Building a Better Bug in an Auto-Battling Arena
In Centipede Gun, the player controls a centipede that must fend off ways of enemies. Each stage features multiple waves of opponents that will continuously pursue and attack the centipede. Defeating these guys will occasionally cause coins to drop, and at the end of each stage, an additional coin will be given to the player.
These coins are then used to buy additional segments for the centipede to make them stronger; body parts that attack enemies, either by swinging knives around, firing a gun, or even spawning in turrets around the map.
Automatic Artillery
Centipede Gun is an autobattler, so the centipede automatically targets and attacks approaching enemies. The player is responsible for moving around the map to avoid bullets and enemies that are charging towards them, and the centipede does tend to prioritize attacking those closer to the front of the body, giving the player some influence over things.
But the goal is to build the strongest centipede possible so that approaching enemies don’t stand a chance. This is done by selective placement of body parts and upgrading them by stacking multiples of the same upgrades in the same spot.
Buffing the Body
Besides the segments that attack directly, others will buff adjacent body parts with various abilities and status effects. One segment may cause a body part to fire multiple bullets, another can cause attacks to chain between enemies, and others impart effects like poison or bleeding to weaken enemies.
These buffs can affect all adjacent body parts, so by placing them into the grid efficiently, it’s possible to have multiple attacks instantly improved by a single upgrade. And by purchasing multiples of the same upgrade and placing them in the same space, these abilities become stronger still. They can also ascend, which adds another effect to the ability. For example, regular weapons may increase their critical rate, while improving the bleeding effect enough can cause it to automatically drop enemy health, if the effect is applied.
There are also augments that offer more non-combat benefits. This includes segments that can generate healing effects, cause enemies to drop more coins, and create a magnetizing effect to pull items to the centipede.
All of these different segments together can create an incredibly strong centipede.
Elite Encounters
Centipede Gun’s levels typically consist of three waves, but every fifth stage culminates in an “elite” fight where one large enemy with a massive reservoir of health will occupy the screen. It remains stationary for the most part, but will occasionally shrink before dashing to a new spot and releasing a barrage of bullets. The goal of these levels is to defeat the elite enemy while surviving the multiple waves of smaller foes that spawn in.
Typically, these end when every wave of enemy has been dealt with, and the centipede is then able to concentrate its efforts on the elite, until it’s defeated. But it is also possible to defeat the elite early, which prevents the remaining waves of enemies from spawning in.
The Difficulty Ceiling
All around, Centipede Gun itself is well-made and building a centipede that swiftly deals with many enemies at once is a pleasure. But that enjoyment starts to fade as the ease of the game, and simplicity of the strategy to win, becomes clear. Centipede Gun is an easy game, even when using the limited number of methods for increasing that difficulty.
There are two ways difficulty increases: by beating the game, and then activating one of three new game plus modes. The new game plus will add another five levels to the run, throwing stronger enemies in for good measure. The second method is to purchase a cosmetic item which makes it so that when you lose an appendage during a level, it doesn’t respawn for the next level.
New Game Plus
Both of these methods do increase the difficulty, but it’s so easy to create an unbeatable centipede that it doesn’t really matter. The first few levels of a new run are the hardest, but that’s because the centipede is starting as just a head. Once you know how to combine body parts, it’s just a matter of waiting for the right ones to appear in the store.
On my New Game+ 3, I had a hat equipped that prevented appendages from spawning and about two thirds of the way through the run I had managed to create a centipede that was so strong I didn’t need to move at all. That’s not an exaggeration either; the centipede could sit still and by selecting the upgrades after the elite fights that increased my centipede’s range, his attacks could cover the entire level.
Redundancy and Scale
This was something I had managed to do in every run. Which led to replaying each new game plus feeling a bit more tedious than it otherwise needed to. There is an endless mode included, but the low difficulty ceiling makes it hard to get invested in it. Eventually there may be a point where the builds need to be more strategic, but the time it would take to get there would be ridiculous.
It should be noted that there is a segment cap for the centipede which increases by one after the elite enemy fights. This is supposed to compensate for the added difficulty, but again, It’s possible to quickly out scale the enemies once the right configuration of segments are bought.
And the opponents themselves don’t have much variety. As the difficulty increases, the enemies are typically just variations of the previous units. The elites attack before they move, but they aren’t a constant threat during their fight making them a bit more of an afterthought. And it’s understandable why they aren’t constantly fighting.
The elite enemies are much larger than the standard ones, and the stage itself is fairly small, so making them stronger would drastically shift the way those fights go. However, it would be possible to make the stages larger, which would provide a lot more room for enemies to spawn. Bigger maps would allow for more enemies to spawn, allow for larger centipede builds, and would give more variance in how each level plays. All of which would go a long way in making Centipede Gun more engaging and replayable.
An Engaging Foundation Seeking a Real Challenge
It’s unfortunate, because Centipede Gun has an engaging foundation. The clean graphics, the interesting build system, and the overall gameplay loop do mean this has the makings of a great game. But the lack of difficulty makes it a hard game to sit down to play for extended periods of time. Although, I could imagine it would be perfect on mobile.
Centipede Gun is not a bad game, it’s just too easy. But if you’re looking for something to play mindlessly, or if you have kids to entertain, this could be a decent fit.
Important Links
Assemble The Ultimate Bug Of Destruction In Centipede Gun – https://www.thexboxhub.com/assemble-the-ultimate-bug-of-destruction-in-centipede-gun/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/centipede-gun/9MTQCTG8JZ8F/0010
