Original Release: Acid Style, 2015, PC
A Windows run-and-gun that strongly resembles DOS classics of the genre in style, but makes Halo its direct subject of spoofery
Barrage! (PC, Acid Style, 2015)
Where to Buy: DLSite
Review by: Master-B
Thematically, Barrage! is a clear parody of Halo. We lead Earth’s defense forces, for some reason made up almost entirely of nubile young ladies, against a horde of marauding space aliens that look a bit reminiscent of (BUT ARE LEGALLY DISTINCT FROM) the Covenant. Where it differs from Halo is that these aliens have impregnation on their minds first and foremost, in fact the booty is literally more important than escaping, they’ll just stand there and eat shots mid-raep to get a few more thrusts in. Sangheili Elites Need Women.
Anyway, the gameplay is nothing like Halo. It’s really much more like the pantheon of 2D MS-DOS run-n-guns of the 1990s from the likes of Apogee and 3D Realms, the stuff they got into pre-DOOM like Duke Nukem (not 3D), Jazz Jackrabbit, Commander Keen and so on. More sophisticated, of course, as this is a Windows release from around 2010-ish (and still holds up well on modern Windows). But very similar in its sort of deliberate gameplay that’s slower-paced than something like a Contra or Metal Slug, having you move forward more cautiously to avoid traps and ambushes.
It also gives you a trailing squad of supporting fire that can grow surprisingly large, and is key to victory in many levels. Each level just has a main objective that you work your way through to complete, but there are also hidden weapons (which become stocked at your home base once discovered) and hidden allies (women in the midst of being assaulted by an alien that join your coterie once freed).
The game gets off to an unfortunately clunky start in the first level, as it’s populated with Little Fellas and the handgun you’re given to start can’t possibly hit them. You do have a knife that’s supposed to do the job instead, but the rules about switching between the two are odd. At this point it feels like you’re kinda just sitting around waiting for your squad, who have much better weapons, to shoot half the enemies for you.
Hang in there past the first level though, as you then get the Assault Rifle (which can hit enemies big and small) and the game really opens up and gets much better. You also start getting cool secondary and support weapons like a machine gun drone, grenades and a shotgun. These weapons remain freely available at your home base once discovered, and you can choose what loadout you want to bring into each mission. It also even manages to work in large vehicles.
The levels also get much larger and more complex too, and there are a good variety. Some “bonus levels” also gradually become available that are kinda analagous to 3D shooter challenge maps, like one has you fend off a gigantic horde of zombies approaching from both sides with a very limited amount of destructible barriers and auto-turrets.
Add on good old-school style sprite work and decent tunes and you have a pretty interesting and solid title, one of those that probably would have found a much bigger market in retro nostalgia gaming if it didn’t insist on including horny monsters and their graphic shenanigans. God bless independent auteurs for doing it their way though. There are definitely some nitpicks, though. It’s from that 2010-ish era of doujin games where they very commonly didn’t support gamepads, and this one doesn’t either … you’ll need a third-party solution like Joy2Key (though it’s designed well for keyboard and it suits the old-school DOS feel of the gameplay). The seven-button system also isn’t the most intuitive or comfy to come to grips with at first. And it would be nice if the computer allies were smarter, but I guess with the number you get and their firepower the game might become too easy if they were.
The “H” content also may be too limited for some, as it’s just in-level smushy pixel humping that isn’t very elaborate. Your headquarters has a weird dungeon that serves as a “gallery” of sorts, each girl ally you discover in the levels is preserved there in their unique predicament and you can press F to zoom in for a scaled-up look during this mode. It also stashes the various monster types you encounter in pits so you can throw your main character at them, but that’s about it. I didn’t encounter any full-screen pics or graphics of any sort.
I really felt like it’s a worthy pickup though, especially at the meager $4 USD it’s currently listed for on DLSite. It’s a Japanese title but it has a passable built-in English mode. If you like the old DOS run-and-guns you may well enjoy it just for the gameplay, all H aside.
Links
- Older versions of the game may have sound issues, and newer versions may not run at all, unless the system is set to Japanese locale (or a locale emulator is used)
Videos