| If
this was a review for a PS2 release (if there ever is such a thing)
of Border Down, it would be easy. I’d
just have to make the obligatory R-Type or Gradius comparison,
rave about the rather excellent border system of the title, mention
the traditionally opaque chaining system, summarily dismiss the
practise and remix modes and then recommend it to any shmups fans
in the vicinity. Spread that lot over 1000 words and the job’s
done.
But it’s not a PS2 release.
There are two reasons why I’m writing
this, and they’re probably the same reasons that you’re
reading it. Firstly this is the last, glorious swansong of the
Dreamcast. That is unless SNK/Playmore listen to the fanboys and
release SNK vs Capcom Chaos or King of Fighters 2003, and conveniently
ignoring the constant trickle of hentai dating sims that show
no sign of slowing down.
The second reason, and probably the main one,
is down to the DC game that came before this one. The similarities
are, on the surface at least, obvious - a game, released for an
apparently dead machine, which single handed attempts to resurrect
a supposedly long-dead genre. Ikaruga is, already, a legend. It
has redefined what we expect from the top down shooter and all
eyes are now focused on G-Rev’s creation. Can Border Down
“do an Ikaruga”, this time for side-scrolling?
Which is my cue to revisit the opening paragraph
and tell you about the innovations that Border Down brings to
the party. The border system is a brilliantly realised and perfectly
balanced method of setting game difficulty. You choose one of
three “borders”, difficulty levels, to start your
game on: Red, Yellow or Green. The game lies to you by suggesting
that the green border is easy; it’s not, in fact it’s
insanely difficult and you will die almost immediately, but herein
lies the genius. G-Rev have effectively thrown away the concept
of lives - when you die, rather than magically respawning your
ship and throwing you back into the action, with reduced firepower,
only to die again - you “Border Down” to the next
easiest border-level, (die on the easy red border though and it’s
instant game over). It is a lovely, elegant way to get around
one of the biggest, and most long-standing, problems with this
power-up obsessed genre, as even the most ham-fisted players will
be able to make some leeway on the red border.
The game looks great at all times
There are some jaw dropping moments in here
too - the opening animation, which shows your ship warping-in
as a wire frame, gaining some filled polygons before finally rushing
into the fully rendered game-world, is staggering. You’ll
be showing it off to friends for months. This genre has always
been as much about admiring the scenery as shooting things and
Border Down doesn’t disappoint with the world rotating around
your ship like your bedroom ceiling after one pint too many, and
some of the transitions will have you grinning like a loon.
The things that make Border Down a delight are
also its biggest problems. The border system can, occasionally,
feel too much like handholding and there are times, especially
on the red border, when it feels less like a game and more like
an extravagantly animated fly-by. There is also a deep down nagging
suspicion that you’ve seen it all before somewhere. It does
seem slightly churlish to criticize Border Down for this last
point, as it is something that could be applied to every side
scrolling shooter since Nemesis, but it’s still there.
So, will Border Down revolutionise the side-scrolling
shooter? Probably not, and I don’t think that was G-Rev’s
intention, it’s more of an evolution of the shooter rather
than the genre defying shock that we may have expected. But let’s
not deride the game for what is; essentially, an accident of birth.
In it’s arcade form, and released on any other home system,
this would be lauded for its innovations instead of strung up
for its few inadequacies. As it stands, it’s more than worth
the effort of burning a Utopia disc, dusting off the Dreamcast
(you do have a Dreamcast don’t you?) and losing a few hours
in a blissful game that more than matches anything shooty that
the current consoles can offer.
RODENT CASH RATING -
£38
 "Grand
explosions aye"
|
