Image credit: 8BitSkull
Bore Blasters is an 8bit roguelike video game. It is a great addiction to the 8bit genre for the potential. It is a shoot to mine game.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
Gameplay
You are a dwarf named Gunnar, traveling in a mysterious space, accompanied by some other NPC characters. They will assign you some quests to finish during your mission. During the gameplay, the player will be driving a gyrocopter equipped with a machine gun drill. The further you dig, the more gems you can mine. The gems are an in-game currency to upgrade your chopper with new advanced-technology weapons. The mission is simple. Player must get to the bottom of the mine to reach the treasure reward in order to complete the mission. Otherwise, mission fails.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
UI DESIGN
When player starts the mission, there’s UI layout right at the top-left corner. There are a bunch of important information shown at there to help player understand the gyrocopter’s condition. The big black Gas Gauge indicates the gyrocopter’s fuel, that indicates the time limit in a mission. Once the gas runs out, the gyrocopter will fall and crash. There are two bars located beside the gas gauge. The longer bar is the Special Move bar; player can unleash a powerful special move once the bar is full. The shorter one is the Upgrade bar. Player can fill in the bar by looting the gems. Once it’s filled, players will be offered a temporary upgrade for the gyrocopter. Below the upgrade bar shows the shield. the shield indicates the protection of your gyrocopter. Once the shield ran out, the player still have one last chance before getting destroyed by any foreign objects. At the right end of the UI, the symbols indicate the upgrade player have chose and the amount of gems player have collected. Finally, the bottom-left corner shows the distance of your location to the bottom.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
Level Design
The mission is showcased as a number of terrains floating on the sky. Each terrain represents the harsh and unforgiving environment the player shall explore. The player travels among the terrains with sci-fi flying ship. The terrains need to be unlocked by completing the existing terrain’s missions. Once the terrain is completed, a big hook representing level complete will show on top of them. Furthermore, if players are not sure which terrain you have completed then check the grid map at the top-right corner. That shall provide some information.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
The environment in mission is created randomly with procedural regeneration technique. It assures the player will find bored with the level design layout. During the campaign, player will discover different blocks with different effects. Most of the blocks are just dirt and rock, some are the collectible gems. However, some block able to provide path for the player with its explosion perk. They can even be used as a weapon to destroy the enemies and it won’t damage the gyrocopter in close contact.
Upgrade
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As player progress through the mission, the upgrade bar will be full. Once it’s filled, player will be able to choose one out three temporary weapon upgrade. There’s a number of weapons serve a variety of purposes in the mission. Player can choose their weapons based on own play style. For example, the ballistic amplifier increases the bullet damage.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
After clearing the mission, player will unlock new weapon upgrades for the next mission. The weapon upgrades shall provide more strategy approach based on their special effects.
Enemies and Environment Hazard
Image credit: 8BitSkull
In Bore Blasters, players will find themselves encountering different kinds of enemies. The low-rank enemies include the flying creatures and the creatures that resemble a puffer fish. The mid-rank enemies are from the goblin factions. Players usually encounter minions strapped with a jetpack who attempt to kill with a bomb launcher. Furthermore, sometimes they come with a gyrocopter equipped with a bomb as well. However, the challenge is spiced up further once players reach deeper into the mine. The gyrocopter’s torchlight indicates the player’s visible area. Players will be surrounded by darkness, and their only chance to survive is to get out of there as soon as possible or upgrade their gyrocopter with an AoE damage weapon. Last but not least, in the mine, players will encounter environmental hazards that will damage the gyrocopter as well, such as the floating fog. At first, players might recognize it as a game decoration. But, as a matter of fact, having contact with the fog will cause damage to the gyrocopter the longer the player stays with it.
Choose Your Pilot
Image credit: 8BitSkull
As the campaign progress, player will find themselves encounter different dwarves during mining. The encounter will be triggered by the quest. The NPC character will instruct player to look for the distress call in the mine to help the other pilot. Once a new dwarf is unlocked, player will able to use them in the mission.
Image credit: 8BitSkull
Each character has their own special move. Like Gunnar, the first default dwarf player use at the beginning. Once the Special Move bar is full, Gunnar will thrust itself to the wall to penetrate through obstacles for a few second. Whether it’s a wall of dirt, stones, reproduction soil, etc. Once the Special Move is activated, player shall able to reach the destination without worry. Also there is upgrade shortening the cooldown of Special Move, I personally recommend player to pick it in case they run out of fuel.
Quest
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Once player enters the mission, the NPC characters will instruct the quest. The quest can be categorized as retrieving Key Item or Target destroy. Such as destroying the goblin’s settlement in the mine. Player has to dig deep in order to locate the camps. The quest targets are usually well-spread in every parts of the mine. So players will have to race with the fuel to destroy the targets before it runs out.
Shortcomings
Image credit: 8BitSkull
Although with all the entertainment Bore Blasters provided, it still lacks some key features. Such as the discovery of the block. I played through the missions and attempting to look for any sort of encyclopedia to explains the block. Judging from the color design, I am sure I discovered some gold and diamond maybe. However, the explosive block and the explosive soil. I hardly can understand their existing purpose except explode. Furthermore, when I’ve obtained the upgrades I like to understand what feature they come with and how do they function. But the only way I can read those information is in the mission. Finally, the fuel. I like the idea of using procedural generation technique to spawn the map randomly. However in the beginning of the mission, it is easy to kill the exploring mood because out of fuel. The fuel is easily to be located only in certain level while the rest are too scarce to find.
Time to Mine
Image credit: 8BitSkull
Despite the shortcomings, Bore Blasters is a thrilling game that allows players to have fun being a dwarf. The game runs in roguelike style accompanied with procedural generation. The replayability shall last longer for the player. Furthermore, the background music is a gem as well if you enjoy listening to EDM genre. With the challenges lie in the mine, the experience to mine for the gem while also keeping yourself being attack by all sort of creatures are just thrilling. In overall, Bore Blasters might be a gem for the 8bit genre.
