Pixel Licker is a development studio most gamers probably won’t heard of. They’re an indie team that has stuck mostly to 2D retro-stylised games on Steam. The occasional dabble with iOS and Android probably won’t have built the studio a string reputation, either. But here with Dead End City, console compatibility is in full swing. And fans of retro shooting action should sit up and take note.
Dead End City is a Mad Max inspired scrolling shoot-’em-up. Rather than flying through space or across a battlefield, you’re driving a car through a wasteland. There’s still a bunch of guys wanting to take you out, of course. But they too are driving more traditional motorised vehicles. Or are on foot, if they’re unlucky enough to be assigned to cannon fodder duty. The levels are structured in a series of waves, and each can be one of three varieties: scrolling, Space Invaders style hordes or boss fights.
The scrolling waves are much like what you’d expect. The work similar to Mega-Drive/Genesis classic MERCS. The usual routine is to continually be driving forward, avoiding not only incoming enemy fire but also various obstacles and buildings. The levels can also move in diagonal directions, forcing you to adjust your focus. Horde waves see clustered groups of enemies attack from the top of the screen in set patterns while more enter from the sides, and the boss fight waves are, well, boss fights.
While this all sounds fairly traditional, Dead End City does have a few interesting mechanics to go along with it. Firstly, there are no amazing kill-everything special attacks. Instead, you have a higher rate of fire attached to your weapon that expands ammunition. Said ammunition can be gained by killing enemies, but is the amount you can store is inherently limited. This results in pushing you to use the bonus attack whenever possible, or else waste much of the ammunition you’re collecting.
Your health is denoted by a fuel gauge. Impacts will reduce your fuel, which must then be replenished by collecting fuel containers dropped by fallen enemies or by destroying environmental objects. In Arcade mode, you only have one life available, so maintaining your fuel gauge is imperative.
Dead End City offers a Score Attack mode in addition to Arcade. However, a third gameplay mode, Highway, is much more interesting. Here, you have two minutes to take out as many enemies as possible. An endurance mode that will see you racing through a seemingly endless parade of enemies; defeating each wave quickly results in the next appearing sooner, thus boosting your chances for a high score.
All three modes offer medals to collect should your score multiplier reach 9x. This is no easy feat, with the biggest boost to multiplier coming for completing a waves without taking damage. These medals can subsequently be used to purchase items in the in-game shop. They’re mostly gallery images and cosmetics. However, there’s a few interesting additions, such as being able to unlock new vehicles early. This means that if you’re stuck at a certain point in the Arcade mode, you can unlock a new vehicle simply through replaying earlier stages and potentially give you a chance to take on a harder stage better equipped.
Dead End City isn’t an unfamiliar experience. However, it comes with enough novel ideas to stand out from the crowd. This isn’t just another Nephenthesys, but it’s also not pushing the envelope like Sine Mora. What it does it does very well, and there’s certainly plenty of hours of enjoyment to be had here. Add Pixel Licker to your radar, and let’s see what comes next from the studio.
You must be logged in to post a comment.