Enemy Mind

About

"Enemy Mind" is a side-scrolling space shooter for PC with a classic 8-bit art style and 8 levels of challenge across 70 waves. As a being of pure psychic energy, you can take over and control any of the 20+ unique ships you encounter, each with their own power and ability. The game features an adaptive story system that changes with your play style and offers multi-player co-op for up to four players. The soundtrack is an original chiptune-inspired creation by Rainbow Kitten.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 463 reviews

gameplay65 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

Unique mechanic of taking over enemy ships adds depth and strategy to gameplay.
Engaging narrative that unfolds through gameplay, providing context to the player's actions.
Visually appealing retro graphics and a catchy chiptune soundtrack enhance the overall experience.

Difficulty spikes can be frustrating, especially in later levels and boss fights.
Limited variety in enemy ships and repetitive level design can lead to monotony.
The game lacks a proper save system, requiring players to replay entire levels after losing all lives.

gameplay
184 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
61%
4%
The gameplay in "Enemy Mind" is centered around a unique mechanic that allows players to take control of enemy ships, adding a strategic layer to the traditional shoot 'em up format. While the core mechanic is engaging and offers a fresh take on the genre, some players find the overall gameplay can become repetitive and lacks variety in enemy patterns and level design. Despite these criticisms, the game is praised for its solid controls, retro aesthetics, and the fun, spontaneous nature of ship switching, making it a noteworthy title in the shmup category.
- “The main mechanic, which is to take control of enemy ships on the screen, is superbly executed and makes for exciting gameplay.”
- “The ship switching mechanic keeps the gameplay fresh, since in every new level there are new ships to take over control.”
- “Taking control over the other ships is a really cool mechanic; it makes you change your whole strategy during a level.”
- “The gameplay is stale and repetitive - many of the arcade shooters from the 1980s had better graphics, playability is worse.”
- “The gameplay for long stretches is outright dull, then it jumps up the difficulty and you're excited ... only to die and have to redo the earlier, boring sections of a level that turns into a chore.”
- “Sadly the game gets boring after an hour of the same gameplay with little to keep you coming back.”
story
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
62%
5%
The game's story is generally considered more engaging than typical for the space shooter genre, featuring a unique narrative structure that reveals different perspectives based on the player's choices of ships. While some players find the storytelling method—brief text snippets between levels—frustrating and insufficient, others appreciate its depth and replay value, as it encourages exploration of various factions and their intertwined stories. Overall, the narrative is seen as a compelling addition that enhances the gameplay experience, despite some criticisms regarding its delivery and accessibility.
- “The story is surprisingly deep, balancing humanity's past sins with the love of the individual and the human drive to survive.”
- “The story-telling in the game is both clever and well-written, providing a unique narrative experience.”
- “With three different storylines woven together, it offers a compelling narrative that enhances the gameplay.”
- “The story is told in between waves, with 2 lines of text, which is not really the best way.”
- “It's 2 sentences of story per wave beaten, which doesn't motivate me to go through the same levels to get the next tiny clip.”
- “There's also no real story, just a few random sentences of nonsensical text that pop up after every wave and level.”
music
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
41%
9%
The music in the game is widely praised for its energetic chiptune soundtrack, which complements the gameplay and enhances the overall atmosphere. While some players find the music to be a standout feature, others note occasional weaknesses or inconsistencies in quality. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant asset, contributing to the game's retro aesthetic and engaging experience.
- “This game is super fun and the soundtrack is amazing!”
- “Great music, smart method of storytelling, and again, game design that works with, rather than just next to, the game's main mechanics.”
- “The chiptune soundtrack is catchy.”
- “I found the music and sound to be annoying as well.”
- “The graphics are neat and the music is... well, the music's kinda the weak point here.”
- “The music is just as tinny and weak sounding as the sound effects.”
graphics
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
39%
5%
The graphics of the game are characterized by charming retro pixel art that evokes nostalgia for classic arcade shooters, with many reviewers praising its crisp visuals and appealing 8-bit aesthetic. While some find the minimalistic style fitting and well-executed, others note that it may feel outdated or simplistic compared to modern standards. Overall, the graphics are well-received for their quality and integration with the gameplay, particularly for fans of the shoot 'em up genre.
- “The art style is very appealing with its charming retro visuals.”
- “A fun and simple shmup with an interesting gameplay gimmick, married to a beautiful pixel art style with a nice soundtrack to boot.”
- “The design and the retro-style graphics look great, especially if you are into classic shmups.”
