That new Strider is alright.

While it’s hard to deny the actual dollar value of a PS Plus account, especially if you have the full PS3/4/Vita complement, what ends up happening most of the time is another indie game being added to my backlog. Titles like Stick it to the Man, Mercenary Kings, and Stealth, Inc. are just more games to sacrifice at the altar of never really getting around to play them.

Then one month the recently released Strider came out for PS4 and I gave it a shot. It was fine.

Developed by Double Helix, responsible for a handful of bad-to-middling games and the new Killer Instinct, Strider definitely stands head and shoulders above the likes of Silent Hill: Homecoming and Front Mission Evolved. This is likely due to the fact that Strider feels like a game that properly recognizes what works and what doesn’t rather than soullessly aping it’s predecessors.

Which may be a bit unfair, as I’ve never player the older Strider games. I know very little about him, outside of he is a holdover from Capcom’s more arcadey-er era, which this game still has a feel for. Not exactly a a straight forward sequel, the new Strider plays like a Metroid or Castlevania title, with a fully explorable map and hidden upgrades and items galore. Strider’s sword can be equipped with different elements that open different doors, he can summon the ghosts of animals that transport him to new areas, and can slide, dash, and wall climb for days. Think a speedier version of Guacamelee!, which helps keep it’s arcade roots intact.

The game’s story does exist, but it lacks the charm or striking aesthetic of the previously mentioned games. It has no pervading atmosphere or unique bent that gives Metroid or Guacamelee! their sense of self. Strider is like the Saturday morning cartoon of these games: silly in and of itself but hard for anyone over the age of ten to take seriously. The only level I remember with detail is a cool robot factory, mostly because it had some conveyor belts, which I don’t remember other games of this type having.

Other than that, the games highlights are definitely it’s boss fights. While possibly a few too many (This is one of those games where early boss enemies turn into more generic ones later), the fights are varied and interesting, from fighting giant mechanical dragons to jetpack bounty hunters to a trio of martial arts wizards, the game spared no expense in the boss fights. I will admit, however, there was one boss I just never figured out how to fight properly, instead just trying to out damage him until I succeeded, but that one’s more one me than the game.

For $15, it’s hard not to recommend a game like Strider. It’s not a long game, my clock came in just under 7 hours and I stopped to smell most of the roses and it doesn’t track time through retries, but it’s a solidly built one. Double Helix should make there games more like this one in the future, lest we be blighted with another movie tie-in like Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.