Inversus Deluxe

Genre: Arcade / Shmup

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local / Online)

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Review:

Inversus is an Arcade-style game with elements of the Shmup genre, although it’s unusual and doesn’t really fit squarely in with what you would normally think of as a Shmup.

Players take the role of monochrome squares on a grid, able to move freely anywhere on that grid that’s the opposite color. You can fire in four directions, and any blocks of your color your bullet passes over change into the opposite color, simultaneously clearing your way and making it harder for enemies to move around. Ultimately, you’re hoping to pin down your enemy well enough that you can nail them with a shot.

It’s an interesting concept, and it’s presented in a really classy way here, with black and white tiles outlined by solid colors. This is a game that looks good without being impressive on a graphical level.

There are a lot of options here, too. You can play versus local, online, or computer controlled opponents, one v. one or as teams, or against a mindless swarm of enemies. Playing against other players plays out like a game of can and mouse, while playing against a swarm of enemies really brings out the arcade-y feel of the game.

My biggest complaint here is the way the game limits players’ shots with only a half dozen bullets before you have to either wait for a reload or pick up shots left by enemies, and it takes a really fast-paced game and suddenly slows it to an agonizing crawl. And while I understand that allowing players to fire endless streams of bullets would be chaotic, I’m just not sold on this specific compromise being the best solution for that.

However, despite its faults, Inversus still offers something interesting and original that looks nice and gives you a lot of ways to play it. If you’re looking for something a bit different that mixes arcade and Shmup elements, this game might interest you.

tl;dr – Inversus Deluxe is an Arcade-style game with Shmup elements where the shots you and opponents fire also limit the area you can move freely in. It’s an interesting concept, but a limited number of shots players can fire before reload really mucks with the otherwise fast-paced battles.

Grade: B-

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