Rigid Force Redux

I feel bad for developers of side-scrolling shoot 'em ups. Over the last four decades, we've seen just about every incarnation of the genre you can possibly imagine, yet fans continue to want new and fresh ideas. Sometimes you get them, such as when Newt Industries shook things up with their inventive Risk System. But more times than naught we get something like Rigid Force Redux, a paint-by-numbers shooter that wears its inspirations on its sleeve like a badge of honor. It's comfort food for anybody who wishes there were more games like R-Type in the world. And as somebody who is well acquainted with piloting an R-9A Arrowhead, I'm here to gobble it up.

Rigid Force Redux is a brand-new port of com8com1's 2018 debut, Rigid Force Alpha. It tells the typical story of aliens invading a science facility that is working on the CORE program, which just so happens to be the same technology that powers the Alpha's systems. We quickly discover that this was no accident, which means that we either fight this unknown aggressor or we let them threaten all of humanity. As the captain of Rigid Force Alpha, you're not going to let that happen.

It wasn't an accident when I compared this game to R-Type, because this has all the hallmarks of being a clone. It goes beyond the fact that the Rigid Force Alpha looks almost exactly like the R-9A Arrowhead, because a lot of the gameplay revolves around a helpful little orb that floats in front of the ship and helps absorb a lot of the stray bullets. You can also reposition it to give the ship more coverage, including shooting enemies that sneak up behind and even above you. This is not unlike what we saw in R-Type, though I like that we can move everything around by nothing more than a quick push of a button.

On top of absorbing some of the enemy fire, the orb can also be powered up by picking up items along the way. We get the usual attacks, such as a spread shot, ricochet shot and rapid fire shot that quickly kills everything in its path. We're also able to pick up different types of bombs to drop, all of which can be upgraded for maximum damage. Best of all, you won't lose all the upgrades if you take three hits and die, because you can easily scoop all of the items back up and go right on kicking alien ass.

And that's what you do through a half dozen straight-forward stages, each with a large boss to fight at the end. The good news is that the polygonal levels look sharp and offer a number of different obstacles, though there isn't anything here you haven't seen a hundred times before. Even those bosses I just mentioned will remind you of so many R-Type, Thunder Force and Gradius villains. There's nothing here that felt wholly new or unique, and that's a problem.

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In the future, when I reminisce about my time playing Rigid Force Redux, I have a hunch that it won't be the exciting levels or explosive action that I remember, but rather the cinemas. For a game with such a bland and generic story, a lot of time is spent telling it. Maybe too much time. For as much effort and voice acting that has gone into it, I'm surprised the game's premise isn't more compelling. They drag out every story beat, even when it doesn't really matter. Look, I'm all for lengthy cinemas in my shoot 'em ups, but you have to bring a more compelling story than this.

And that's true for the rest of the game, too. Rigid Force Redux brings the firepower and explosions, but doesn't do anything to stand out. The game is fun because the formula is still fun, not because it's bringing anything new to the table. Despite some good-looking backgrounds, I found the ride to be too easy and predictable. It's the kind of shooter I'm going to forget quickly. Rigid Force Redux gets all the basics right, but you're better off playing through the R-Type games. They're classics for a reason, you know.