Gigantic Army (PC)

PC gamers will be excited to hear that ASTRO PORT, the developer of both ARMED SEVEN and SATAZIUS, has released a brand new action packed 2D arcade shooter game that'll have players asking for more – GIGANTIC ARMY.

Popular Japanese indie video game publisher Nyu Media has picked up GIGANTIC ARMY for Windows PC at a retail price of £3.49. In addition, the game contains six stages of endless shooter action, along with four difficulty modes ranging from 'Easy' to 'Insane' for all those hardcore gamers. The Steam version will also add 42 achievements. Finally, there are a total of twelve behemoth bosses to battle throughout the game – and they'll probably be more devastating than Blastoise.

The story: As technological advancements occur, a new era of space exploration unfolds, leading to an all out war with a race known as Ramulons. Humans have gained control of space surrounding the Ramulon world, but even with humanity's advantage, the Ramulons refuse to surrender, while the humans refuse to retreat; and thus, the endless, painful, and inescapable war continues.

Your mission, solider? To take control of a Manned Combat Robot, aka the 'GMR-34 SALADIN'. This combat suit is well equipped, with explosives, projectiles, plasma weapons and shields; use them all to and create combination attacks to destroy Ramulon empire.

GIGANTIC ARMY starts off with a transport helicopter landing the player in the middle of an unpredictable war. As soon as the player makes contact with the ground, they must immediately begin shooting – no joke. Unlike major popular video games which offers players the luxury of hiding, retreating, resting, strategizing, utilizing, and obtaining some sort of cover, GIGANTIC ARMY knows no such mercy. If you aren't under attack from foreign ammunition, explosives, missiles, machinery, enemies, and bosses, then you're probably already dead. As such, the game's pacing is extremely fast, which is the first thing players will be able to notice.

Thankfully, enemy attacks aren't too lethal. You're able to take a substantial amount of damage before ever falling over. As for the enemies, they aren't too difficult to defeat; after a few shots, they're done. Unfortunately though, they're like cockroaches who come in huge packs, so it's definitely a battle. As for the bosses, they truly deserve their title. At times, it may feel like your combo's aren't even penetrating through the enemy, which can be a bit frustrating, but challenging. The planet is abandoned, in ruin, and full of enemies, which makes for a great shooter game.

GIGANTIC ARMY does a splendid job in delivering an instrumental upbeat that blends well with the action. Similarly, the amount of graphical detail is impressive in a retro, SNES-era way. Recalling the likes of R-Type and Cybernator, the pixel art is smooth, detailed and a lovely throwback to the genres roots. 

GIGANTIC ARMY is a retro arcade-style game, so the graphics aren't going to look like the new KILLZONE: SHADOWFALL on PlayStation 4, obviously. However, it's amongst the highest quality that an arcade style game can deliver, especially when it comes to the explosions, it's as clear as can be. I must say that GIGANTIC ARMY offers some of the most extreme shooter missions that I've played on a PC.