Project Root Review

In the late 1980’s (yes I am that old), you might have found me in your local arcade with a fistful of 10 pence’s, playing the latest top down shooter. Games like R-TYPE were my drugs, where I would start the game, play frantically for five minutes, get killed five times, then GAME OVER. Without blinking, the next ten pence would be put in and I would start the process over again, maybe getting a bit further and a bit older. It was fun, adrenaline pumping and addictive.

So when after 25 years later I got a chance to play Project Root by OPQAM, a table top shooter that promised the old style game I knew so well, but with new free roaming, open world action, I was so excited and I even considered growing a mullet again.

Project Root consists of eight different open world locations that are fairly sizable and in each of these worlds you are given a number of objectives and side objectives to complete. There is a story about a global corporation called ‘Prometheus” who are evil, but really pretending to be good. It doesn’t take itself seriously and the narrative really doesn’t matter, because all you want to do is shoot things. And shoot things you will; in abundance and with extreme prejudice. The three buttons that are most important for your survival are the aerial weapon (guns) the ground weapon (bombs) and the special weapon (homing missiles etc.). You’ll find yourself holding these buttons down continuously and getting cramped fingers after just a short play through.

The old school linear model, where by the screen scrolled downwards as you went left, right, up and down through the level is abandoned here. Now you can go in any direction and explore the world at your leisure. A red mark in your HUD shows you the direction of the objective, but you don’t have to do this straight away, you can go off and just shoot things somewhere else on the map. The first criticism I have is there isn’t enough out there to stop you going straight for the objective. There’s not much to see and when you wander the game loses its focus and you get bored very quickly.

Enemies are varied and are of different levels of annoyance and difficulty. Some drop special weapons, lives or ship repair specials that are very useful. There are moments when you seem to trigger every enemy in the game and your screen is filled with missiles incoming from all directions. The ship itself is responsive but because of the nature of the open world it’s really difficulty to view what is coming in from behind you, and by the time you’ve turned to look at the source it’s to late and your dead.

When you have done a number of objectives, you eventually end up in a big boss battle and when you beat that, then you complete the level. You’ll have some experience points that you can spend on things like weapons, agility, etc. Then off you go again. The graphics are what you expect from a early 90’s table top shooter; colorful and clear, but then I remembered I’m playing on a Xbox one and it’s 2015. Retro can sometimes be used in my opinion as an excuse for laziness. Explosions are nice but unimpressive, ships are okay but generic and when compared to other live arcade shooters on a similar budget over the last few years, it just doesn’t compare. The soundtrack and effects are not brilliant but not bad; they are what you expect of this type of game. I can’t remember anything memorable from it and I just played it ten minutes ago.

There is also no online element to Project Root, which is a shame in this day and age especially with games like this that are crying out for it. A two-player co-op mode would be perfect and some leaderboards, or even two player local would have been adequate enough. It would have given the game a boost and make it stand out from the crowd.

You see, the gameplay is fine and dandy, it does the job or quoting Ronseal paint… it does what it says on the tin. Sadly though, fun and enjoyment is something not mixed in with that paint statement. The old top down shooters were great for fun in quick bursts. Here the levels seem long, objectives dull and you often find yourself getting lost or wandering around aimlessly. Then all your lives are taken from something shooting you from behind and you have to do it all over again. As the levels get harder you’ll find yourself finding any excuse not to go back. I even washed up instead of pressing the retry button after my second attempt at one of the later levels.

There’s an achievement that sums this point up nicely and says everything you need to know about this game. You get 80 Gamerscore points for playing the game for 5 hours. Now forgive me for getting on my high horse or any kind of pony… it’s not a achievement for putting up with a game for five hours. Five hours should fly by, with you thinking, my god I am so involved in this brilliant experience I’ve missed school, or work, or my wedding. Instead you, like me, might struggle to get to half that achievement total before wandering off to look at a wall or…a plant.

On a positive note the game plays well, it works neatly and the upgrades feel like you’re progressing onwards in your battles. Some of the landscapes are nicely rendered and the enemies can be varied. The cheap price tag of £7.99 (£5.69 discount when I wrote this) is also a nice bonus and an appropriate price for a game of this kind.

However if a game feels like a chore very quickly, and you start to feel like your just going through the motions by holding down buttons and circling wildly like a screaming dervish, this is not the game for you. I rather remember happier days in my local arcade smelling the stale cigarettes mixed with candyfloss and playing games that were for that time the best that they could be.

In 2015 there is much more to explore and much more to innovate with.