- “30 fps lock, gimmick gets old really fast, very minimal graphics and a tiny ammo pool on every ship, to force you to constantly use the gimmick every 5 seconds.”
- “The gameplay is stale and repetitive - many of the arcade shooters from the 1980's had better graphics, playability is worse.”
- “Graphics settings are limited to (I am not joking) changing the size of the game window.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its creative and hilarious moments that enhance the overall experience. Many reviews note the comedic chaos that arises during multiplayer sessions, making for entertaining and unpredictable gameplay. Overall, the game's blend of funny extras and engaging narrative contributes to its appeal as a standout title in the genre.
- “An excellent and creative side scroller shoot 'em up that is welcoming to both veterans and new players of the genre with a lovely dash of narrative and challenge to keep you engaged and interested, and hilarious extras you can unlock at the main menu.”
- “So many hilarious and outrageous moments; after only 2 hours of playtime, this could easily become my favorite shmup of all time!”
- “Has local multiplayer and can be hectic fun with some friends; having multiple people control the same ship by accident is a hilarious situation.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game offers moderate replayability primarily due to its engaging plot that varies based on player choices and the presence of achievements and leaderboards. While some players find the single-player experience highly replayable, others note that its short length limits overall replay value. Cooperative play adds another layer, but once the story is fully explored, the incentive to replay diminishes.
- “It has a really interesting plot about two factions that you can get to know depending on the ships you finish each level with, so if you are into that, it has some replay value.”
- “It also comes with achievements and leaderboards, which gives it even more replayability.”
- “The replay value for the game stems from the storyline, which varies based on actions you take.”
- “It's fun and all, but for me not necessarily a lot of replayability.”
- “The only negative is that the game was fairly short, and once you've seen all the bells and whistles then there is not much replayability.”
- “It's fairly short--maybe a couple hours long, without major replayability--but just a single run-through leaves an impression strong enough to change your day.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to a harsh difficulty curve that punishes mistakes with repetitive gameplay. While the game is visually appealing and offers an interesting concept, the pacing and difficulty can detract from the overall experience, making it feel overly tedious for some.
- “I think this game could really benefit from an appropriate difficulty curve that allows both skilled players to challenge themselves, and more casual players to afford more mistakes, because from what I can gather from the first 6 levels, nearly every mistake is harshly punished with repetition and tediousness.”
- “Visually attractive with good audio and an interesting take on the shmup, but I find the game's pacing tedious and the difficulty relating to that irritating.”
- “I find this to be, on the one hand, fascinating due to the game's simplicity, while, on the other hand, it's incredibly tedious.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive quality, enhanced by the use of multiple languages within the ships and a fitting soundtrack that complements the story and overall experience. Players find the music to be a significant contributor to the game's enjoyable ambiance.
- “The music, story, and atmosphere are all fitting and very enjoyable.”
- “Definitely get the soundtrack if you can; it's awesome and adds to the whole atmosphere of the game.”
- “The music adds quite well to the atmosphere, to boot!”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including game-breaking glitches, intrusive audio bugs, and instances of freezing that can disrupt gameplay and hinder achievement progress. While some players may overlook these bugs as they become more skilled and enjoy the music, the overall experience is still negatively impacted by these technical problems.
- “During my twenty hours of play, I've encountered a few different game-breaking glitches, intrusive audio bugs, and a bug that prevented any kind of user input mid-level, causing a restart.”
- “The downside is that it has some bugs, like the game suddenly freezing, which may cause some achievements to be very difficult to get.”
- “There is some buggy behavior here and there, which can certainly detract from the overall experience.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
300%
The game's optimization is praised for allowing players to endure multiple hits before dying, enhancing the overall enjoyment and encouraging deeper engagement with its mechanics. This system balances challenge and reward by penalizing players with a lost score multiplier, promoting strategic gameplay.
- “Not only that, but having multiple hits before death instead of genre staples like Gradius keeps the fun going longer and gives you the experience of being able to swap to a ship in a better state of repair. It still punishes you with a lost score multiplier, which I think is a fair way to reward those who truly dig into the game's mechanics and optimization.”
- “The game's optimization feels lacking, as performance drops significantly during intense battles, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
- “I encountered numerous bugs that hindered my progress, which suggests that the optimization was not a priority during development.”
- “The frame rate issues and long loading times really detract from the overall gameplay experience, indicating poor optimization.”