On-rails shooting games get a bad rep. The lack of freedom isn’t to everyone’s taste, but for many ’80/’90s gamers, it’s one of the purest forms of gameplay. You have an unwavering objective; a set path to obtain a high score. Mission Critical Studios’ Battle Stations Blockade delivers this well enough. However, it’s also inherently limited simply by not attempting fully realising its ideas.
Battle Stations Blockade casts the player as a gunner aboard a warship with an enemy of undetermined origin. This enemy vastly outweighs you in terms of both numbers and firepower. But yet, for some reason, you’re sailing right into waters they control. Nothing left to do but blast them all straight to hell, I guess.
So of course, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. As your ship sails along the water it’s your responsibility to ensure it doesn’t sink. What’s more, you’ll be given specific objectives to achieve along each section of water. Shoot down three paratroopers. Blow up two armoured boats and two speedboats. Take out a gun turret. Nothing too far removed from expectation, but when the pressure mounts you’ll need to be quick to prioritise these objectives.
While the game begins gently enough with a tutorial that offers up only the enemies you need for each objective, once the game begins true you’ll find the aggression ramps up significantly. Dozens of enemies will appear simultaneously and it’s up to you to decide not only what needs to be done to complete your objective, but also which enemies need taking out quickly to avoid too much damage being sustained. And this is one area in which Battle Stations Blockade does innovate with the formula.
Your score is intrinsically linked to your health. Each collision will reduce your health, whilst each kill will increase it. It’s a fine balance that must be maintained throughout. Thankfully, you’re given the firepower required to do just that. Battle Stations Blockade doesn’t offer power-ups of any kind (except health recharge multipliers). Instead, all weapons are available from the outset. Different weapons have different strengths and weaknesses. As do each of the enemies. It’s a predictable rock-paper-scissors formula, but is welcome nonetheless. However switching between weapons does take a couple of vital seconds, and so should only be done when absolutely necessary.
All this may sound like Battle Stations Blockade makes for an interesting game. And it does, for a while. The intentionally polygonal aesthetic and what we can only assume is intentionally hilariously bad dialogue and level end sequences – coupled with the aforementioned interesting new ideas – make for an on-rails shooter that feels familiar yet fresh. Sadly, that feeling doesn’t last long. Just a couple of levels in, you’ll realise that the game simply boils down to holding the trigger to succeed. You needn’t use half of the weapons presented, and with objectives optional you simply have to ensure you’re keeping your health topped-up to win. And once that realisation hits, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever lose more than a slither of health.
This is a shame, as Battle Stations Blockade had the makings of something truly interesting. Sadly, what is ultimately delivered outstays its welcome purely through vindication of its ideas. Had more thought been put into how these mechanics would play, Battle Stations Blockade could’ve been a welcome new addition to the genre. As it stands, Critical Mission Studios’ ideas are likely to be put to better use elsewhere.
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