☆ Pang Man Reviews: "Exiles End" Inspired By 2D Side Scrollers Of Old ☆ #Retrogaming #WiiU

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Exiles End is a 2D side scrolling platform adventure game, reminiscent of the Commodore 64 games of old. The story begins when your spaceship crash lands on a distant planet and a battle of survival begins.

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At the beginning of the game you start off with no weapons and no equipment and a patient approach is required to progress. There is little hand holding like there is in most modern games, and you will have to work things out slowly for yourself. If you grew up with games like this in the 80s this is a nice reminder of those times, but I can some modern gamers giving up after an hour or so. Even when you die your health is not replenished when you continue and health kits can be sparse.

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I found the opening quarter of the game frustrating at times, but luckily persevering does reap rewards. Once you do finally do progress, you realise that the lack of sign posting allows for exploration and the equipment you acquire, opens up previously inaccessible areas in earlier environments.

For those who love secret areas, this game has loads, some obvious (throw a grenade at a wall and see if it reveals a passage) and some less so. The game does offer replayability if you want to find/try out all of the items and or equipment.

Initially the only enemies were snakes which were annoying more than anything, luckily later on a better variety of enemies appear (some flying, some running, some with guns).

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The Music is good, but usually is played throughout an entire level (or area) so it can get a little grating, especially if you spend a lot of time backtracking or getting lost. Sound effects are excellent and satisfying, especially when firing weapons.

Graphics are deliberately designed in the style of retrogames from the past, so in that sense they are perfect. It certainly looks like a game from that era.

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The game would have benefited with some kind or warps to let you quickly go back and forth between different areas you have previously explored. There is a map to aid you, but I still feel a bit more differentiation visually would have helped with keeping track of where you are and make certain areas seem less repetitive.

So is the game any good? Overall I would say you will enjoy this, if you like to learn the rules of a game without them being spelled out, and are keen for a throwback to the games of old. It is also decent value for money at £8.99 from the Wii U E-shop. (Note: this game is also available on PS4)

If you lack patience and prefer immediate action then this is not the game for you.

My overall impressions are mixed; there are elements of a good game here, and with some tweaks to pacing and a bit more differentiation to music/scenery this could have been brought to the surface more.