It’s never been a better time to be a gamer. All of the options, both in terms of games and ways to play today would’ve blown my mind back in the days of Sega Genesis. It doesn’t matter where or when you want to play, between smartphones, tablets, consoles, PCs, and streaming options that use a combination of these, you can play literally anywhere at any time. With this being said, streaming from my Xbox One to my Windows 10 PC has been a normal thing around my home, and generally works pretty well, with the exception of Rigid Force Redux. 

Before we get into the bad, I will say I really enjoyed my time with this game. In case the trailer and screenshots didn’t give it away, this is a side-scrolling shooter in the vein of Steredenn. The biggest change is that this incorporates a narrative that isn’t necessarily bad, but it feels unneeded and results in having an overly friendly AI that makes sure it offers a surprisingly amount of encouragement. It thanked me for playing so much I was almost expecting an anti-drug message to pop up at some point akin to the older arcade machines from my youth. The game also sets itself apart from the pack by bringing a sleek 3D design to the game, incorporating smooth textures in place of the pixelated ships and the like from similar games.

The title really shines when it comes to combat, allowing you to stack multiple weapon upgrades and eventually split them to fire into separate directions and patterns, meaning focusing fire on a specific target in front of you, or dealing with waves of enemies coming from all angles. I have been vocal in the past of my distaste for the bumper buttons being heavily used and can honestly say this is an example of a game that gets those right as you can easily click whichever direction you want to shift the guns to. If that’s not enough to get your thrusters going, the ship is also equipped with a melee-ish attack that negates enemy bullets as well as a super-powered laser attack that requires you to collect and conserve energy. This is done by shooting down the enemy forces and collecting some green sparkly bits that are left in their place, which can quickly be absorbed by a magnet-like ability that trades some movement speed for increased pick up range. All in all, this results in a ship that is a force to be reckoned with.

Since I’ve acquired an Xbox One X, my time has largely been split between streaming to the PC and playing on the new, shiny 4K upgraded console. I’ve tested this game on both, as well as my wife’s Xbox One S model, and each has presented some technical challenges, with the S model being the top performer. Initially, I ran into a bug spanning all the platforms in which I was stuck at a menu offering the option to complete the tutorial or skip it. After a few uninstall/reinstalls and (I can’t explain why) using a new controller that I was setting aside for when my current one breaks that was not set to auto-sign in, I was able to move on. If you run into this issue, the developer suggested plugging in only one controller. Once I was able to get into the proper game, the X model has a weird issue depending on the combination of upgrades and how you have your guns positioned – a solid black shape (circle, square, hexagon, etc.) will flicker in front of your gun, which comes and goes as it pleases. While it’s not game-breaking, I found this to be annoying, especially since this under-performed on the “world’s most powerful console” and actually gave me headaches after longer sessions with the game. UPDATE: Developer has released a patch that fixes the visual glitch.

Outside of these technical issues, the game performs pretty well once it gets going. The difficulty was a standout feature that never felt like it was too challenging or overly easy, only becoming slightly troublesome if you elect to start a run mid-game, as you can revisit any completed levels from scratch if you run out of continues or simply want to replay some favorite encounters. The catch here is you’ll begin a fresh game with only the base attack, which in later levels never feels like it has enough firepower for the more challenging battles.

Sadly, I still cannot get the game to run properly streaming it to my PC, but if you’re like me and can see the value in fun over minor bugs, Rigid Force Redux delivers a solid shmup experience thanks to the overpowered ship that can be customized on the fly. Just keep your expectation in check depending on which version of the console you’re playing it on.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Slick 3D Visuals
• The Polite AI That Offers Near Constant Encouragement
• Accessible Difficulty
• Highly Customizable Weaponry That Makes Your Ship Feel Like an Overwhelming Force

Cons

• Some Bugs
• Inability to Stream to PC via the Xbox/Win10 App

Rigid Force Redux was developed by com8com1 and published Headup Games. It was released on NS and X1 June 5th, 2020. The game was provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of Rigid Force Redux, check out the developer’s site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.