Orbital Bullet has all the trappings of a game that draws you in for hours of addictive fun, and it also has the curse of being an annoying and frustrating mess. It’s all rooted in gameplay choices like Rouge. Orbital Bullet is rouge-like and each run of the game is completely different from the last. This is good because the game changes (literally) every time. The problem is that you don’t know what you’re getting every time you play, and the enjoyment of the game changes a lot. There is some fun, but this game is nothing new to the rouge-like genre and your enjoyment depends entirely on your love for games like rouge.
The Orbital Bullet is best described as a “run ‘n gun”. A constantly moving, dodging, and destroying type of experience. However, this is no traditional run-and-gun game. This hinges on the wraparound level design, which is a randomly generated cylinder. You have a mission to destroy all enemies before going to the upper or lower floors. After beating some levels, a boss battle will begin. The ultimate goal is to defeat the evil interplanetary council hierarchy.
Orbital Bullet is a fun experience that makes good use of the types of hazards and challenges that can only exist in a circular stage. For example, lasers and sniper rifles. These shots envelop the entire battlefield. In other words, no enemy is out of reach. Enemies that can only be attacked from behind are very common, and there are even enemies that hang inside the inner circle and throw projectiles in your path. For example, take a look at the opening cave biome. While playing in this cave, the stage occasionally emits pulsating waves that you must rhythmically jump over every few seconds.
Orbital Bullet’s rouge-like elements go far beyond level layouts. Each run starts with a random weapon drop, such as a shotgun, rifle, laser, or cannonball launcher, and varies greatly from playthrough to playthrough. Perks, such as life boosters and credit boosters, can be found randomly in chests that are given as a sort of bonus for achieving a time his beat or certain kills his count. The shop is also completely random, with random combinations of items to choose from. When you finish your run (quite sooner than you think), you’ll be presented with a skill tree that allows you to unlock permanent upgrades. This is a big deal because these permanent upgrades carry over to your next playthrough.
The main problem with Orbital Bullet is precisely the gameplay elements that define the genre. It’s randomness like rouge. Failure or success in Orbital Bullet comes down to uncontrollable complete randomness. Some good runs give you good starting weapons, easy stages, and easy enemies to deal with. Because it’s all completely random, the fun will be random as well. Bad execution was far more common and frustrating than good execution.
Another problem with Orbital Bullet is that even when you’re playing on a “good run” (a run where the game is fairer to you and actually gives you a chance to win), the game doesn’t do anything noticeably new. That’s it. A rouge-like crowd bursting at the seams with various game offerings. Rouge-like gameplay is perfectly done in almost every game in his genre, especially in run-and-gun style games. That circular stage design was done years ago in games like Resogun. There’s nothing new Orbital Bullet brings to the table.
Orbital Bullet is a great rouge-like run ‘n gun game that will keep you entertained for hours. Its circular stage design and rouge-like randomness offer a wide range of experiences every time you play. That rouge element will ultimately determine the success or failure of enjoying the game. In my experience, it’s usually more unfair when you start a run because you’re fighting the worst weapons, stages, and enemies. It also doesn’t do anything new that dozens of other games haven’t done before. Orbital Bullet can best be described as an average experience designed for those who truly love roguelike games.
