Zunius is a bullet hell game with over four billion different generated levels and over fifty powerups. Each time you play, there will be different hordes of monsters with different shooting patterns and different bosses. There are also a variety of challenges that allow for more fun gameplay, outside of the standard levels.
One of my main issues with this beta is the inability to change the volume in the audio settings. You can only turn off the music, sound, and dialogue, but you cannot change the volume of either of the three.
There is a specific in-game noise, a coin dropping, that is very loud. I found myself getting distracted by this noise quite frequently. I would try to collect the coin to stop the noise from continuing, only to die because I was so fixated on making the noise stop.
The music is repetitive and grows tiresome very easily. It has the same song on loop for each level. This is reminiscent of Radarscope, which was Nintendo’s first game. I found myself muting all the in-game volume settings and listening to other music in the background.
There is a small wheel-like object on the tail end of each ship, which indicates your health. If this area is hit (only the small wheel-like area, not the ship as a whole), you will lose health and eventually die. This can be a double-edged sword. When you maneuver around bullets, you have to protect only this small area. This is a unique gameplay element for Zunius.
Zunius uses standard arrow keys for movement although you can change it to the more casual WASD pattern. There even is an option to use a controller, which I opted out from using because I thought it would be harder to use when playing. When you play Zunius you are given three starter ships to choose from, all having their own special unique playstyles. One may have fast movement but have weak bullets and vice versa.
The visuals are one of the biggest highlights for Zunius. The entire screen will be filled with bright colors and even the backgrounds have different textured designs, which adds more visual elements to the game. The enemies’ designs are very unique, and they are also filled with color, bringing them to life. Many of the enemies’ attacks will frequently change color, added in with the game’s bright visual designs, giving the user a psychedelic gaming experience.
There are no save points within the game, once you lose you have to completely start all over, regardless if you are on level two or an even higher level. This is the most challenging aspect of Zunius. When you die and have to start over, you lose all of your current powerups and have to start over.
There is no point system either, rather you gain health, powerups, and coins, which allow you to gain special abilities if you have gained enough coins throughout the levels. This is optional though, as you do not have to upgrade when given the chance to if you already like your set up.
Overall, this beta preview was challenging and even frustrating at times, but I found myself continuously coming back to play it. I enjoyed the visual elements of the game; it adds a psychedelic aspect to the game.
Another feature I liked was their hit-box area on the ship. This allows for a variety of ways you can maneuver around the map, making you think ahead on how to not only shoot enemies but also stay safe while avoiding their bullets.
Since this is only a beta copy, it would be unfair to review it and give it a numerical score. That being said, this game has a lot of potential going forward and I am excited to see what Zunius and its developer, COAF Research, can offer in the future.
