Sleeper Hit: Revolgear Zero
Revolgear ZERO
Hey, hey! WWhile casually looking through a Steam Fest catalogue for shooting games, the demo stood out to me because of how flashy it looked, so I decided to give it a try.
After about an hour or so of playing, I was immediately sold on it.
What surprised me most is that Revolgear ZERO feels generous: it gives you loadout choices, defensive tools, training options, unlockables, and enough structure that failure rarely feels hopeless.
So, what does it play like?
Well, there’s quite a bit to it, but I think it might be best to start with the loadout screen:
There are three options you can pick,
- a main weapon
- a subweapon
- an option deployment configuration
And when you look at the screen, I did my best to highlight what’s going on.
Your bit (the thing in the front) acts as both weapon and shield, protecting you from small bullets as well as providing some serious melee firepower. In this mode you use your main weapon.
Then you can deploy your bit in the configuration you selected at the loadout screen. In this mode you will use the secondary weapon.
Your battery acts as fuel for both shield and your laser. When you take a hit, it empties your battery. But when you use your laser, it also empties your battery.
What recommends it?
There are a lot of things that make this game interesting, maybe even luxurious, in its own strange way.
The archive has characters literally tripping over themselves
How can you not enjoy seeing characters working their way forward, tripping over themselves?
The story
While there isn’t that much story going on, what is there is written with a charming degree of sincerity. It’s a story about vulnerability, sacrifice, learning to give, learning to accept and being brave. It’s quite heartwarming to see Shizuku and Akane, who start out as rivals, learn to accept each other and become friends.
Strong and coherent theming
Each of the stages has a strong theme: sky stage, factory stage, industrial stage, bio stage, ice stage, etc.
The amount of extra features is ridiculous
There are a lot of ways to learn the game!
They have a training mode where you can experiment with every possible configuration.
They have 3 (now 4 with a recent update) rows of missions where you are supposed to make use of the mechanics indirectly.
There’s also a manual, a demo, a tutorial and a sound test, in case things weren’t clear.
The amount of unlockables is ridiculous
Using a certain formula, the score at the end of the game becomes credit which you can use to buy lots of weapons for each character, bit configurations and extra features like the sound test, a mini game and cosmetics.
The audio experience is surprisingly pleasant
The sound stage is layered quite elegantly: the music, sound effects and talking are quite well balanced. Furthermore, the explosions have a pleasant, subtle bass note to them. If the explosion is caused by the bit, it’s slightly punchier, but not so much that it becomes fatiguing. This sensation is even more enhanced because hitting something with the bit even causes your controller to vibrate, further enhancing the sensation.
It’s still being updated
They have recently pushed an update adding … 6 new playable ships.
They feel quite distinct, too. Two of the characters are… the dragon boss. There are two guest characters from the other Bikkuri Software game, Graze Counter GM. What makes these two particularly interesting, is that you play them as you would play them in Graze Counter GM, which is getting very close to enemies to charge your laser then firing it off repeatedly.
Final Thoughts
I think it’s a very interesting shooting game. Having to commit to a loadout means that you will have to accept that some parts are going to be easier, while others more difficult.
The various bit deployment options further help you cement a gameplan, or give you an alternate option for dealing with verticality or even having to move back.
Furthermore, it’s very common that once you start dying in a shooting game, you end up spiraling, because you lose your powerups. Here, however, there are no powerups, so regaining a foothold is much more feasible.
This is a very accessible shooter, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone already curious about the genre. It has enough structure and friendliness to avoid feeling intimidating, but still leaves plenty of room for mastery. Your next objective always feels just out of reach.
With that being said, shooting games are still games for uncles, so if it holds zero appeal to you, this one will not change your mind. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. A personal GOTY candidate, for sure.
Thank you for your patience, see you next time!