Caltrops - Galak-Z - I'm having fun with it!

Forum Overview :: Galak-Z

by Mischief Maker 11/06/2015, 8:11pm PST

If I had never played Ring Runner, I would probably be completely besotted with this game. Instead I just consider it surprisingly good, considering it was made by the Skulls of the Shogun guys. Between them and the Star Hammer guys, past performance really is no indication of future results with these developers.

Anyhoo, Galak-Z is an Asteroids-style Newtonian physics action roguelite with a cel-shaded Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic that has you flying a Colonial Viper that transforms into a mech with a lazer sword carrying on a guerrilla campaign through the cramped corridors of asteroids and space hulks belonging to three mutually antagonistic groups of baddies who can be aggro'ed against one another into battles that produce just as much upgrade cash as if you took them down yourself.

Games take place in a chain of five missions called episodes. The difficulty settings are called "seaons" and each has a unique boss encounter at the end. Upgrades reset between games/seasons, but you can pick up special coins that can either be spent for an extra life during the season, or can give you a cash bonus at the start of your next game.

Although none of the enemies are a match for you in open space, the levels mostly take place in cramped corridors jam packed with deadly hazards and if you don't pick your moments to engage in the later seasons you can find yourself trapped and mercilessly blown to bits by overwhelming numbers. To manage this, the game has a light stealth element where enemies have clearly marked vision cones and so long as you don't make any noise by thrusting you can use inertia to drift behind them unnoticed. The most important special ability of the robot is its Scorpion harpoon which can grab enemies and fling them into spikes, or pick up giant crates of explosives and throw them into a thick formation of badguys.

I've just unlocked Season 4 (of 5) and I'm having great fun.