In the mythical land of Judanest inhabited by bird people, an owl prince and his band of warriors protect the kingdom.  One day an evil crow named Omega Wing releases all the Tengu and uses a Dark Feather to hypnotize the prince’s troops.  Now it’s up to the owl prince to stop him in this 2D hack and slash platformer.  Atomic Owl is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

One interesting thing is that when you start out, the game gives you a choice between Classic and Roguelike modes.  I tried classic mode which gives you special skills in a certain order, but the game is shorter that way.  But I didn’t mind.  You’ll tromp through 2D stages and can attack enemies with a short ranged sword attack, a long ranged whip, and a scythe that travels in an arc when you throw it.

While you can run on the ground fairly quickly, you’re most nimble in the air.  Which makes sense, since you’re a bird person in the game.  You can do double and triple jumps, dash in any direction, and cling to and jump off walls.  And as long as you do have a floor or wall to stand on, you can do those jumps again.  If you lose all your energy, you’ll end up in a world where you can buy skills with the green orbs you’ve collected, and then start the stage over again.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this game.  The controls felt too loosey goosey for my tastes, even though the jumping was pretty forgiving.  The view is also zoomed out way too far, making things tiny and hard to see.  And it’s pretty difficult, too.  I’d say only check this one out if you enjoy precision platforming hack and slashers.

Kid Factor:

Atomic Owl is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  You hit pixel bird people with weapons that disappear when defeated.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may find it too difficult.

Tags: Game Reviews