Game:

Ex-Zodiac (2022)

Duration: 33:21

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Ex-Zodiac is the brainchild of UK-based Game Dev., Ben Hickling, and his small cadre of comrades (currently known as Team MNKY with publishing by Pixeljam) that invokes the spirit of 80s and 90s games. Currently released in Early Access with roughly half of its planned content, the game bears the core and fundamentals to be an incredible homage to the original Star Fox, Starblade, Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon and more -- some are already calling it better than some of the aforementioned titles (the hype is real, but I wouldn't go that far yet). You take on the role of Kyuu, a brave monkey warrior tasked with the job of taking down the forces of "Zodiac", a terrorist group who are hellbent on gaining complete control of the Sanzaru Star System (who each represent a zodiac sign). The game was just released after spending about four years in initial development (and also had a fairly successful Kickstarter campaign).

If you've played the original Star Fox, you sorta know what to expect here: laser dogfights with mechanized baddies, manipulating your thrusters, popping off well-placed bombs, and grabbing the occasional power-up while doing barrel rolls. Ex-Zodiac also allows you to lock on to numerous targets if you hold the shot button like Panzer Dragoon for good measure and has bonus rounds that are more than a little reminiscent of Space Harrier... there's even a riding segment on a colorful neon highway! Kyuu's ship (the "Ultraviolet MK III") can upgrade its laser power and lock-on ability through enemy drops and repair shield damage through items or familiar energy rings that you'll occasionally find and particular enemies will contain "Data Chips" that allow you to access Cyberspace for more fun. There are currently no branching paths, what's on offer will last about an hour, give or take, and that's just to clear it. If you are aiming to get the highest scores (up to S rank) and get all the DCs, the game will take a little longer.

While the game looks and sounds fantastic (TEK Supremacy) and nails the aesthetic of a brightly-colored lost 90s Arcade title, the more impressive thing is that Ex-Zodiac has (so far) managed to stay varied and fresh with its level designs and fun boss battles. None of the stages so far are especially difficult, but they each have different gimmicks to change things up and bosses have numerous attack modes and surprises as you deplete their health. It's also fair to say that while Ex-Zodiac is indeed HEAVILY inspired by the aforementioned titles, it is not a 1-for-1 copy and has various nuances to round out the experience. For example, Kyuu's ship does not sustain locational damage like in Star Fox (such as having the wings broken) and lacks the same inertia or physics of the Arwing getting tossed around. While scoring is similar, Ex-Zodiac takes a harder stance on this and really encourages high-level play as on top of enemy / destruction rating, you will also need to minimize damage sustained to your ship (as opposed to protecting teammates) and defeat bosses quickly to get the highest scores. There is also a combo system where destroying enemies within a set timeframe gives additional score bonuses, so discovering the right ebb and flow of a level is not something you will do by accident on the first or second try -- this game was really designed to push your skills to the limit and has a faster, Arcade feel as a result.

Lastly, lets get to the more technical side of things; Ex-Zodiac doesn't feature a whole lot of bells and whistles in terms of customization but what it does have will make you appreciate the game even more. Besides the retro graphics, you can opt for hi-res models for more low-poly goodness as well as adjust the framerate from 60FPS all the way down to 15FPS if you really want to nail that retro SNES/SFC "Star Fox" feel (20FPS was the sweet spot for me in terms of old-school presentation while dealing with Ex-Zodiac's higher skill ceiling). Just be forewarned that the game still has some kinks to work out as hi-res mode will stutter occasionally even on a beefy computer setup and (more importantly) has certain graphics bugs right now (the credits don't appear properly in hi-res mode and certain graphics overlays don't appear properly as well, such as on Planet Xenon).

That said, I have confidence these issues will be ironed out in the final release and I hope the game gets a more fleshed-out story with introductory segments and all that jazz to make it feel like a more complete entity. The game is only $9 right now ($10 normally) and I recommend it in its current state to help fund and expedite future updates. This is a video showing half the current levels and an example of hi-res mode. You can get it at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/ExZodiac/

Enjoy.

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