Son of Scoregasm blasts its way onto PS Vita soon

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Son of Scoregasm blasts its way onto PS Vita soon

Slick shoot ‘em up sequel bursting with ideas

Hi, I’m Charlie of Charlie’s Games. I’ve been writing and releasing shooty games since 2005, including Irukandji, Bullet Candy and most recently Scoregasm. I’m here to talk about my latest super amazing game Son of Scoregasm, which is coming to PS Vita very soon.

In Son of Scoregasm I’ve tried to create something slick, varied, challenging and fun that plays really well on PS Vita. The game is a sequel to Scoregasm which was released in 2011, and in essence is a refinement of that game, taking the best bits and improving the rest.

Son of Scoregasm is a twin stick shooter, though not in the typical survival style. Instead, the game is comprised of a series of interlinked levels that you progress through in a non-linear style. What this means is that there are multiple paths through the game, ranging from fairly easy routes to some that are pretty hardcore. The levels themselves are designed to be different, and there’s a real variety of enemies, traps and bosses for you overcome as you explore the game and find all the exits.

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Levels appear on the title screen as you discover them!

If you’ve watched the trailer, you’ll no doubt have spotted the pulse attack. This is a really helpful close range pulse that wipes out enemies in a short radius around you ship. You’ll also have notice in the trailer that it’s being used rather a lot, and that’s because unlike many other twin-sticks, the pulse attack isn’t a panic button. Instead, it’s a core attack that you’ll need to use to both survive the levels and to score points. For example you could use it to push a huge crusher back towards an enemy, cut through a field of bullets or change the direction of a huge, rotating arm made of cannons!

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This level has lasers in it that keep you constrained while enemies try and squash you

For scoring, you’ll need to shoot enemies. Didn’t see that one coming, eh? However, using your pulse attack to kill enemies will turn them into multiplier tokens that increase your multiplier and allow you to score more points per kill. If you’re going for big scores, you’ll need to work out the right balance between pulse attacking for multiplier tokens and shooting for points on any given level.

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Enemies try to squish you with their crushers

So that’s a basic overview of what the game is, and while this and the trailer will give you some understanding of what Son of Scoregasm is and what it looks like, it doesn’t really communicate how it feels to play, so I’ll attempt that now. It feels really, really slick on PS Vita!

You’ll all know how good things look on the Vita’s screen, but it’s the controls that really feel amazing. The analogue sticks are perfect for this game, giving you the full 360 degrees movement you’ll need to react quickly and accurately. This coupled with how fluidly everything moves on screen makes playing the game feel really solid and smooth. It’s genuinely great to play!

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One of the easier bosses you go up against

Son of Scoregasm is in its final stages of development now, and it should be out around the end of June. At present I’m working on getting Trophies, Leaderboards and all that cool stuff in place. It’s exciting to think that pretty soon folks will be able to play it!

If you’d like to know more about Son of Scoregasm, you can either visit my blog or follow me on Twitter. There’s a cat photo warning for my Twitter page however. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

As a final thing, I’d like to say a big thanks to Shahid Ahmad at SCEE for liking the original Scoregasm enough to get me set up and working on this without really asking any questions, and also to Ben Andac, who has tirelessly answered all my silly questions. Cheers guys, Son of Scoregasm wouldn’t have happened without you!

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