Rochard

Rochard - What a charming little gem of a game. This title was also available on the PlayStation Store for the PS3. Your first play through can take 6 or 7 hours to complete if, like me, you're focused on trying to find all Collectibles & Upgrades, of which there are plenty to keep you searching. Once you know your way around, or you just like sprinting to the finish, you can wrap up the whole thing in just over 5 hours. The puzzles are very easy to solve but still fun. The late game combat can be brutal but satisfying. Spaced here and there throughout game are areas where you'll open a door to find a healthy mix of enemies hammering you from not only both sides, like any good 2D side scroller, but also above and below. You have one weapon, the G-Lifter, which acts much like a pocket tractor beam. However, as you progress you will find Upgrades for the G-Lifter which, with the click of a button, can transform it into a Pulse Riffle or a Grenade Launcher. The Grenade Launcher, or " Detonator " as it's called, has several types of ammo like Standard or Sticky Nades which you can attach to an item or enemy and remote detonate. A helpful tool for solving some of the puzzles. The story is clever and entertaining with just a touch of musical score here and there. All in all a gem of a find which found me replaying the game to find all the stuff I missed the second I completed my first play though. Sadly the devs were hard at work on the sequel when, as happens far too often, they were forced to close their doors and file for bankruptcy. Game play footage from the in progress but unfinished sequel can be found on YouTube. By the looks of things they were well into development when they were forced to shut down... very sad. I think you'll enjoy this charming throwback from the PS3 era as much as I did. 4/5 :)