DubWars

IMPORTANT NOTE: If playing this on Windows 10 or newer, achievement/goal completion text as well as the language options won't display. You can fix this by right-clicking the game's executable in FIle Explorer and setting compatibility mode to Windows 7. The dev doesn't seem to be updating it anymore so this workaround is likely permanent. If someone just told you how this game plays, it would sound super clunky and frustrating. It's like a twin-stick shooter, except all you control is movement and your ship only fires based on what instruments and beats are playing in the level's song. It shouldn't work, but it totally does, though it certainly requires some getting used to. Each song has several difficulty settings but the starting one will be quite challenging until you get some upgrades to your shields and weapons, which are purchased using "wubs" that you pick up in the levels as you play. The kicker is that the upgrades are level specific so you have to power up in each one before you can take on its higher difficulties. Some might call this padding, but I think it's a smart system because different songs benefit from different sets of upgrades earlier on. The music is all from small, independent artists (at least they were when the game came out) and each gets a little bio on the loading screens, which is really cool. I've added several to my "music to do list" to check out. The game's presentation has a real "90s shareware" vibe and that's not something I say as an insult. Anyone who was playing shareware in that decade probably knows exactly what I mean. From the UI, to the font choices to the pre-rendered enemy animations and background, this feels like it was a deliberate choice. It won't be to everyone's taste, but this is one retro art style you don't see reproduced often and I like seeing it here. Unfortunately, the game is no longer being updated, so take heed of the note at the top to make it run optimally on your PC, but I did enjoy this. I've completed all 10 levels, but will probably keep this installed to keep chipping away at higher difficulties.

Game quit running on me...

wub wub blow up robots

I have to give the creators credit for a really one-of-a-kind game concept. I saw the Penny Arcade review of this game years ago and couldn't quite get it out of my head. I finally picked it up last month and it's a great pick up and play game for when you want to unwind a little, but don't want to commit your whole evening -- just take a nice little break, enjoy some fun music, and feel like a boss when the beat drops.

What did the Wyrms ever do to me? Nothing, I suppose. Certainly nothing to have made me attack the meteor they live on. But here we are. Just me, my spaceship, and the Beat, fighting against a relentless wave of flying creatures. I duck and dive and do all I can to avoid their breath and their projectiles and the direct attacks against my ship, waiting, holding out, hoping for the bass to drop. The crescendo is building, and the Wyrms are gathering. This is it. This is the moment. It's now, or never. And the Beat. Drops. The laser beams erupt from my ship and tear through the swarm, flickering and flashing with the Beat. In an instant, the swarm is gone, and I know one thing for sure: this game's pretty good.

pretty cool

This game is fantastic, if you are a fan of Galaga, Geometry Wars, or twin stick shooters in general you will love the rythym based wave survival game. You can definitely rush through the levels and get the "Completed it" personal trophy, but the real fun is in playing levels again and again to learn the patterns because you were so close last time. The music makes every level fun to come back to and I find myself wondering how they even matched the attacks to the music or if it was done by hand. All in all you will not regret this purchase, full price or not. If you want a chill game to fill the go to slot when you want to pass time, this game is for you.