Can you save the world from aliens?
HQ
In Pentadimensional Games’ Megaton Rainfall the player takes the role of a divine creature destined to protect Earth, and the Creator himself has tasked the player with saving the Earth from attacking aliens. What’s the reward for such a mammoth task? Well, knowledge about the meaning of life, of course.
The scale of Megaton Rainfall is massive in the sense that player can move all the way from the Earth’s surface to the edges of solar system, and everything in between. It’s a ‘god game’ in a lot of senses then, as you can fly freely anywhere you like, and this creates a nice feeling of omnipotence. You are the protector of the Earth after all, and it’s befitting that you feel powerful in the role.
When you descend to the Earth’s surface the game loads details of the terrain and urban scenery without any loading screens, which is impressive. What isn’t as impressive, however, is that it doesn’t look that impressive. You might see pedestrians with stiff faces stuck on the pavement, for instance, and we often saw cars driving through each other without any graphical collision. On the other hand, flying through clouds and seeing rays of light shining through them is always relaxing, and offers a different perspective on being an almighty protector. While in first-person mode, you can also see your character’s arms and legs when you look down, which is a nice added touch.
Megaton Rainfall’s missions are full of action, and in these missions you shoot pink bolts from your hands. This works a lot like a first-person shooter, and at the beginning of each mission waves of enemy spaceships are hammering urban cities, so it’s your job to destroy these ships as fast as possible. As a divine creature, you don’t have a health bar, but the city does, and if the city takes too much damage, it’s game over.
Story missions are very much a simple task in this sense, and there’s not much variety here, although, over time you eventually unlock some new abilities, like the ability to slow down time and the chance to unleash far more devastating hits. It’s simple, and at times has that bombastic appeal of a big budget action film, seeing structures come crashing down while the player flies between them. At other times the action is a bit frustrating, however, as missed shots can damage the city, lowering its health.
Each enemy ship has a red area to indicate a weak spot, and it’s quite a challenge to aim at it while flying, especially with how fast the enemies are, coupled with the game’s stiff aiming controls. This becomes even harder when you get hit by obstacles too, as this throws you in random directions. Keeping track of where you are and where you’re going is its own challenge, then, and this tends to suck some of the joy out of things.
The music in Megaton Rainfall isn’t bad, as the moody techno music works when you’re flying freely, but the same tunes are played while in the middle of a heated battle as well, which doesn’t work. On the other hand, the dialog from the Creator between missions is interesting to listen to. Sure, the philosophical aspects don’t reach the heights of The Talos Principle, but it manages to bring some much-needed depth to an otherwise simple shooter.
If you’re looking for a space adventure that’s a bit different, you should definitely give Megaton Rainfall a try. Sure, there’s some frustrations regarding things like visuals and the odd control slip, but we enjoyed playing God for a while, and remembering that with great power, comes great responsibility.
HQ
Keyword: Megaton Rainfall