Imagine it is lunchtime, and everyone runs outside to the playground; except you, you decide to take the other turn and head to the computerImagine it is lunchtime, and everyone runs outside to the playground; except you, you decide to take the other turn and head to the computer lab and play a game called Lode Runner. Why am I saying this? Well, Destructivator SE reminds me a lot of Lode Runner. I wouldn’t say it is Lode Runner, but the level designs and what not is similar.
Destructivator SE is set in the year 2145 when the Earth lies in ruins from a war between Zallagor and his army, which makes me think this is a sequel, but I could be wrong. Now that Earth is literally on fire, and you have found the home planet of Zallagor, Zerkl; now it is time to take the fight to them. Playing as a soldier in a green jumpsuit, which is most likely a cyborg, players will need to shoot their way to victory.
Players who have played Lode Runner can see the resemblance straight away as the camera viewpoint is similar to the Lode Runner games, with players able to navigate the level how they see fit, backtracking when needed. To progress a level, players must kill all enemies that occupy the screen. This isn’t too difficult at the beginning, but combine that with a Switch lite screen, and you are in for a fun and brutal time.
Divided into six worlds, with each world having roughly nine levels each, players will need to go in, kill all the enemies and at least earn one star. That is easier said than done as the game only included three difficulty settings which were normal, hard and brutal, and knowing how bad I can be at some games, let’s just say I had a lot of trouble with this as the enemies come hard and fast when learning the ropes. I know what you are thinking, and sadly there is no way to unlock easy mode, but I did find a setting that helped me a little for beating some levels, which was to slow bullet speed. I found that once I slowed the bullet speed, I could finish some levels, except the damn boss on the first world.
To make it easier on players, each level has a number of checkpoints scattered around it. The checkpoints allow the player to continue from the checkpoint they passed instead of the beginning of the level. The checkpoints don’t change much because once an enemy is dead, they are dead; it just means the player is closer to where they died, which could be handy or not, depending on where the next batch of enemies is before finishing the level. Player’s will also need to beat levels within three lives; when all lives are lost, the level is failed. It also means the more you die in a level, the lower your rating will be out of five stars.
During my time playing Destructivator SE, I did find a glitch that would always close the game. The glitch in question always happened whenever I paused the game, pressed the plus button as anyone would to go back into the game and then because that does nothing, I press A. The game closes down, and I need to restart; the simple fix for any player experiencing this issue is not pushing the plus button to resume. This was hard for me as it is a basic instinct which meant my game closed constantly. Apart from that single glitch, the rest of the game played fine and was enjoyable. As I said, it is like Lode Runner mixed with Contra.
If Lode Runner and Contra had a baby, this would be their hybrid baby with fast-paced action and strategic elements. Highly recommended for fans of both games.
Destructivator SE is now available on Switch.
A review code was provided by Thalamus Digital for the purpose of this review.… Expand
