Everyday Shooter

October 18,2007 - Twin-stick shooters have been the biggest genre of downloadable games released on any console, so much so that people are starting to tire of them. Luckily, Everyday Shooter intends to change things up with an increased focus on music and less of a focus on mindlessly shooting everything on screen. If you thought any downloadable game you’ve played before had that indie vibe, Everyday Shooter seems to run away with that in spades.

If you think that you can just play Everyday Shooter like Geometry Wars or Super Stardust HD and do well, think again. Everyday Shooter takes a more methodical approach to the twin-stick shooter, as you need to set up chains, which then release point drops that you have to collect to increase your score. You may be able to get a small amount of points without chains, but you’re not going to do nearly as well. As your score grows, you’ll gain extra lives as you pass certain milestones, and you certainly will need them since the game is harder than it may look at first. The first thing you’ll notice is that despite using the analog stick, you can only shoot in eight directions, which seems awkward at first, but it adds to the challenge of the game while making aiming a little more simple. To add to that, there tends to be a lot happening on screen as you near the end of each level, which is why chaining is a good tactic to clear that screen and get some space to move around.

The whole music aspect of Everyday Shooter comes through the reference that each of the eight levels are like the tracks of an album, meaning they’re unique experiences. Each level not only has it’s own music style, it plays differently, with its own challenges and charms that’ll keep the experience fresh as you progress through the normal playthrough. What’s also neat is that the points you gain as you play the levels become unlock points that you can use in the unlock store to purchase several different items, such as adding more lives to your default amount, various graphical effects, and unlocking levels for the single play mode. These add a nice bit of replay and offer some cool rewards that don’t often appear in twin-shooters that just rely on your high score being enough. No online leaderboards or multiplayer is kind of a bummer, but it’s easy to get over that once you play the game and see that it’s a minor issue at best.

Visually, Everyday Shooter is certainly near the top of the twin-stick shooters out there by taking the simplicity of Geometry Wars’ graphics and adding some extra style to them. Each level looks completely different from each other and some even have some cool effects that are controllable by your actions on screen. The graphical effects that you can unlock for use in the game are cool, as some work much better than others do.

The star of the Everyday Shooter’s not just the fun gameplay, but the music and your interaction with it while playing the game. In some levels, chaining adds to the music while just shooting stuff in others will accomplish similar results. The music of each level is unique and definitely echoes the album reference above quite well. The only way you could not enjoy the music here is if you’re not a fan of rock music or the guitar.

Everyday Shooter is certainly no Geometry Wars or Super Stardust HD, but that’s the beauty of the game. If you want more of the same, you’ve probably already bought and downloaded those games already. If you want a new take on the twin-stick shooter genre, Everyday Shooter will certainly give you what you want and maybe even a little bit more.

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