Looking for a fast paced shooter game for your Windows Phone? Take a look at Chromatic.
Chromatic is a 2D shooter where you take control of a defense turret and defend your position against wave after wave of attacking enemies. As you progress through the game you gain access to six unique guns with their own power/strengths. As you work your way through the game, these weapons will advance in levels as well to increase their effectiveness.
To read more on Chromatic, follow the break .
App Layout
Chromatic's main menu has options to Start or Resume a game, view your equipment, check out the online leaderboards, view the game's options, and view the about screen. If you're playing the free version, you'll also see an option to buy the Pro Version.
Want guns? There are six unique styled guns to Chromatic that are accessible through the equipment menu. You have:
- Pistol: shoots single projectile
- Spread: shoots a three shot spread of projectiles
- Freeze: shoots a projectile that takes out an enemy ship and freezes those around it
- Missile: shoots a single missile (more oomph that the pistol)
- Laser: shoots a solid laser beam that will cut through multiple targets
- Mine: launches mines into space that when hit will take out multiple targets
Each weapon type is assigned a color and the Equipment Screen will display the level and progress towards the next level. Basically, the more you use the gun, the more points you earn with that gun, the quicker it progresses up the levels. Obviously, the higher the level the more powerful the gun.
Each type gun needs to re-energize and the more powerful the weapon the more time is required to re-energize between shots. The Pistol takes very little time while the Mine will take longer. As the guns move up in level, the time will decrease.
Chromatic will let you set up to three gun types to use in defending your base. You start out with the Pistol and progressively will increase the number of guns you can select.
Game Screen
Chromatic's game screen is has a little bit of mystery to it. Up top you have colored bars that I really have no clue what they are, your score, a damage bar, point multiplier and wave number. Down below is your turret and colored bars representing your gun choice.
The colored bars could be progress bars for each guns level or progress bars for the different enemies you are battling. There's no "help or how-to" section so if anyone knows the answer, feel free to share in the comments.
To fire your turret, just tap on the screen in the direction you want your gun to fire in. To switch between gun types, just tap the respective colored bar (each gun type has a set color). The colored bar also represents your gun's energy level. As you fire, the bar will decrease and in a second or two, the energy will be replenished and return to full size.
The enemies come at you in a fast and furious manner and come in different colors and shapes. Each will have a damage bar above them and as you progress through the waves, some enemies will need multiple hits to destroy.
As enemies pass your turret, damage is inflicted and your damage bar will decrease.
Overall Impression
Game play for Chromatic is fast (I've said that a few times, right?). The game starts out slow but quickly picks up speed. Along the way you'll pick up bonuses that increase your points but mostly, your tapping the screen as quickly as you can.
Chromatic has a retro feel to it. A cross between the graphics of Asteroids and the game play of Galaga maybe. Game play is fantastic. Fast enough to where you will find yourself catching your breath between waves. There is a slight addictive quality to Chromatic in that you feel compelled to play again to see if you can progress further than the last game.
Stability wise, I did encounter a few crashes but the game saves your place as the app bites the dust. So you won't loose your progress just the seconds required to restart the game.
I really would have liked to have seen a Help/How-to section to explain the weapons, how points are earned toward advancing through the levels and what those colored bars are. The game is simple enough to pick up without a Help/How-to section but would be nice to explain the finer points.
All in all, if your a fan of the shooter genre, Chromatic would fall into the ranks of Impossible Shoota as a must have game. If you're looking for a fast paced game of any type, Chromatic is worth the download. If you're not a fan of shooter type games, Chromatic might change your mind.
There are two version of Chromatic available. Chromatic Free is the ad-supported version and Chromatic Pro is an ad-free version that will run you $.99. Asides from the ads, the two versions are identical.
You can find Chromatic (the freebie) here and Chromatic Pro here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
