Transcripted

Genre: 2-Stick Shooter / Match-3 Puzzle

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in Indie Gems Bundle: Explosions Edition along with NeuroVoider and Steredenn: Binary Stars.)

Transcripted is a game that combines a Two-Stick Shooter with a match-3 Puzzle game, and even works in some RPG mechanics as well, all in a presentation that has you fighting malicious viruses in a microscopic environment.

The game controls like any traditional Two-Stick Shooter, but while you fight off enemies, you’ll be grabbing multicolored cubes they drop and firing them at a moving line of cubes reminiscent of the puzzle game Zuma, with this match-3 gameplay the ultimate goal of a given level.

The game finds some really inventive things to do with this too, such as changing how your ship acts when it’s holding a cube, or by making bosses that are built out of the cubes you need to match. There’s also an RPG-style progression system to build up your ship’s skills over the course of the game.

Visually, this game looks really cool and unique, with backgrounds that look like they could have actually been taken with a microscopic camera inside a bloodstream… well, if not for the bright, colorful cubes and space shooter stuff going on in the foreground.

When it comes to complaints, I suppose there are two things that come to mind. First, the game pushes a story on you about a medical research conspiracy that’s… not especially compelling. It’s a lot of talking heads and voice recordings, and it largely seemed disposable. Secondly, the gameplay can be a bit on the difficult side at times, as it charges players with balancing a lot of different mechanics at once, and some stuff like the Zuma style of methodical match-3 gameplay doesn’t quite always fit with the fast-paced two-stick shooter gameplay.

Still, while it’s not without a few issues holding it back, Transcripted is still an inventive meshing of two very different genres in a cohesive fashion that works well and looks great. Fans of two-stick shooters looking for something a bit more thoughtful should definitely give this one a try.

tl;dr – Transcripted is a game that combines Two-Stick Shooter gameplay with match-3 Puzzle gameplay similar to Zuma. While the two gameplay styles don’t always get along well with each other, for the most part this is a pretty cohesive gameplay experience that’s satisfying, unique, and features a superb presentation.

Grade: B+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}