Fast paced and quirky, Orbital Bullet is a unique 2.5D rogue-like action game, where players run and gun on a series of rings. Everything, from players and foes to projectiles, follows the curves of these rings. Not only does this mean that you can see the entirety of the map in a glance, it also means you can, with the right weaponry, fire in front of you and hit something that’s coming up behind you.
There are also rings within rings, with jump pads propelling players from layer to layer. Smaller rings give less room to manoeuver, but also mean that it’s easier to hit foes coming up behind you. Clearing a ring lets you move to the next layer, and so on until you reach the world’s boss. Defeat this, and you get a load of upgrade points (to spend in the event of your inevitable demise), come one step closer to beating the game, and get to move onto the next, harder, set of rings.
This all lends itself to some quite frantic gameplay, as players dodge attacks, jump over (or on) foes and continually blast away, all the while keeping one eye on what’s just round the corner (or behind). Each misstep leads to lost HP which will inevitably lead to the end of the run. Sometimes this comes from choosing the wrong weapon for the job (the sniper rife, for example, is great for hitting things half-way around the map, but a real liability up close). Sometimes it’s due to some nasty new enemy with a few surprises up its sleeves. And while you’ll gradually get familiar with foes and bosses, the ring layout in each run is different, so you’ll never be quite sure what you’re about to encounter.
I found Orbital Bullet different, fun, and casual whilst being the type of game that you can easily find yourself spending longer than you realised. All up, if you like action games, rogue-likes, and are looking for something different, this is definitely worth considering. ■