one of the kings of shoot’em up is back with amazing quality and devilish difficulty

The gender of shoot’em up It is one of the best moments that has made me go through in the 90s mainly. At that time there were numerous titles of this type that were developed, although over time this type of experience has fallen into oblivion a little more, but luckily there are companies willing to rescue them.

That is where the Granzella studio comes into play with the saga R-Type. A couple of years ago it brought back this mythical series by publishing R-Type Final 2 on most of the platforms available on the market, although the only one that was left out was PS5. At least, to compensate for this situation, the Sony console will receive in a few days R-Type Final 3 Evolved.

This new installment of the franchise will be released soon in PS5 exclusive and be very careful with it if you are fans of this genre or are one of those who are looking for a proper challenge, because after playing it thoroughly I have sometimes wanted to call it “the Dark Souls of shoot’em ups” because of how much it It has made me sweat the fat drop.

A new version that expands its content with more action

The most important thing you should know about R-Type Final 3 Evolved is that it is not a completely new game, since it is actually an improved and extended version of R-Type Final 2so those of you who already had or played the latter there are many things that will not surprise you, but the amount of news is succulent enough for you to value the option of getting hold of it.

Most remarkable of all is that the number of stages to overcome has been increased. The seven new levels have been created by Kazuma Kujo himself, one of the key figures in the saga as he is one of its managers and also the boss of Granzella. Therefore, to the screens of R-Type Final 2 We must add this new batch so that the entertainment increases even more with more challenges.

To this must also be added a new collection of ships to select before jumping into the action. Each of them is characterized by having its own weapons and design, but most aspects are customizable so that each one can choose their favorites. This brings the collection of ships in the hangar to dozens of different models for which it is possible to choose.

In addition, it has also been included a new multiplayer mode on which I have to admit that it is the one that I have dedicated the least time to with an immense difference. More than anything because it has a social component that places you in an open world setting, in which you control your own customizable pilot and with which you can move around to interact with other characters, but the point is that Every time I’ve played I haven’t met anyone.

It’s not that it seemed like a big inconvenience to me either because basically this area only serves to take a look at the ships with their gigantic real size, as if it were a museum, and little else. On the other hand, it also has a score mode in which you can compete against other players in the same phase to see who reaches the highest number, but again, since I didn’t come across anyone, I only competed with myself.

I am aware that the game has not been released yet in America or Europe, but in Japan it has been available in stores since last month, so we will see in a few days if this aspect is improved or not. In any case, the multiplayer It seemed to me that there is a little padding there because without a doubt the true experience, the one that offers more hours of fun and entertainment, is the one that is focused on a single player.

The space war against the Bydo empire continues

As usual in the series, Bydo’s hordes are once again the enemies we will face in this space action adventure. Despite that 3D visual touch that is given to the scenarios, at all times the phases will leave us with a 2D side scrollinghaving to shoot every creature that moves on the screen before they finish us off.

During the first bars you usually find some groups of enemies that you easily kill with a few shots, but the difficulty level does not take long to see itself shot up significantly. As the stages progress, the enemies become even more savage, moving faster, shooting incessantly, there are more elements on the screen to pay attention to, etc., which means that dying is extremely easy.

luckily there is Five levels of difficulty for everyone to adapt the experience to their liking based on their skill at the controls. In my case, I started with the intermediate level and it made me suffer a lot, because sometimes the phases become a bit unfair, especially in certain sections in which enemies appear out of nowhere at a speed that you don’t have time to react. And the worst thing is that when you die you lose each and every one of the improvements you have obtained.

As you progress through the levels, there are certain enemies that, when destroyed, release missiles to equip them, the classic ball that is equipped on the ship called Force, or three different types of weapons. So, when you have some of these components and improvements equipped, these parts become easier, but when your ship is destroyed, everything becomes more complicated since you don’t have as many facilities to overcome those areas. In this sense, the established level of difficulty also influences, because when you die it penalizes you more or less in terms of the losses you suffer.

Anyway, I’ve been trying the lower than intermediate difficulty levels and at no point has it felt like a walk at all. Yes, it has been somewhat easier, but not something to presume that anyone can be able to beat the game, so A minimum of skill is required at the controls to avoid dying without stopping. On the other hand, the amount of continuations available also varies depending on the selected difficulty.

Even so, a part of me already knew that I was going to find myself in this situation, because the R-Type They’ve always been characterized by how challenging they are, which is why I always wanted to try one more time and learn where I’ve failed before to get through the stages without getting so desperate. Also, the respawn points are usually not too far from the place where we are eliminated.

A whole festival of most impressive shooting

The settings are amazing how they look, due to the elements that are located in the background or how different they are from each other. The lighting and the effects of the shots or the explosions are also amazing, turning each game into a whole show of lights and shootings that make us get more fully immersed in everything that happens and not want to look away for a moment.

Something that also makes everything look so impressive is the fact that the Unreal Engine 5 graphics engine to give more realism to the lighting, animations and textures of everything around us. Likewise, those with a PlayStation VR2 unit can enjoy the opening sequence in virtual reality, although it’s a shame that the same does not apply with the rest of the game.

Beyond all this, I also loved the design of the ships for how different they are from each other and for offering the option of changing parts for others or placing stickers on them to give them a unique and more personal touch. In fact, the game incorporates a store where you can buy more objects or also an art gallery with designs or images of the phases that have been previously overcome.

Regarding the sound section, I thought the soundtrack was excellent due to the wide variety of themes that are consistent with each phase and there are even some moments in which voices are heard in English, with Spanish subtitles, although these sequences are very specific.

iGamesNews’s opinion

Those who haven’t played R-Type Final 2 They have a perfect excuse to get hold of R-Type Final 3 Evolved to be more and better in all its aspects. Those of you who already had the original are still a good purchase, but you should also take into account that a part of its contents remain exactly the same, but just by playing the new levels and having access to more ships, it is worth following him. track closely.

Those of you who are not very skilled with shoot’em up, it is likely that the game can throw you back because of how demanding all its difficulty levels are, especially from intermediate to higher. That does not mean that it is not a good challenge with which you want to get behind the controls, especially because of the visual and sound spectacle that it offers us, which is simply magnificent thanks to Unreal Engine 5.

Perhaps the multiplayer is what I found less appealing in general, but the single player experience is complete enough to make it outstanding and easy to enjoy. R-Type Final 3 Evolved.

Precio de R-Type Final 3 Evolved

For now R-Type Final 3 Evolved does not have a product sheet on PlayStation Store, so it is unknown what its price will be on PS5. its previous version, R-Type Final 2cuesta 39,99 dollars in the Sony digital store, to get an idea of ​​where the shots can go.

R-Type Final 3 Evolved Duration

You could say that R-Type Final 3 Evolved you can last two hours or maybe tens of them. Here it will depend mainly on your ability to pass any of its phases, just as the amount of time will increase even more if you want to try to get the highest possible score on each screen, complete the game on all its difficulty levels or go go for 100%.