420th played so far
Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Xbox 360/PC
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Llamasoft
Publisher: Llamasoft
Today, from the list of shoot ’em ups that are less than twenty years old (it was time), we play Llamasoft’s Space Giraffe, a Tempest-like game (even if not officially a clone and not too inspired) by the creator of Tempest 2000. The book says it’s not for everyone…
Our Thoughts
That was… fairly tepid, to be honest. It’s got the Tempest inspiration, which isn’t too bad, although it’s not a game we were that much of a fan of. The game doesn’t mess too much with its initial inspiration, abandoning some of the round loops and possibly, I suppose,ย adding some enemy variations – not that it always shows too much in a frantic shooter.
No, what it adds – unwisely or not – are loud, bombastic graphics that almost have to be LSD-inspired, with a bunch of meme and game references, some no longer being as valid anymore. It feels a bit over the top in how it’s trying to be modern and in with the kids.
The mechanics have seen a few more updates. You can float away from the field for a short time (depending on your performance) and get to use a bomb to take out more enemies in the field. You get graded on your performance, which seems to indicate which reference you get, but there’s nothing special about that here.
But that’s the problem with this sort of game – it just turned out to be too off-putting to look into, especially as the game itself just doesn’t appeal enough or offer enough fun gameplay to invest in.
Final Thoughts
Sure, this game has personality, and that is in a way to be commended. Unfortunately, the personality is that of the obnoxious guy at the party who’s a bit too taken with his own jokes. Perhaps it would have been better if we felt more engaged with the Tempest formula, but as it is the shoot ’em up doesn’t make things that much better.