DemonStar

Mountain King Studios, formerly Cygnus, gained a good reputation with its top-down shooter Raptor: Call of the Shadows, so it’s only natural that they would develop followups, among them being DemonStar, whose demo provides a solid slice of shooter gameplay.

As is necessary in any game to appeal to broad demographics, DemonStar sports adjustable difficulty, which mainly affects continue credits players can use to pick up where they left off should they run out of lives. Aside from that, the game is more or less a generic shooter with occasional powerups gained from destroying enemy ships, with no shopping in between missions a la Raptor, and forced repetition on higher difficulties if the player dies (with no in-mission saving, either), but the gameplay is a decent driving factor nonetheless.

Interaction is well above average, what with easy controls and a pause feature, although there is, as mentioned, a lack of in-mission saving.

The soundtrack is solid for the most part, with good sound effects, as well.

The graphics look nice, too, aside from some jaggies and pixilation on higher resolutions.

Finally, beating the demo takes about half an hour, with adjustable difficulty adding significant replay value.

In conclusion, the demo of DemonStar provides solid shooter gameplay, great sound, and gorgeous visuals, the only real hangup being the lack of in-mission saving.

The Good:
+Solid shooter gameplay and control.
+Great sound and graphics.
+Adjustable difficulty adds replay value.

The Bad:
-No in-mission saving.

The Bottom Line:
A solid shooter.

Score Breakdown:
Platform: PC
Game Mechanics: 8/10
Controls: 9/10
Music/Sound: 10/10
Graphics: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 10/10
Difficulty: Adjustable
Playing Time: Less than one hour

Overall: 9.5/10

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