Xbox Reviews

Boiling Bolt review

Developed by Persistant Studios and published by Playdius, Boiling Bolt is a frantic twin-stick shooter where you play as June, a young rebel fighting to defend her island in a world shattered by war. Take control of your well-armed ship and prepare to repel enemy forces while filling up your combo meter to get the top scores. Challenging stages and tough bosses are waiting for you!

 

THE GOOD

  • I can’t start my review about Boiling Bolt without mentioning its graphics: anime inspired characters, cut scenes and impressive visual effects are astonishing. Backgrounds are incredibly well detailed, revealing a world you really want to fight for. Others are so magical, so immersive, that you may end-up getting distracted from the combat to admire them. It’s great that developers put some well placed, much more calm moments, for you to admire their work.
  • The play area is limited and you can always see its borders, delimiting the movement of your ship. What is so amazing about it is that the play area not only scrolls horizontally, as you’d expect, but it also progresses on Y and Z axis, something I’ve never seen in a game of this genre. It causes an odd feeling at first sight, but it makes perfect sense in stages where you’re circling an island, for instance. It’s not a 3D nor a 2.5D game, but a 2D game with depth. Innovative, if you ask me.
  • Gameplay is another area where the game shines! Your ship has five weapons at your disposal (and you can change them at any time using your frontal buttons, each one corresponding to a specific weapon) and one special ability. You control it with the left stick while using the right stick to aim and shoot. RT uses your gun secondary gun (the Warp Launcher, Ice Shield, Plasma Whip or Thunder Lock). LT uses your ship special ability, a dodge movement like a ‘bullet time’ that, if used at the right moment (right before you get hit), can slow down time, making it easier for you to avoid enemy fire. Use it wisely to build up your combo meter.
  • Your ship is customizable: you can buy mods that change its stats (between Attack, Speed and Defense) or modifies your primary weapon. As you can use up to three mods at the same time, try different combinations to find the one that works best for your play style.
  • Boiling Bolt can be played in coop with a local friend, what increases its already fun factor to over 9000! Just remember to pick a skilled partner to venture with you through this game.
  • Game comes with a bunch of game modes: Besides Arcade, there’s also a Tutorial, some Challenges, Free Run and more to keep you engaged. In Challenges, for each one completed, you get a bunch of crystals that can be used in the shop. Remember to give them a try.
  • Sound is also very good for the game. Sound effects are ok, but its music really shines. From the music of the menu to the songs during boss battles, I really enjoyed all of them!
  • Bosses are huge, intimidating and challenging! You’ll need to find the weapon that better fits each battle against them.

 

MIXED FEELINGS

  • Some will disagree of me, but game felt a little short for me. Even though each one is very long, five stages still seem few for me. But don’t worry: as you have a limited number of lives and continues, you’re surely coming back to the first stage over and over again (like me).

THE BAD

  • As you’ve already read in other reviews of mine, I love couch coop games. But I know that not everyone has a friend to play with on the same couch, so not including an online coop mode counts as a bad thing for me.
  • Need to stop the gameplay for a longer break? Going to have dinner or something like that and, not to keep your Xbox on, will turn it off and resume the game later? Sorry, pal, but Boiling Point doesn’t allow you to resume the game. Once you turn your console off, your progress is gone for good. It’s better to come fully prepared to play the game.
  • In the second stage, which is in a cave, in some parts, to give more immersion, the scenario covers part of your screen. To be surprised by enemy fire when your passing by these pars is something you don’t want… trust me.

I’ve always loved shmup or scrolling shooter games (even though I’m really bad at them!). I remember spending many hours trying to beat Gaiares, Thunder Force IV, Gleylancer, Sol Deace and Gynoug on my Mega Drive/Sega Genesis or Gradius 3 and R-Type 3 on my cousin’s SNES (and never completing any of them). After playing Boiling Bolt for this review, believe me: this little jewel from Persistant Studios really shines among those classics! Its amazing gameplay, great music and astonishing visuals makes it a must-buy for those old-school gamers or those who enjoy a challenging adventure!

 Dev: Persistant Publisher: Playdius
Played on: Xbox One   | LifeisXbox received a digital Preview code,  provided by Playdius.

 

 

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