Blue Rider Review

I am a massive fan of indie games and when I head to gaming events like EGX and Rezzed you’ll find me playing loads of them and talking to the developers and creators, I will check out the big triple A titles as well but indie games have the most intriguing diversity of games out there. They just offer so much at the fraction of the cost and can keep me entertained for hours, Blue Rider is one such title. From the start it looked like a simple shooter which it is, it’s easy to control and play and set in a beautifully colourful world but.. It’s so addictive and challenging.

Obviously you play as a little blue ship or rider as the name suggests as you weave your way through the stages killing little mechanised robots who get progressively get harder until you get locked in a room with a boss who is hell-bent on wiping you from existence. The task is to kill him or it before you get blown to tiny pieces because he is what stands between you and the end of the level. Being defeated means starting the level again which has happened more times than I care to remember, the first boss however isn’t to tough but the second onwards seem to be pure hell.

Each enemy you face may or may not drop an orb, whether it’s green for health, purple for extra bombs or the blue for rampage they’re all randomly generated. The latter is a blue gauge that times the multiplier of you score and can deal out some pretty exclusive rewards like an extra re-spawn that is like winning the lottery in this game. The other things to hunt down throughout the levels are the weapons power up stations which do exactly what the title suggests and relics that are hidden little pyramids full to the brim with rampage goodness.

For me this game is fantastic, I die so much but keep going back for more in the vain hope I can this time defeat the end level boss. Getting there with enough bombs and health is a challenge in itself but when I eventually do defeat it (him or she) though I feel ecstatic and feel so euphoric. Each boss apart from the first is pretty tough to defeat, they attack you constantly and the small gunfire won’t do too much damage but they have a insta-kill attack that will stop you and your game in its tracks.

Even though the game I played was the beta version I could not find a single problem with the game, the opposite in fact. I love it, the game has simplicity yet takes skill, patience and concentration to complete each level. Their are going to be people out there who are far better than me who will be fantastic at this game but for me I can’t stop playing it, I’m addicted to it and have spent hours trying to get as far as I can. Sadly that only up to level four (out of nine) for now.

I easily score this game 10/10, it is incredibly good and I’ve even stopped playing other games to sink more hours into Blue Rider because it’s easy to play, the only weak link is the person playing which is a horrible mix of frustration and pleasure as you strive to do better with each passing game. You learn everything about the level and how the enemy’s move and behave up to the gates of the boss, then to a degree all bets are off. They’re an unpredictable force that will end you in a heartbeat. Well.. I’m off to get to level five (maybe).

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.