Yar's Revenge

[h1] Starting the game might be very daunting... Clunky controls, problems with high resolutions, running in fullscreen mode and some other minor bugs. On the contrary gameplay is not bad as it resembles arcade style rail shooters where you dodge from incoming bullets and such. Levels are fun to play as you fly through different environments. Boss fights are entirely different each and might get quite tough. Graphic is not the greatest now and textures are rather blurry. Music and sounds are mediocre. With some kind of patch it would've been a great arcade experience but currently running game feels like a chore. Play only if you like arcade shooters! [/h1]

Yars Revenge Yar’s Revenge is by no means a bad game but it is neither a very exciting game. Looking at some of the images and trailers, I click the add in cart button on impulse. The 60% discount on a already cheap game also just made that temptation impossible to resist. I was hoping that it will transport me back to the Panzer Dragoon moments of old. A time I was busy experimenting which games can work on my old PC from 1997 which seem to struggle with the then wow graphics. As with my Doom review, I somehow always ended up with Doom or Wolfenstein. Panzer Dragoon was one of the few games that did work somewhat and was a remarkably fun diversion for me. Flying on a dragon, shooting lasers at enemies in a unique world and a rather relaxing somber orchestral/techno soundtrack was pretty darn cool. Although the occasional crashes on my struggling PC kind of sour those moments but anyway does Yar’s Revenge scratch that itch. Well somewhat but fails at a few departments as well. Yars Revenge made by Atari (I was surprised Atari still releases games) is a rather simple on rail shooter where you control Yar and her quest to defeat the evil Qotiles. In the process freeing her race the Yar’s which I was always confused. Is it the race or her? The plot is simplistic but its delivery is done poorly through some stilted art and dialog during combat. Being an on rail shooter it was rather difficult for me to read and shoot at enemies at the same time. After a while I just gave up reading and just started playing the game as the story was really barebones and at times quite nonsensical. Yar’s overall is a very easy game to play and short one at that. You use the left mouse button to shoot your standard firearms and the right mouse button to attack with a powerful beam that can kill a single enemy quickly. The WASD are your directional button to control Yar’s movement. There are other weapons and equipment you can collect and use during combat by using the 1234 but for some reason a xbox control scheme is use to show you the stuff you have. I was a bit confused here. An example Y was a shield but how was I to know that pressing 1 can use it. Only by looking at the options control scheme did I figure it out. It’s a minor issue though for me. You can use the Tab button to shoot an all-powerful beam that wipes out everything in sight. The shooting at the start was rather monotonous and the enemies was nothing to shout about. The enemy variety in this game is remarkably weak as you see the same enemy over and over again but the shooting does get better later on in stage 3 on wards. With more enemies and one or two interesting boss fight. I was surprised that the game does have some neat environments and some small variety to its 6 levels. From the mushroom like forest planet to the factory laboratory areas with a lot of verticality movement. However there is some minor graphical glitches with you going through objects and enemies. The screen does turn red when you go through them signaling you have taken damage. It would have been better if Yar had some unique animations when clashing with objects or enemies instead of just going through them. At times your firing animation would go on loop but it only happen in one stage. The soundtrack is not too bad with the synthwave techno electronic beats which seems suitable and at times it does help bring the Panzer moments. The shooting sounds though is really weak and lack any impact. Overall would I recommend this game? Most probably not unless you are a huge fan of on rail shooters but even then I would recommend something else. There is no replay value for me, despite it having challenge stages. It is however remarkably cheap. Here in Malaysia it’s about RM 23 which is roughly 5 USD. There are also some small neat extras in showcasing Yar’s Revenge history and original game with a comic as well as some concept art. Maybe comparing it to Panzer Dragoon is not fair but Yar’s Revenge at the end of the day is a rather barebones simplistic on rail shooters. Out of 10 Graphics - 4 Going through objects despite having variety to its simple levels Gameplay - 3 Sound - 3 Story - 1 If i could read the dialog and if it was not shown during combat it might be a 2 On a side note, while doing this review I came upon on interesting article regarding Yar’s Revenge history and game development. I thought I will just add it here for anyone who is interested in some game history and development. https://www.polygon.com/2015/3/9/8163747/yars-revenge-is-a-journey-back-to-a-lost-world-of-video-games