Where 'We Are Doomed' truly shines is in its infinite arena mode. The "main" levels of the game are a short of tutorial and something to give to normal players "a sense of progression".
The great problem of its main mode, is that the main gimmick of the game, the laser beam, it doesn't work as well. Because you really need a screen filled with enemies to exploit this scoring mechanic.
This video explains very well what's the magic of 'We Are Doomed'.
This beam mechanic of 'We Are Doomed' was greatly expanded in the combo system included in 'Graceful Explosion Machine', that is a game centered in this idea of continually destroying enemies, maximizing the risks, to try to fill your special weapons, obtaining a S Rank.
But in 'Graceful Explosion Machine' I really miss an infinite arena mode. At the end, 'Graceful Explosion Machine' doesn't work as well as 'We Are Doomed' as a score-attack game, because of its more closed nature. All of that said, it's still amazing, because Vertex Pop has a very distinctive sound design in its games.
Regarding 'Inversus Deluxe' its problem is that while it's one of the finest single player shmups made this generation, and I consider this in the same tier as 'Debris Infinity' regarding the finesse of the patterns in its arenas, the game started as a multiplayer competitive game, trying to merge 'Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+' with twin stick elements. So the game was promoted basically as a 4 players competitive game.
And you can't fin too much video footage or reviews talking about its superb single player arcade mode.
For lovers of infinite score attacks arenas in twin sticks, it has the most complete package in the genre, with 11 different arenas, each one with separated leaderboards for the single player and the two players co-op mode.
The great thing is that every arena has a different gimmick and design, and the enemies have different patterns.
It also has one of the most fascinating mechanics in the genre, by including elements like a polarity system similar to 'Ikaruga', and this is exploded in every single aspect of the game.
It's also a game with great production values, and it was tested by some of the most illustrious members of the indie and arcade community for years: to obtain a 5 stars rank it requires to master each arena.
In a fun note, after almost a year without playing 'Inversus Deluxe', this week I have included the game again in my playlist, to try to play with wesman .
And after so many hours playing 'Debris Infinity' the last week, in my first attempt in the first arena, I was able to score 1 million points, obtaining my first 5 starts rank (my previous high score in this arena was in the 700.000 points mark).
But this is other great thing of the game: I'm not even in the TOP 100 in the leaderboard of this arena, because there is a very active player base of TOP skilled Japanese players. The game was really popular in Japan. So there is a lot of incentive to compete for an high score.
