Radioing in on Under Defeat

Never had the chance to play Under Defeat before, so very glad of the new port - and I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I do for a number of reasons. Here is a quick military briefing on the elements that stood out in my initial skirmishes/reconnaissance.

Strafe Strafe !! - When I see directional fire mechanics as a feature in a game I steel myself because it is typically not fun for me. All's fair in a twin-stick shooter, but in a traditional format where this is somehow squeezed into a more limited control mechanism I usually end up fumbling with the new gameplay requirements this leads to. Under Defeat, with its simple angle tilting hits just right, you can do some nifty maneuvers and it overall feels quite intuitive (but for some reason only when I have it as 'reverse').

Military Green - As a real world passivist I typically enjoy shmups with a bit more sci-fi fantasy coating as this helps me step away from venerating impacts of real world warfare. Somehow Under Defeat skirts around this for me - something to do with the slant of the military fetishization I guess - the kind of thing that makes you want to watch a well plotted military anime, like the one that is suggested through the paratextual images. Maybe its a competency fantasy rather than one that fixates on 'might as right'. There is still a fixation on the 'coolness' of military hardware, but it errs towards that boyish exuberant expression - where like this thing is like a HUGE castle sized tank with 12, no 16 turrets and missile things that go like pshhhhuu!!  pshhhhuu!! The level of fancifulness pushes it towards that fantasy again.

Mayday! Mayday! - There are some great moments of cinematic drama, usually in the coda after a level finishes. Great ship sinking sequence, metal sinking below the waves.

Taking damage! - This is probably my favourite one - The violent juddering movement enemies have when they take damage. It's so tactile, gives the whole game a more arcade-y feel which makes adds this chunky level of exuberance.

So yeah, recommend giving it a try if like me you were not sure about it. And look out for those turrets... cos there are a lot of them.

_DYR