Game Review (Rayhound)

Well, before I start on even reviewing any games, I would like to comment that I find the lack of creativity in the industry rather appalling. This may be because commercialism is driving game designers to design games that are blatant rips of popular games, bending the original idea by as much as you can bend your pen without it breaking into half. There is nothing out there to drive designers to be the visionaries that they are. To leap off the beaten path without a second thought. And thus for my subsequent reviews, I will only be reviewing on games that have really caught my attention by being different.

*Ends rant*

For this very first review, I will be presenting Rayhound, a shooting-game with a twist.

This game is controlled purely by the mouse. The main difference between Rayhound and other shooting-games is that the only means of destroying enemies on the field is by directing the beams fired by them right back at them. And there are 2 means to go about it. One of which is to move the ship fast enough such that it creates a reflective barrier in front of the ship for a short duration. And the other is to click on the mouse button to activate a gravitational field around the ship to attract and redirect the beams. The game also deviates from the usual life point system and instead uses a timer system to determine the end of the game.  What happens is that the player starts with 120 seconds which gradually decreases while the player is playing. When the timer reaches 0, the game ends. The player can prolong game time by 40 seconds by clearing the amount of enemies required for the stage. However, 10 seconds is deducted from the timer if the player is hit by a beam. This places the player under a different kind of requirement where he also has to take note of the amount of time taken to clear a stage while dodging and redirecting shots back at the enemy. The game does not reach a conclusion unless the timer reaches 0, however the amount of enemies also increases exponentially, making it hectic trying to dodge all the enemy projectiles while trying to destroy them before 40 seconds to not have a negative impact on the timer. The game has a rather simplistic design with only spaceship and enemy turrets that fire beams at the player. The UI also provides useful information on the amount of enemies left to destroy, time left and the position of enemy turrets.

Final consensus. If like me, you are tired of games that have the same systems with just different stories, and would prefer a unique game experience over a good story. Do give Rayhound a try (its a free game made by a small group known as hikware). Rating 3/5 (the controls do feel rather sluggish at moments)