Last Encounter is a twin-stick shooter game set up in deep space along with a group of heroes cloning their ships and designing their weapons with swappable components in an attempt to prevent the unavoidable. Last Encounter is developed and published by Exordium Games. When it comes to playing the game, you can play it solo or play with your friends by teaming up with three pilots.
Platform Reviewed: PC
Platforms Available: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Developer: Exordium Games
Publisher: Exordium Games
Release Date: May 8, 2018
MSRP: £15.99
This review is based on a review code provided by Exordium Games.
The Game
First, you as a player need to create an avatar. There are four avatars you can choose from. Each avatar has different stats. You can select based on your preference. You won’t be able to customize any of their stats to which, in my opinion, is one of the game’s downsides. Next, choose from the four ships that have different attributes. There are also unlockable ships and pilots. Finally, you can venture out into space, complete missions and clear areas. A bunch of advanced weapon components can be found throughout the galaxy. These can all be combined to give you a much stronger arsenal. When combined, you can make things like a deadly homing rocket, poison rocket shells, triple bouncing laser beam, and a lot more. Pretty exciting right?
The Mechanics
You need to clear the areas by destroying all enemy ships. Stages aren’t exactly easy, but they aren’t too difficult. What’s interesting is that there are alien in specific areas that have different attack patterns. There are keys and power-ups found on each stage which can help you finish an area with ease. A player can select which area to go next. In order to proceed to the next stage, you need to get all keys within the level. When it comes to game controls, it’s pretty straightforward; W, A, S, D for movement, left click for firing, and right click for dashing. While clearing the areas, you will also earn coins by not just destroying an enemy ship but also destroying meteorites or boxes that are floating which you can use to unlock weapons.
The Graphics
This game has nice graphics. It’s like another level of a twin-stick action game. In my opinion, what makes it look good is the color selection. It really knew how to mix all of them to look visually stunning. The RGB effects and the violet rays looked amazing to me. The interface is not that bad as well as it is really easy to navigate. It’s also not heavy as it’s playable on a low-end PC, which I think is good.
The Background Music
I prefer background music that is on par with the sound effects. It’s not loud and at the same time, it matches the atmosphere of the game. It also doesn’t overlap with the firing sound and other sound effects. I’m not a music guru but I think this game’s BG is pretty good.
The Interface
The interface of the game looks good. In my honest opinion, I didn’t really expect the game to look this polished as something as simple as the color combination is very eye-catching. I think the only con to the interface is the NPC that pops up during missions. It’s like a free-to-play browser game that pops up whenever you talk to an NPC. I’m not saying it’s bad and I’m not against browser games but I think it’s too common to be used. I played a lot of RPG browser titles before so I kinda feel that it is not new. I think uniqueness is one of the things that makes the game stands out. Other than that, the interface is awesome.
Thoughts
I think Exordium Games did a great job developing this game. No wonder that it was nominated for Best Indie Game and Official Pax Rising Selection awards. One thing I didn’t like which I mentioned earlier is the avatar creation. I think it’s better to have a customizable avatar when it comes to stats. Overall, I enjoyed it. I have played a couple of similar titles and I think this would be one of my favorites. I also think that it’s more fun if played with others so having an online multiplayer option would be great. I would recommend this to my friends and family and it’s definitely worth to try.
