Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer is a 2D horizontally scrolling shooter.  It’s been previously available on other systems in the past, but now you can play it on Switch.

What you see is what you get here pretty much.  Use the control stick to move your ship and hold down the fire button to shoot.  You can press the shoulder button to switch between two different types of weapons.  There’s a straight shot with a diagonal bomb and a electric beam that hones in on enemies.  If you can shoot down a bunch of enemies with one weapon, you’ll increase your score combo, perfect for high score chasers.  But there’s also a meter that goes down as you fire, and if it reaches the bottom you switch to the other weapon.  But you can also switch back at any time so I’m not sure I totally understand the mechanic.  But just shoot everything that moves and avoid projectiles yourself and you’ll be fine.  You have an energy meter that goes down as you get hit, and you can collect power-ups for your shots as well.  If the meter reaches zero it’s Game Over.  Luckily there are plenty of difficulty modes so players of all skills can enjoy it.

The main story mode can be played by one or two players in co-op.  You can also do training on each stage separately and view your high scores, awards, trophies, and toggle options.  My only problem is that I wish you could save after every stage in the main mode and start back up there later.  The stages are pretty long and it takes a while to beat in one go.  Also sometimes the enemies kind of blend into the background.  But otherwise, this is a pretty decent shooter that just does what it sets out to do.

Kid Factor:

Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  You shoot spaceships and plant monsters that explode when defeated and that’s it.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the menus, but not necessary just to play.

Tags: Game Reviews