Many many months ago I was graciously given a code for an aesthetically pleasing game called Nova Drift. I must say it's taken me quite some time to even start-up Nova Drift and honest I was surprised by this new and innovative bullet hell game.
Let's take a look into Nova Drift!
I will admit that I was a bit hesitant, perhaps overwhelmed with the game as it is a genre that I enjoy watching but partaking in it myself made me a bit anxious but I continued I wanted to give it a fair chance and dip my toe in the water of that of action, aesthetically pleasing bullet hell game.
Nova Drift was developed by Chimeric which is a solo game development company (which I believe is part of PixelJam??), and published by Pixeljam . PixelJam is known for their low resolution, pixel art games and have made games for Adult Swim even! PixelJam has created games such as Dino Run, Potatoman Seeks the Troof, and more.
The appeal of having that retro-esque feel to a game along with 8-bit music now to the sleekly designed and crisp graphics of Nova Drift.
I was interested to see the results of their HUGE jump from Pixel art to a more modern design. Also, being new to this genre I didn't know what to expect except for A LOT of colors, lots of bullets, and more color. I've seen the likes of Touhou games, Furi, Cuphead to just name a few recent ones.
I was a bit worried but the only way to get better is to do it right?
I want to reiterate that this game is still early access and is currently still being worked on so I can only speak about the features that are currently in the Early Access version of Nova Drift.
Disclaimer: This review is based solely on my own opinion and not being influenced by any means.
Additionally, I will be using a modified version of my review scale as the normal categories do not fit the genre.
On with the review:
As a whole, I give Nova Drift ☆☆☆!
Nova Drift is so beautifully designed with so many aesthetically pleasing colors, background, UI ( User interface), simple designs but yet appealing & evolving designs of the enemies and the ship you control. Being a newbie to the genre I was able to get the gist of the movements within a few minutes of playing on the keyboard and once you get a grip on the controls of the game you are on your way to enjoying that of Nova Drift.
Now the game itself is simple and straightforward, you control this ship that constantly evolves depending on how many enemies you destroy, and the more enemies you destroy the more complex and beautifully designed enemies.
At the start, you have the option of playing Practice Mode, Endless Mode where you continue to play until you're destroyed, and Wild Metamorphosis, where there are randomized mods thrown at you and halved upgrade rolls. The campaign mode will most likely be the finished product, which I am curious to see what they come up with.
In addition to the modes, the controls are all the same in each mode, you have the option of using a keyboard & mouse as well as a gamepad. For those worried about using a keyboard, it's the "A" & "S" keys as well as the left & right arrow keys.
EZ Clap.
From what I understand about bullet hell games, you are normally within a fixed camera space and can only move up, down, forward, backward, OF COURSE not all bullet hell games are like this but with Nova Drift, you can actually use all of the space around you and even strife off the sides and appear on the opposite side.
It honestly blew my newbie mind.
Currently, there isn't a concrete 'story' for Nova Drift and I'm not sure if there is a need for a story for this specific game but the basis is to survive, evolve, and in a sense conquer your foes.
Now I usually don't play many "Early Access" games as the game is incomplete and that there are things missing from the game, in this case, music was missing from the game and had audio for everything else.
I am excited to see how PixelJam and Chimeric add to this already beautiful game, and I also think that if you are interested in stepping into the bullet hell genre I would recommend starting with Nova Drift and branching out to others that catch your interest. Though it is still early access I HIGHLY recommend checking out Nova Drift and just showing some support to PixelJam & Chimeric for their creative and innovative pixel games!
Are you familiar with playing bullet hell games? What about the game makes it appealing? I would love to hear your thoughts on Nova Drift and bullet hell games in general.
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