XBLIG Review: The Last Podfighter
This game is best experienced by playing in an office chair, spinning around like an idiot.
Remember that 80′s flick, The Last Starfighter? Sure you do; a trailer park kid aces an arcade shooter and finds out the game is actually a training exercise for real intergalactic combat and is then recruited to kick alien ass. Playing The Last Podfighter, a new Xbox Live Indie Game, reminded me of that classic gem. It’s a 3D arcade-style shooter from game developer Fighter9, and aside from having plenty of ships blowing up in space, it has absolutely nothing to do with the previously mentioned movie. Well, perhaps the title and the design of the main spacecraft give a hint of where the inspiration comes from, but who’s to say for sure?
With no storyline or setup, The Last Podfighter throws gamers right into action with two modes of play to choose from, Arcade and Survival. In both modes, fleets of enemy ships come from different directions and the objective becomes clear; kill ‘em all! In Arcade mode, you fight a swarm of baddies until a boss ship appears and, in traditional shooter fashion, it requires all weapons and skills to destroy it in order to advance to the next stage. Survival mode simply requires you to stay alive as you (*Robert Loggia voice*) take those sonsofbitches down.
There’s plenty of control for the ship, with the left stick used for primary 360-degree movement and aiming, triggers for brakes and main laser fire, and the bumpers used for barrel rolls. The face buttons activate “pods,” which are offensive and defensive sub-weapons; X fires up shields to give temporary invincibility and partial health recovery, A triggers the engine thrusters to fly out of tight spots and B launches homing missiles to locked-on targets. The Y button fires one of the three tactical pods, which include a wide-range nuke, a freeze bomb and a vortex that sucks up enemy fire.
There’s some pretty good response in these controls and the ship itself seldom does anything you don’t want it to do. The only function that doesn’t work too well is the 180-degree flip that is done by tilting down on the right stick. It’s kind of slow and leaves you wide open to enemy fire, so it’s best just to steer around manually. Using up and down on the D-pad to select lock-on targets is also a tad clunky but luckily, this can also be done by pressing in the left stick. Overall, it isn’t too shabby to fly around in, though I’m not going to rush out and order a “My Other Ride is a Podfighter” bumper sticker anytime soon.
The flow of the game is driven by the use of the pods, which are earned and stockpiled by defeating enemy craft. The fighter can only carry a limited number of each pod, so the trick is to pick the appropriate time and situation to use them. Taking too much fire that can’t be dodged with barrel rolls? Throw up the shields. Enemies approaching in a cluster? Fire a nuke for massive concentrated damage. With good timing and a little luck, pods will replenish as quickly as you use them, adding a sense of strategy that can be rather enjoyable.
There certainly is potential for a satisfying 3D space-sim shooter experience; a plethora of responsive controls, decent graphic detail, smooth frame rate and lighting effects, a comprehensive HUD and a collection of catchy space-techno jams are all present here. But there are a few elements that keep The Last Podfighter from achieving greatness. First, the sense of flight and speed is somewhat lacking. On-screen objects slowly hover toward the ship as it stays primarily in the center of the screen and the intensity of a massive dogfight slips from this game’s grasp. It also doesn’t help that the background is the same for all stages, killing the scope of battle as well. It’s a little disappointing, but somewhat forgivable.
Less forgivable is the clunky auto-aiming and hit detection, which can be frustratingly inaccurate and not reflective of a gamer’s skill set. There were moments where enemies were in close range, right in the center of cross hairs, only to have sporadic and minimal damage delivered. Distant shots have missed opportunities when the auto-lock function sometimes steers you away from your own clear shot. This also proves to be problematic and confusing with bosses that have multiple targets on multiple sides. Meanwhile, a shower of deadly accurate enemy fire bleeds your fighter’s damage tank and pod stockpile dry. Tears of shame and defeat may or may not follow.
Lastly, the lack of continues in the Arcade mode is like a toddler kick to the junk. Each stage can take 6-10 minutes to complete on first tries, so, needless to say, dying halfway through the third stage after spending 25 minutes of your time is devastating when you find out you have to start from scratch. Multiple attempts at achieving victory become less fun each time you start over, beginning to feel like a chore… and that’s when you know the thrill is gone.
Survival mode is better suited to the game’s style of play and is a less frustrating experience, since the only goal is to achieve a high score. Unfortunately, there is no online leaderboard support for either mode, so the only competition you’ll have are the users on your own console. On the good side, the game costs only 80 MS points, so budget gamers and challenge seekers can get a lot of bang for their buck. I only wish the challenge wasn’t on behalf of design flaws instead of genuine shooter intensity.
OVERALL (2.75/5)
Developed by Fighter9, The Last Podfighter has promise, but falls short in the 3D space shooter genre. Controls, graphics and sound have good form, but lack of intensity, clunky aiming and no continues drain the real fun. It’s only $1, but I recommend a try before you buy. Maybe you can rise where I have failed and the creator of the game will show up at your doorstep in a space car and recruit you to fight against an evil intergalactic dictator with stupid hair. Me? I’ll stay home and watch Enemy Mine.
