Beyond the Acronym: A Unique Shooter Emerges
I’m pretty well versed when it comes to the video game scene (I think) however one word popped up recently, and has since resurfaced in numerous other places. SHMUP. Only once the meaning behind the mysterious word is revealed, does it feel so obvious. Shoot ‘em up.
Putting the modern trend of shortening everything where possible aside (pet peeve but I’ll get onboard), ZOE Begone! isn’t your typical SHMUP. I guess this is because the first impressions paint a game with bright colours, arty effects and a film reel border resulting in a striking visual style. It doesn’t scream arcade shooter.
An Animator’s Nightmare
Poor Zoe is simply looking to catch some Z’s, but the rather sadistic animator isn’t about to let that happen. Each of their tools will pursue you through the reels of every level, culminating in a hard-as-nails boss battle.
That’s as good a reason as any to blast the animator’s creations to bits, which will besiege you and try to wipe you out. All sorts of weird and wacky creations will be brought to life, from rockets and squid-like creatures, to sentient clouds and stacked towers of threatening letters which spray gunfire in every direction.
Drawn-on-Film Carnage
ZOE Begone! is beautifully animated in a drawn-on-film style, backed by a lively piano soundtrack. However, don’t let the looks fool you, this is still a bullet hell style shooter combined with run-and-gun mechanics. The arcade mode, which is the main way to play, is set across five different levels, each consisting of three reels and a different boss to face-off against.
Zoe needs to manage energy and health whilst collecting apples from vanquished enemies. Pickups to replenish energy and health are lined up at the bottom of the screen, and need to be ground pounded to collect. Actually making contact with them was hit and miss, especially during the frantic sections, as I continually seemed to miss the pickups despite hitting them no problem on other occasions.
Apples are used in the shop, which pops up in-between each reel, for Zoe to purchase upgrades. Depending on your playstyle you can opt for more weapons, greater firepower, defensive aids and many other perks. These only last until it’s game over, but as a small consolation if this happens you’ll get an additional life for your next attempt.
Punishing Difficulty and Control Quirks
However, despite different difficulty options, Zoe Begone! is a very challenging game. The reels themselves are hard enough, but the boss battles ramp things up significantly even when tackling the standard difficulty option. It was so challenging at times that any enjoyment was overtaken by pure frustration, and before too long you better believe I dialled things down to “Easy”. Even here, dying was a constant occurrence.
Something else which doesn’t help when things get frantic are the controls. Zoe can run along the ground, which is her only way of getting around when she runs out of energy and can’t fuel her jet pack. However, she can’t immediately dash across the ground, instead needing to get airborne by jumping first. It sounds like a minor thing, but it makes dodging aerial and ground based enemies really difficult. This leaves very little reason for not keeping Zoe in the air, so she can zip around, running and gunning in the classic shooter sense. It’s only then that ZOE Begone! clicks together and feels like that’s the way it’s meant to be played.
The Sadists’ Playground
Aside from the arcade mode, you can also tackle the time attack and frame trap modes. With the first, it’s all about defeating enemies quickly to convert any remaining time into extra points. I miserably failed to complete the reels in arcade against the clock, so be warned, boosting your score isn’t easily done. The frame trap mode is essentially a boss rush mode, and just the thought of it gives me the shivers.
Despite my focus being solely on survival, the sadists out there can push themselves in the pursuit of fame and glory by chasing high scores thanks to the online leaderboards. Given the difficulty, a co-op multiplayer option feels like a missed opportunity because I could have really used the help.
A Visually Stunning but Punishing SHMUP
ZOE Begone! is a wonderfully created but brutally difficult SHMUP, that despite looking cute and cuddly, will challenge even the most adept players.
Important Links
From a Single Splodge of Ink Comes a Whirlwind of Chaos in ZOE Begone! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/from-a-single-splodge-of-ink-comes-a-whirlwind-of-chaos-in-zoe-begone/
Buy Zoe Begone! on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/zoe-begone/9PG0H8B314XS
[…] Tuttavia, non mancano punti deboli. La curva di difficoltà è piuttosto ripida e, pur offrendo opzioni per tutti i livelli, può risultare punitiva per i neofiti del genere, soprattutto nelle fasi avanzate. In certe recensioni la difficoltà e la gestione dei controlli sono indicati come aspetti che possono scoraggiare i giocatori meno esperti. (TheXboxHub) […]