Review: Söldner X Himmelsstürmer

Format Switch (review code provided)

Developer SideQuest Studios

Published Eastasiasoft

Price £8.99 (only £7.99 on eShop until November)

Players 1/2 

10 years ago, a revisit of Soldner X2: Final Prototype on the Vita was a joy to behold, even as the chaos got a bit much on handheld's dinky screen. Offering a fresh go-around, Himmelssturmer offers a revamp of a PC/PS3 successor from back in 2007, talk about living off past glories, but fortunately, well worth a play today. 

A decade later and things (in comparison to the Vita) look a little clearer on my OG Switch, and likely super-gorgeous on an OLED or Switch 2, and definitely a wonder on a HD big screen. From giant craft, detailed city landscapes, jungles and mines, lots of effort went into making Soldner X a visual feast, but I'm not sure if this new release has improved on the original in any areas outside the menus. 

An early improvement from my last blast in the world of Soldner is the ability to turn the tutorials off. And use the training mode to go explore the later levels if you get stuck, all adding to the accessibility.

 But, setting off into the main game, choosing from very easy, easy, normal or hard, and choosing a number of continues, its a familiar but whole new world of shmup delight 

This episode starts off with an almost ambient feel, with trancey music and a sedate pace across the first city level. One of the delights of Soldner is a big fat power bar, so you don't feel the need to dodge every bullet, and ramming the odd alien ship isn't critical - but don't try that with the big boy ships, and the harder the level, the more punishing those ideas are. 

As Himmelssturmer eases us into battle, there are multiple weapon types, power-ups and other gadgets to manage, using L/R to switch between pulse, beam, bow and rockets, before each weapon power depletes. However, the more you use a weapon, the stronger your chain power, so there are pros and cons to switching.  

Why are we here? Some nasty alien virus is wiping out live and perverting Earth's technology. It is down to the usual rag-tag anonymous hero to race off in a prototype ship to find the source. Soldner X is our only hope, best not to ask what happened to Soldner I through IX! 

Crossing the First Line of Defence

Diving in and out of the scenery there's lot to shoot, but it rarely strays into bullet hell territory with some clear path through most battles. Even the big bosses are neatly pre-described so you know what to shoot at. Or. just go for the orange orb thingy - it wouldn't be alien invasion if there wasn't a glaring weakspot. 

The primary annoying issue I have is at low power, some useful power boosts appear. But if you hit the last bad guy or an in-flight cut-scene, we can't pick them up, leaving the ship annoyingly vulnerable in the next section. Just a small delay until the player picks them up would be very helpful. 

Otherwise there's the usual hazards of getting trapped in the scenery, a minor annoyance of not being allowed in the top inch of the screen where some baddies lurk. 

What I'd really like though is a bit more stagger in the enemies, when they take a hit, a greater sense of physics at play - the same for our heroic vessel, it seems to glide through the carnage a touch too easily. 

Himmelssturmer could have been released today, such is the clear visual feast on display. Yes, it could do with a little more plot coherence, a more practical and helpful voice from the skies (whoever your controller is, they add very little).

Also, perhaps a few audio or visual queues/clues when near a secret, but enjoy this for what it is and you should have a great time. 

4/5   

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