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Another game from the long running space opera franchise MACROSS is here, with the release of Shooting Insight. Is it a worthy addition to the storied Japanese franchise? Or should it have stayed in outer space?
Space Opera Team-Up
MACROSS is a long-storied franchise in gaming that unfortunately, I knew nothing about. Scarcely released in the west, the franchise is beloved in its homeland of Japan – and for good reason. The franchise has had rich stories backed with superb arcade style shooting mechanics and looks to capture the West’s imagination with Shooting Insight. Whilst it did capture my imagination to a certain extent, there were bumps along the road. For someone like myself, the story is a daunting task to understand, as the developers are clearly hoping you have played previous instalments in the franchise. To try and explain it to someone like myself would be that all the timelines across the MACROSS franchise are banding together to try to stop the destruction of the world from an evil force.
From what I had heard the franchise was known for, I had hoped for a compelling story with a colourful cast of characters making an emotional rollercoaster of a tale. Sadly, I was mistaken. The whole plot of the game feels like a lazy excuse to bring all these different characters from different timelines together. The story is so basic and formulaic I would not condemn people if they were to skip the cutscenes that occur before each mission. The dialogue from the characters is also basic and has no real emotion to it and so, I rarely felt the fate of the universe rested in the team’s hands although the game kept telling me it did. It is a profoundly disappointing story and one that I truly cannot recommend for anyone looking for an emotional, impactful tale. However, thankfully, the gameplay department manages to help soften the blow to a certain extent.
Arcade Shooting Shenanigans
Shooting Insight bills itself as an arcade shooter and for the most part, it delivers. Choosing between five different pilots for missions, you fly and shoot your way through a volley of enemies. What surprised me straight away was the variety on display in each level with their varying gameplay styles. I loaded up the first mission and saw it as a simple side-scrolling shooter, only to be pleasantly surprised when the camera suddenly shifted and moved to a top-down vertical perspective. Then, when I felt comfortable with that perspective, the game would change again, this time having me move like you would in a twin stick shooter. Then again, it morphed into a front-scrolling shooter like something out of Star Fox! It is absolutely fantastic and constantly kept me on my toes throughout each level. Shooting a jammer hidden in the level results in a songstress belting out a song as you shoot and weave your way through chaos, which is whacky, yet charming! I would describe Shooting Insight as a true chameleon of a game and that is a superb way of keeping the player invested and never bored because you don’t know what might happen next.
Unfortunately, the gameplay is not without its flaws. Each of the five pilots has unique abilities and weapons assigned to their individual ship but in reality, they all feel pretty similar. Each pilot’s abilities essentially boil down to a gun with a certain number of shots it can do along side a homing missile or a volley of missiles. I messed around with each pilot and felt nothing really affected my gameplay experience dramatically. Whilst this is not a major issue, Shooting Insight has other flaws in gameplay. For example, the amount of on screen threats at one time for a player is ridiculous. There is far too much going on for you to truly concentrate and avoid getting hit by the absolute barrage of missiles and bullets that are fired at you. This, coupled with attempting to dodge the levels backgrounds, only to realise it was not on the same layer as my ship, led to many frustrated outbursts. If you’re looking for an arcade shooter that isn’t your standard shooter this is absolutely worth your time but be warned, its flaws will frustrate and baffle you.
Graphical Chaos Yet Musical Brilliance
In its presentation, MACROSS Shooting Insight once again falls into the mixed bag category . Visually, the game looks superb in its character models and art style, yet is muddled in its in-game visuals. Some backgrounds and levels look positively beautiful across vast space backgrounds. Then, other levels look ripped straight from a mobile game with blocky backgrounds, bizarrely lifeless and colourless environments and poor draw distance. It is clear developers Kaminari Games focused on key levels and left some behind by the way side. As previously mentioned, the sheer amount of content on the screen at one time can create a real eye sore. As there is no English voice acting dialogue, subtitles appear on screen, furthering the already chaotic display. Perhaps in a future game, English voice acting could help clear some of the erratic display.
Conversely, sound is top notch in Shooting Insight, bar one small issue. The ships whoosh and roar on the opening of levels, whilst explosions sound mightily impactful. Missiles and bullets sound fantastic; I just wish they were slightly louder to warn the player of incoming threats. This is particularly troublesome because when the superb soundtrack is blasting, you can struggle to hear them. Speaking of the soundtrack, this wholeheartedly brilliant track will have you smiling from ear to ear. It is unequivocally Japanese and I mean that in the best sense as the songstress belts out her music when you destroy a signal jammer. It really helps make the game feel that much more cinematic. A brilliant effort across the board in sound design!
Verdict
MACROSS Shooting Insight is a game I wanted to love but too many things just got in the way. A story left by the wayside, chaotic visuals and gameplay decisions lead to frustrating moments. Luckily, it’s not all bad, due to superb sound design and visuals that hold up for the most part. This, coupled with a truly unique ever changing gameplay style, means there is enough for some veterans of the franchise to love. A truly mixed bag. See you around the galaxy!
