Rigid Force Redux landed on Nintendo Switch a couple of weeks ago and adds another title to the system’s ever-growing shmup library. Is this one worth your time and money? Let’s find out.
The Redux version
As the name gives away, this game isn’t new, it’s the definitive edition of Rigid Force Alpha, which released back in 2018. Now, the title made the jump over to the Nintendo Switch and brings in some traditional 2.5D shmup action which easily got us nostalgic for titles like R-Type and Darius. Although the resemblance is certainly there, Rigid Force does its own thing and does it rather properly too. It all kicks off with you getting to know PSYE, your onboard AI that will guide you through your missions. It’s a fun way to kick off this action-packed adventure and it also helps that the narratives are fully voiced. PSYE offers an easy and even thrilling way of getting to know your ship and its weapons. It’s very easy to master the input as it relies heavily on the control sticks but the true star of the show is the unique weapon mechanic.
Master your weapons
Just like many other games in the genre, you start with a rather regular cannon that fires a couple of shots per second. During your run in the level, you’ll be able to gather a couple of upgrades, always adding a bit of extra fire-power to your ship. Besides the regular attack, you can also gather energy to charge up your special attack, which can inflict massive damage, especially needed for the boss fights. The best part of the arsenal is Force Shards. You can pick up a couple of those and combine them for a massively powerful beam or you can choose to spread them around the front or back of your ship to deal damage at a lot of enemies at once. It’s a fun mechanic and it’s really fun to mess around with those in order to find the perfect fit for your ship and playstyle. It’s fun to go through the levels and equip your favorite weapons, all building up to you eventually facing off with the level’s boss. It’s all fun to play but perhaps it’s a bit at the easier side for a lot of veterans.
Not the most challenging one
As a fan of the genre, I’m pretty used to grind my way through levels. The shmup genre is known for its brutal difficulty levels but this one is different. There aren’t that many levels to complete and clearing them all will easily take you under one hour of gameplay, which is a shame really. The same goes for the boss battles, although they look great and are well-programmed, none of them was a true challenge. Due to this, Rigid Force Redux is the perfect game to get to know this intense genre a little better but veterans won’t find a lot of joy here. On top of the easy difficulty comes the fact that the graphics aren’t special at all. Sure, the game looks good and runs well in both Docked and Handheld mode but it offers nothing really new to the scene, which could have been done so much better.
Conclusion:
Rigid Force Redux is a decent shmup but nothing more than that. The level of difficulty is a bit too easy for veterans while newcomers will welcome this as a great entry point in the hectic genre. Don’t expect a lot from this one but it’s fun to play as long as it lasts.
