Reviews

By Brian Edey (Falelorn)
Published: December the 16th 2008

Many PC Indie games seem to follow into three key areas, Role Playing Games, Puzzle Titles and Action games and while of course there are all types of games it seems these are the three I see most often. Not so in the case of one of the more surprising games of the last year. Pyroblazer is similar to a few different console games, most notably one of the classic Sony Playstation games Wipeout, but this is not a bad thing by any means since if you have played the sci-fi racer you understand why it is one of the most popular racing titles on the gaming market. Pyroblazer is surprising because it often feels more like a game you would have played from a bigger developer and in many ways it has become a more enjoyable experience to play compared to games from one of those large developers.

There are two most striking features of Pyroblazer which are sticking in my gamers memory and those are the sheer sense of speed while playing the game and the music. I hate racing games which suffer from the lack of feeling of going fast and unfortunately there are too many racing games where you are supposed to be going hundreds of kilometers per hour and it looks and feels like your grandmother is driving a 1975 Gremlin. Pyroblazer looks and feels like you are blazing out of hell with your ass on fire and it is one of the most enjoyable experiences for it because mixed with the sense of speed is the great level design which is far from your standard sci-fi racing levels. Mixtures of turns, tight tunnels, multiple directions to travel, obstacles and teleports are all thrown in your way.

I also mentioned the music and what was most impressive about the music was how it did not fall into the “sci-fi” category of music many games seem to direct themselves towards. Musically Pyroblazer is entertaining, but also keeps up with the action and most importantly does not distract you from flying/driving your ship, but still is memorable while remaining subtle. Not an easy mix by any means and it shows what a talented team can pull off with out resorting to licensed rock acts. No to be out down the sound effects and announcer voice overs are well done as well and while the voice overs are simple one and two words being spoken in a cliché voice, something which we have heard very similar ones in others games for years, they do make the game slightly more enjoyable.

Gameplay wise I was disappointed with Pyroblazer in the beginning because of the default camera angle, it was difficult to control your ship and not bounce off the environment at all times. Of course there are multiple camera angles you can play from and once I sat down and adjusted the games camera and controls to my liking, the fun began. Unfortunately the game has no multiplayer support and it seems like a game which could have a large online community of racing fans if it was added, but do not let the lack of multiplayer support scare you off because the single player campaign and instant race options with multiple was to actually play the game make it very replayable.

Graphically beyond the sheer sense of speed the game looks great, especially at high resolutions with all of the games bells and whistles turned on the game comes into its own. The different tracks, to the different ships all have a unique look to them and it would be nearly impossible to describe them all but we are not stuck with a dozen ships which all look the same except for their paint job and levels that almost all look the same. The wide variety of level and ship design is another strong point for this game.

But all is not good there is some bad with Pyroblazer, such as the default controls are not set up very well in my opinion. Using the WASD +QE control scheme most gamers are used to today, it should work perfectly, but the QE instead of offering clean controls for your ship instead drive into ground every time. I would also have liked more action with the weapon systems which are almost useless in most races since you can actually win races with our firing a shot and the campaign felt like it was missing one key feature that many of these games hold and that was it is lacking the drive to keep you playing until all hours of the morning just to complete the next track. The game is very fun and enjoyable and is one you will come back to over and over again, but it is doubtful you will sit there and play it for 5 or 6 hours straight.

In the end, Pyroblazer is a must buy for PC gamers looking to play some fast and fun racing, which honestly is so rare on the PC now days I hope we see an expansion or sequel to Pyroblazer soon.

http://www.gamefocus.ca/?nav=article&did=369

THE ADRENALINE VAULT

Pyroblazer Gold Edition PC review

By Marcus Spears
Published: December 24, 2009

There are a lot of good racing games on the market, most recently Colin McRae’s DiRT 2 and Need for Speed: Shift. But one part of the racing genre that has been sorely neglected is the futuristic racer; the last one that I can recall is Kinetica for the PS2 in 2001. Now, thanks to Eipix, a small Serbian game development company, we have Pyroblazer Gold Edition.

Pyroblazer offers you a far-future racing game with more than 40 levels, 15 vehicles and 20 weapons. The story is relatively simple: Apeiron, the fourth planet in the binary star system of Xarthas, survived a cataclysm that broke its once-mighty civilization into three factions. You are an up-and-coming racer who has finally gotten his wish to participate in the Pyroblazer grand championship, which takes place in all three territories: the scorched valleys of Gnosis, the deserted cities of Haedra and the densely populated underdome of Evelads. The vehicle of choice is an anti-gravity craft known, not surprisingly, as the Blazer.

Each Blazer has two weapon systems, one of which is either an energy weapon or some kind of guided missile, with the other being a mine dropper. Blazers also have unique characteristics for speed, handling, turbo, and hit points. You choose one of five Blazers (others are unlocked as you advance through the campaign). You are stuck with this vehicle for the duration of the tournament. Each event (except for the qualifier) consists of three or more races. There are several tournaments, each one progressively more difficult, before you finally get to the finals, where the grand champion is determined. Each race runs from three to 15 laps, with three or more opponents in each race.

Ammunition for your weapons is limited. For example, the Falc 1-R only gets 140 shots for its plasma cannon, and three EMP mines. Your ammo is fully recharged at the end of each lap, and you can sometimes pick up other weapons or power-ups during the race, such as temporary invulnerability, temporary invisibility, or 10 guided missiles (these replace your primary weapon until you use them all). Anyone whose Blazer is destroyed respawns a few seconds later. You don’t have to place first in all the races to win the tournament; instead, you get a number of points for each race (10 points for first place, eight for second place, and so on). If you have the highest number of points at the end of the tournament, you are the winner and the next set of races is unlocked.

Pyroblazer boasts exceptional graphics, powered by Eipix’s proprietary Ultra Engine and Ageia’s PhysX middleware, and more than three hours of professional music. You also get the six-level minigame “Apocalypse of Apeiron.” Pyroblazer has a lot of promise, but the controls are clunky. You steer and shoot with the mouse, and use the keyboard to roll your Blazer and control its throttle and turbos. As a result, you’re too busy trying to figure out how to race and fight at the same time through the narrow race tunnels to pay attention to the graphics and music. The graphics are quite good, but nothing that will make you gasp with astonishment. And the music is often drowned out by the sound of weapons, engines, explosions, and the noise made by scraping the walls of the tunnel, which you will frequently be doing.

Still, this game is not a bad purchase. It’s less than $15, including the minigame, the full soundtrack in MP3 format and a PDF art book. The Gold edition also includes one additional Blazer, an Ultra Hard difficulty level, and access to the single and multiplayer online leaderboards. Despite the game’s clunky controls, I had fun playing this game, and considering that this is Eipix’s first entry into this genre, I’m willing to cut them a little slack. I’d like to see a sequel to this game, perhaps with a stronger storyline and a few extra features such as vehicle customization.

http://www.avault.com/reviews/pc/pyroblazer-gold-edition-pc-review/