Game Info
GAME NAME: Jamestown+
DEVELOPER(S): Final Form Games
PUBLISHER(S): Final Form Games
PLATFORM(S): PS4
GENRE(S): Shooter
RELEASE DATE(S): March 17, 2015
First off, I will start by saying this, Jamestown+ is not a port from the pc version of Jamestown. It is an expanded and remastered version with 2 new levels, several new ships with customizable abilities and shot types and some gameplay improvements. Now, with that said, the game reminds me of the old school Ikaruga game. It is a very difficult game with a lot of frustration built on top of it. The over head shooter has lots of action and tons of firepower coming at you. Not only do you have the campaign to take on, but there are also a few ships to choose from with different abilities, there are mini challenges to compete in and there’s also a gauntlet to face. There are a few different ways to enjoy this game and all its ferocity.
The game takes place in an alternate universe of the 17th century of the British colonies on Mars. The steam punk machinery and weapons help with this over the top story but also makes it fun and a lot more interesting. It is weird seeing the colonial soldiers running around and then seeing alien creatures all over the place too. The bosses are also original looking as well as having specific ways of beating each one.
Jamestown+ has a campaign that you can choose your difficulty to play on. Once you have chosen your difficulty you will begin your quest. Just a forewarning, you can only get so far on each difficulty chosen, so if you pick normal, you can only get to level 4 but can’t access it until you beat the levels again on the next difficulty up. No matter which difficulty you decide is right for you, it does get ridiculous and even more ridiculous when you choose a harder option. The bullets will come often and more at a time so better hope your dodging skills are amazing as well as collecting the gold to charge your vaunt. The vaunt is a shield that stays up for a short time unless you continue to collect the gold pieces, it will also double your destruction score as well as make your shots more powerful. There is also a special attack that helps destroy the alien scum faster but also slows your machine down, which makes you more vulnerable to their attacks.
There are mini challenges and a gauntlet as well. The mini challenges are timed levels, very short times, that you have to achieve a certain amount of points, collect rings, and etc. The mini challenges are pretty challenging and get very frustrating on quite a few. The gauntlet is just as it says, for every level unlocked then you will face each level back to back with only 2 credits and 2 lives per credit. Basically, if you only unlock 2 levels than your gauntlet will only be 2 levels long but if you unlock more levels in story mode, than those new levels will also be added to your straight through battle.
The gameplay is pretty damn good with all the aliens coming and going and all the bullets and explosions going on at once. There was no slow down, no glitching and nothing else to complain about at all. The controls are very tight which is great for all the dodging of bullets that you will be doing. They also added in coop gameplay as well which is a big positive and fun. There can be up to 4 players in coop and it isn’t your typical multiplayer battle, it isn’t based on lives of you or your battle buddies. There seems to be more of an importance to teamwork. When a player dies there will be a revival countdown and the other remaining players have to stay alive until the deceased returns or they can collect and reviving token. It’s a new outlook on the multiplayer battle and it adds a little more to the remaining players because the countdown adds a little more stress to the battle and puts the pressure on to survive til the dead partners return.
The Recommendation
To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed during my first play through because I was frustrated that I had to restart the levels on a harder difficulty to move on. As I retried it all over and kept moving forward the more I really got into this game. It is definitely a challenging game so if you get frustrated easily then be prepared to be pissed off. This is a game worth checking out and I recommend getting it if you really want a challenge and a game that has some decent replay value.
