Is this side scrolling shooter a great game or does it rely on its complex story?

Mar 21, 2012 17:41 GMT  ·  By

Much was said about Sine Mora before its actual release this week, as the game, coming from Hungarian developer Digital Reality under the guidance of Japanese studio Grasshopper Manufacture, promised to deliver a top notch side scrolling shooter experience with a unique story with many philosophical aspects.

Unfortunately, between these talks about its story, its gameplay always took a back seat, so now that Sine Mora has finally appeared on the Xbox 360, via Xbox Live Arcade, it’s time to see if it can deliver on its promises

Is Sine Mora a great game with a special story or just a polished narrative that doesn’t translate well into gameplay? Let’s have a quick look.

Right from the start of the game, Sine Mora doesn’t leave the best first impression, as it begins with a big block of text explaining the dangers of bending time to your will thanks to special powers.

Unfortunately, while the text is rather interesting, the block, alongside all of the game’s voice work, is narrated in Hungarian. While I understand that it’s an indie project made by a studio from Hungary, perhaps it would’ve been better to use some English voice actors.

Next up are some cinematic moments, after which you jump into pilot a sort of plane that needs to help assault a squadron of enemies. The shooting feels pretty good, but the decision to map out the main shoot action to a button, instead of the trigger or bumper ones, is a bit weird.

Gameplay-wise, Sine Mora is quite good, as the ship handles well and your attacks are quite potent, from a standard one to special moves that range from sending a barrage of rockets or a wave of energy into your opponents, or spawning two smaller aircrafts above and below your main one.

Although things might get boring after the first few enemy encounters, the action of the screen, as well as the big number of enemy shots that come towards your fragile ship, force you to use a special bullet-time power that slows everything down and allows you to carefully avoid your opponents or get that extra shot that blows them up.

Right after the first major encounter, you’re treated with a new block of text that doesn’t exactly make it clear what you’re supposed to be doing or why are you doing it. You’re quickly thrown into action after this and the next few scenes are quite interesting, offering lots of varied opponents and a consistent challenge.

In the next stage you pilot a new ship that, while different in looks from the original, still has the same basic powers and abilities.

All in all, Sine Mora is a pretty good side scrolling shooter but it tries a bit too much to jam information about its story and world down your throat. What’s more, the Hungarian voice work makes things even more complicated.