Blazing Beaks by developer Applava decided to go along the crazy idea of giving guns to ducks and some other feathery friends. After decades of getting used to shooting at ducks to avoid the dreaded laughing dog, the time has finally come to give the ducks a fighting chance. The timing seems right because beak town has a slight monster infestation problem as of lately.
Darkwin Duck badassery
In Blazing Beaks you get to play as one of eight badass birds. Two of them need to be unlocked through playing the game. Each bird has their own advantages and disadvantages. The differences between them makes for a new experience each time you play Blazing Beaks. Finding the right bird for your own playstyle might be crucial in your enjoyment of Blazing Beaks. Each of them do look the part with an epic gun and matching look.
Rogue-like twin shooter
After some deep ornithological research your beaked friend is out to rid the world of the many monsters currently infesting the world. Each level fits one screen which is procedurally generated. Rogue-like games are getting common nowadays and Blazing Beaks might stand the time as one of the prime examples. The flavour of rogue-like game Blazing Beaks went for is of the twin shooter variety. From bird’s-eye-view you need to clear the map by blasting the monsters into oblivion. When each enemy is dealt with, you can advance to the next map. After completing a few levels, a boss-level is presented. Once defeated a new area with new monsters and matching theme is presented.
Risk-reward system
With just one gun as your means to attack you don’t have much to work with. Luckily you can upgrade your weapon if you can collect enough coins. The coins are earned through destroying monsters but the drops are randomized. Therefore some playthroughs are more favourable than others. Some monsters also drop cursed items. If you pick up these items you gain penalties like a slower fire rate or a lower reach. In contrast, once you can enter a shop you can then exchange these cursed items to get items which grants you perks. A nice and original risk-reward system.
Play with friends
Blazing beaks’ story mode can be played with a friend in co-op mode. I personally liked it more as a solo endeavour but having the option is always a good thing. When you do feel the need to play the game with friend, tournament mode has you covered. Up to four friends can battle it out in the world of Blazing Beaks. Different multiplayer modes with some nice new takes on deathmatch principle. Hunting mode in which you have one spear to destroy your friends was my preferred mode. Since you only have one spear you need to retrieve it after your throw which makes for some tense back and forth chess like gameplay.
Conclusion
Blazing Beaks is exactly what you expect from a rogue-like twin shooter. You’ll certainly die a lot and consequently lose everything but you’ll gain knowledge to get further next time. The randomness of the levels sometimes feels a bit unfair. Some runs were doomed to fail from the start because of bad RNG but that’s the way rogue-like games are. All in all, I had fun trying to get as far as possible, retrying right after dying because I felt like I still had unfinished business with some monsters.
