Destroying The Corporate Ladder
HIGH Premise is simple. Bosses have great pacing.
LOW Not a lot of depth.
WTF The boss obsessed with printers.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi everyone! Eugene Sax here with another review from GameCritics.com.
Bullet hell games are usually known for filing the screen with noise, bright lights, and a million projectiles while demanding precise, perfect play for success. One BTN Bosses is certainly a bullet hell, but it goes in a different direction by taking out the mechanical dexterity usually required to pilot a spaceship between waves of incoming fire while activating shields and weapons, and instead distills the experience down to a point where it can be played, literally, with a single button.
In One BTN Bosses, a ship orbits around a central enemy. As players move faster, bullets will fire toward the enemy boss automatically and start taking down its health while the boss fires back. Incoming attacks can range from things like bullets and bombs, to wilder things like shapes that grow in size before disappearing. When the player changes direction to dodge attacks, the ship’s fire slows, and this has the effect of slowing damage output. As players defeat bosses, they’ll unlock movement options and new weapons that change play.
For example, players start with the ability to change direction and fire single bullets as they move around. One upgrade changes movement by limiting it to a single direction, but also allows players to dash through enemy attacks without being hit. Players can also modify their offense with things like like a laser that fires faster as the player moves faster, and so on. Also, if they player ends up with a loadout they don’t care for, all ship options can be changed between levels.
The campaign serves as a training mode for players to learn the ins-and-outs of the mechanics. Players will have a couple of fights against a starter boss which serves to teach players about the different types of attacks. Then players will fight against the main bosses which combine multiple attacks in different ways. Once they’ve got the hang of it, players can go into the other mode, which serves as a roguelike version of the game. Players can’t change their movement or attack option between levels here, but each victory grants the player a special ability like increased weapon damage, increased top speed or acceleration, or shields they can pick up in each level.
Regardless of which mode players are in, One BTN Bosses has fantastic pacing, easing them in with a slow ramp of ever-more-complicated bullet patterns. Starting with bullets firing directly at the player and the danger being telegraphed ahead of time, things soon escalate into multiple bullet waves and deadly shapes. One BTN Bosses also incorporates different challenges like smaller orbits, different shapes or a single curved line with portals to mimic an orbit without actually being a connected circle.
Honestly, it’s hard to find anything wrong with One BTN Bosses, but if I had to pick something, then it would be that I wish there was more to it — more weapons, more movement options, more bullet patterns. Just more of everything, I suppose? The campaign ran for a short three to four hours, and by the end of it, I felt like I’d seen everything it had to offer.
In the end, One BTN Bosses could easily serve as a gateway to get players into the bullet hell genre without overwhelming them. It still requires the same skills needed for other bullet hells like timing, precise movement, and balancing attack movement with dodging enemy fire. However, it makes everything happen with a single button press, so players can focus on practicing those skills in a more limited, controlled way. It might not convert those who already know they don’t like bullet hell titles, but fans of the genre and even people on the fence might find a lot of excitement in how masterful it is at minimalism.
For me, One BTN Bosses gets a 8.5 out of 10.
Disclosures: This game is developed by Midnight Munchies and published by Midnight Munchies and Outersloth. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 4 hours of play were spent playing the game, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: There is no rating according to the ESRB. Players shoot colorful bullets at bosses that are different polygonal shapes. No blood, no foul language, lots of jokes from the characters in the game that revolve around office humor. In my view, it’s approved for all ages.
Colorblind Modes: Colorblind Modes are present.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles, but subtitles can be altered and/or resized. Music serves as atmosphere only. There are no relevant audio cues. The game is fully accessible.
Remappable controls: Controls are completely remappable. Players can select a specific key, or use the mouse click.
While Sonic and Street Fighter were great places to start, his first love was Final Fantasy X when his dad bought a PS2. Ever since, that love for gaming has evolved -- there are a number of game worlds out there, and he intends to explore them all. RPG to horror, platformers to casual and everything in between -- if it’s available, he’ll play it.
While his time is short between writing reviews, tabletop gaming, and attempting to start a cheesecake business, he has caught all 806 pokemon and can speedrun Star Fox 64 in less than 40 minutes. He’s always looking for new things to try and new challenges to conquer. You can find him on Twitter -- @eugene_sax.
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