Even when the core missions try to change things up a bit with different mission objectives, the experience feels largely the same. The repetitive gameplay approach is emphasised even further in exploration missions where the goal is to collect as much loot as possible. Still, the brief moments of thrilling action and awe-inspiring boss battles are generally overshadowed by the grind-heavy gameplay. However, you do occasionally face truly epic behemoths which pay homage to the style of encounters the series became legendary for. Sadly, in this one most of these are fairly bland mid-bosses with pretty similar attack patterns. The game’s difficulty isn’t offensively challenging either, as even if you fail a mission you still retain experience points needed to level up your weapons.īoss battles were always a standout moment in previous Contra games. This idea does vary a bit with platforming segments, gallery style shooting, and other neat gimmicks, but for the most part you are just clearing enemies, fighting the occasional mid-boss, and collecting loot… a major far cry from the razor sharp and ingeniously designed levels the series had become famous for. Speaking of Diablo, the level design usually involves progressing through rooms filled with enemies to clear before moving on to the next. To micro manage character stats and weapon upgrades between levels is practically unheard of in a Contra game, and yet this emphasis on loot gathering and level grinding – as weapons level up with experience points – makes Contra: Rogue Corps less about skill and level memorisation as per the series tradition, and instead more akin to a Diablo-esque grind. This isn’t a simple stat upgrade system as seen in most action games, as there is a level of thought and detail which you can’t help but feel a little intimidated by at first. Thankfully, these upgrades also mean that you can remedy the weapon overheating issue to some extent using the right weapon upgrades. Speaking of pickups, there are a ton of materials to pick up and collect during each of the game’s stages all the materials needed to upgrade weapons and characters. Although you primarily need to make do with the two weapons you bring to each stage, there are occasional special pickups which resemble the epic power ups seen in Contra’s past, such as the electro gun. In addition to the two main weapons, there is also a screen-clearing bomb attack and a special attack unique to each of the four playable characters. It becomes a blessing in disguise, because the fine art of mixing up two weapons and timing attacks can create a rather intuitive shooting rhythm. The core gameplay strategy in Contra: Rogue Corps involves swapping between two weapons (the selection of which is also part of the strategy) and making sure they’re both being used efficiently without overheating. Contra: Rogue Corps takes those ideas to a new direction by not only making full use of twin stick shooting mechanics, but also adding surprisingly deep RPG elements and customisation options, an idea which was first explored in the spin-off, Hard Corps: Uprising. If anything, the latest Contra entry is a natural, albeit long overdue, successor to Neo Contra on PlayStation 2 (2004) which introduced the top-down 3D shooting gameplay. The initial reaction towards the game was a mix of surprise and disappointment, and yet this is hardly the first time this particular game design was explored in the series. So even if diehard Contra fans have a few objections about this latest entry, they can at least be assured that the entire game has had Nakazato’s blessing, and it is perhaps his involvement which helps it to retain the spirit of the legendary franchise.Ĭontra: Rogue Corps takes the gameplay to 3D, as a twin stick shooter played primarily from the top-down perspective. Although Rogue Corps does feel like a major departure from series’ conventions in many aspects, a lot of these new choices come under the directive of Nakazoto himself. This time they work under the helm of Konami to revitalise Contra with their own interpretation, but all under the careful supervision of Contra original, Nobuya Nakazato, who lead the development on Contra III: The Alien Wars, Contra: Hard Corps, and even Neo Contra. ![]() Want to win a 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription? Enter now!Ĭontra: Rogue Corps comes from developer Toylogic, known for lending a helping hand or two on a pretty impressive selection of games which include the likes of Kid Icarus Uprising, The Evil Within, and even Super Smash Bros.
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