PowerSlave (1996)

Beat, and I was surprised that there were no difficulty options. The controls were just right for PSP, exactly how I set them up for other playstation shooters. The game had aiming like Doom, but with a free look button (triangle) that was needed to hit enemies at different elevations. The game reminded me a lot of Hexen, in that the levels were beautiful and well designed with solid combat, but there was too much emphasis on backtracking and platforming. The levels were not very large but I often had to refer to a walkthrough to figure out what to do, even though the levels were far less complicated than Hexen. Most times I died or ran into trouble was because of the platforming, and I wished I was playing the PC version so I could noclip. It was interesting how new platforming abilities were gained throughout the game: high jump, slowfall, water breathing, resistance to toxic and lava, and levitation. I was disappointed that the levitation did not allow ascending, but it was still fun to partially fly around. The level that gave me the most trouble was the underground caverns, due to platforming between moving platforms above poison (before getting poison resist). That level probably took me a dozen tries. And the magma level with the long narrow shafts of lava where the positioning to not die was not forgiving at all. I would have really preferred manual saving during levels.

My favorite weapon was the M60 because it did consistent reliable damage out to long range and could stun enemies. It was good for every situation while the other weapons either excelled or sucked in certain situations. The machete was good for killing scorpions and smashing pots; more useful than Doom's fists but less so than the basic weapons of Hexen. The pistol was decent for sniping but very weak. The bombs were only really good for hitting enemies at lower elevations, and to destroy walls. The flamethrower had better dps than the M60, but limited range; it was best against those annoying wasps. The cobra staff was like a homing rocket launcher, so keep distance to avoid the splash damage. The ring of ra was kind of like the plasma rifle, only less accurate. It shot lots of tiny fireballs at random trajectories that bounced off stuff; good for room clearing but not so much against a single target. The manacles were kind of like a single target BFG; the shots were somewhat homing and good at long range, with the basic shot killing wasps and the charged up shot killing any enemies with 1 shot. It was better than the M60 when there was safe time to charge up, but for close quarters run and gunning the M60 ruled. I did like scavenging pots and dead enemies for health and ammo, and how each level had different pot graphics. Pot contents were also random, so each time playing a level was somewhat different, especially considering pots could be trapped or have a scorpion or wasp. There was a little Metroidvania element in returning to previous levels to find secrets and new paths using new abilities, but this was actually far more simple than it could have been. I found 3 life ankhs and all transmitters for the good ending. I found 1 doll in the magma level due to using a walkthrough for a secret exit. The dolls unlocked cheat codes, including true flight mode, which I have no interest in bothering with. I struggled on the 1st boss because of his homing paralysis projectiles; that took some mad circle strafing. 2nd boss was easy. Final boss was also quite easy; I started off blowing all my manacle and ring ammo which finished off phase 1. Then used the M60 to clear the adds, then by the time I won I was out of all ammo except cobra staff and bombs.

If this game had more combat focus and less platforming then I would want to play again on a harder difficulty (assuming there was any). But despite how good the game is, I don't want to play it again. In some ways it was less annoying than Hexen, but the other classes and difficulty levels make me want to play Hexen again. Many of the platforming and timed doors in this game are things I never want to do again.

7.8/10