy once, buy everywhere. Shout-out for Windows universal apps!
RED. has some impressive 2D/3D graphics, comic book design and one hell of a sense of humor. Toss in some gratuitous gore, and I'll buy it.
The game is described thusly:
"Rick Steele as he battles an invasion of mutants in the city. Using a variety of powerups, abilities and weapons, he will need to fend off hordes of disgusting and furious creatures dead set on consuming everything and everyone in their sight."
Did I mention Rick Steele is a big red cube? Perhaps there's some logic in there, but I don't care. RED. plays like a typical dual-stick shooter, and it's quite a lot of fun to play. The graphics are powered by the UNITY engine, so you should be impressed. The game has powerups and a neat panel-driven story to keep the game interesting.
The Windows 8 version plays well on my Surface Pro 3, but note that on-screen controls are not yet available. Knife Media told me they were adding those on-screen controls for Windows 8 devices "ASAP." That's good for all of you 8-inch tablet players out there who'll want to grab this on the go.
Currently, there's no account needed for RED. but that also means there's no syncing between Phone and PC versions. Perhaps Knife Media will add that so your scores and progress will carry over.
As I said above, the game is $2.99, which gets it for you on both the Phone and PC/Tablet. There's also a free trial, and it is available for 512 MB devices, meaning they nailed everything to make you guys happy.
Check out my hands on video above and give it a spin. Let me know if you enjoy it in comments!
