Orbital Bullet Review Review

Pixel Roguelike Shooter Orbital Bullet recently left early access. In this case we’ve prepared an analysis of the game that differs from its competitors by having a distinctive feature – circular arenas where battles take place.

• Producer: Smokestab
• Publisher: Assemble Entertainment
• Please note: March 21, 2022

Orbital Bullet has the most absurd storyline I’ve seen. The evil aliens have infiltrated the inhabited planets and put humanity on the verge of destruction. You are part of the Resistance that merged your consciousness into an ethereal cybernetic cyborg in the final moments before dying. Now it’s your job to stop the invading forces.

The hero’s journey takes him through various planets that are inhabited by forces from another dimension. Naturally, there’s an opponent that the warrior must defeat during the final battle. He’ll gradually advance towards the total liberation of humanity by dying, and then as per the laws of roguelike, born every time, with a bit more strength than before.

The most important “feature” that the player will enjoy is the levels which are cylinders that are divided into sections; within them, the player can move vertically, similar to an elevator. It’s visually stunning, but it isn’t any uniqueness to the gameplay other than the possibility to shoot your opponent from the back, which is suitable to his left. So, if you use the long-range gun and shoot at a distance, then turn away from the opponent, the bullet will travel through the arc, hitting directly into him. In addition, it assists in protecting shieldmen by the shields from the front.

In other words, it’s the same “shooter” and features elements of a platformer. The hero is equipped with weapons found in gun chests and begins to eliminate all life in his range. Every gun comes with a unique range of effects and action. For example, a submachine gun shoots many bullets over only a few seconds, while the plasma gun causes delayed damage, and the grenade launcher’s shells fly on an exact trajectory that is important to consider when shooting. If you’re running out of ammunition, it is possible to jump into the face of the opponent and crush him like in Super Mario Bros.

The character earns points for destroying monsters that can be put into passive enhancements utilized in the course of play. For instance, you’ll boost the damage you take from jumping over enemies or activate a drone companion that shoots aliens simultaneously as you, improve projectiles’ efficacy, and the list goes on.

If the protagonist dies, those abilities are likely to “burn out,” and he is discarded at the start of the journey. But the knowledge gained can help you acquire operational capabilities throughout your next adventure. This includes a constant boost in damage and the random dropout of weapons at the beginning of a new experience and a broader range of merchants, a continuous increase in health, and much more. The list of bonus features is impressive and the number of points you have to spend on their purchase. You’ll need to invest lots of time trying to win the game and build your character to the highest level.

That’s precisely that Orbital Bullet is designed to achieve, however. The short levels and quick loading times let you play for a short period, and the increasing length between games gives you the feeling of progress. When you’re done with the game’s early access mode, it will provide players with a lot of content, though the creators have a lot to improve – the localization is a mess in certain places, and certain weapons are a bit not balanced.