Hyper Echelon
- November 10, 2021
- GangoGames LLC
Get on Steam"Hyper Echelon" is a strategic top-down shooter game where players control a team of specialized agents to complete objectives and neutralize enemies across various missions. The game features a wide range of weapons, gadgets, and customization options, allowing players to tailor their loadouts to their preferred playstyle. With its destructible environments and real-time tactical decisions, "Hyper Echelon" offers a challenging and immersive experience for fans of the genre.
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features excellent pixel-art graphics and a charming art style that enhances the overall experience.
- Gameplay is engaging with a solid progression system that allows for meaningful upgrades and a good level of challenge.
- The co-op mode is a highlight, making it a fun experience to play with friends or family.
- The game is extremely grindy, requiring players to replay levels multiple times to progress, which can become tedious.
- There are many invincible enemies and off-screen shots that can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Difficulty spikes can be harsh, with some levels feeling unbalanced and overly challenging, especially for solo players.
- graphics17 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their excellent pixel art style, vibrant colors, and clean visuals, contributing to an engaging and visually appealing experience. Players appreciate the attention to detail in animations and the overall cartoonish aesthetic, although some note that the color palette may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the combination of stunning visuals and solid design enhances the gameplay and adds to the game's charm.
“Excellent pixel-art graphics, infectious music, and challenging levels -- what's not to love?”
“Frankly, this is a very good looking game, with crisp and clean visuals.”
“The visuals in the game have a somewhat cartoonish and 'hand-drawn' pixel style, featuring nice traits like solid shading, small details on everything, good animation, and little touches like fire coming off of your ship when you're low on health.”
“The visuals in the game have a somewhat cartoonish and 'hand-drawn' pixel style, and feature nice traits like solid shading, small details on everything, good animation and little touches like fire coming off of your ship when you're low on health.”
“Turns out the game is a straight up clone of Sky Force 2014/Sky Force Reloaded, but with pixel graphics.”
“The sprites are colorful, adding to the cartoony nature of the art style, and feature a variety of enemies (space ships, ground walkers, structures, etc.)... though some enemies do show up on basically every stage.”
- gameplay17 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Hyper Echelon is consistently fun and mechanically polished, featuring a mix of traditional shoot-'em-up mechanics and unique objectives that enhance the experience. Players appreciate the lightweight, easy-to-pick-up nature of the game, complemented by gorgeous pixel graphics and a captivating soundtrack. However, some feel that the inclusion of multiple objectives can lead to a sense of grind, potentially padding the overall gameplay time.
“The gameplay, music, and art style just feels right; I'm buying it again if it comes out as a physical version.”
“Consistently fun gameplay, visually pleasant, mechanically polished, lightweight, and easy to pick up and play.”
“The depth, attention to detail, the fun character interactions, and, of course, the level design and wild gameplay are all top notch.”
“The gameplay, besides the usual 'move about and blast anything that's not you' gameplay, has objectives to complete in each stage.”
“These two things can make the game drag on, making the touted '10+ hours of gameplay in story mode' feel more than a little padded thanks to that grind.”
“Problem is that I believe this sort of mechanic only works if the player has a smaller hitbox to work with.”
- story16 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally well-received, featuring engaging character interactions and a decent plot conveyed through cutscenes, though some players find the narrative somewhat overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and grind. While the escort mission stands out as a highlight, the overall experience can feel padded due to the requirement to complete multiple objectives to progress. The art, music, and smooth scrolling enhance the storytelling, but some players express indifference towards the background narrative.
“Amazing art, gameplay, music, and even the storyline is pretty decent.”
“The scrolling is smooth and the story is presented in little cutscenes (only the first time - but they can be re-watched in the media menu).”
“These two things can make the game drag on, making the touted '10+ hours of gameplay in story mode' feel more than a little padded thanks to that grind.”
“There's also some background story going on that I barely cared about.”
“The hit detection seems good, and you even get some (skippable) cinemas between levels where your characters converse and build both the game's plot and the character personalities.”
- music14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its infectious and memorable quality, featuring a blend of nostalgic 90s influences and unique sound compositions that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the variety of tracks, with each stage offering a distinct song that complements the gameplay and art style. While the soundtrack leans towards a popish sound with retro synth elements, it effectively captures the essence of the game, making it feel like a character in its own right.
“Excellent pixel-art graphics, infectious music, and challenging levels -- what's not to love?”
“The tunes hit a nostalgic sweet spot that match this genre so well that the soundtrack feels like it's its own character in the game.”
“The music isn't a fist pumping metal-thon of driving battle music, but rather a more popish affair with some cleaner guitars and retro touches in some of its synth instrumentation choices.”
“I wasn't able to find a soundtrack for it, but I believe each stage has a unique song, which would account for about a dozen tracks for the whole game.”
“There's some interesting and unique sounds used as part of the music composition, which gives the songs a bit of flair.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is heavily criticized for its excessive grinding, with players noting slow progression, repetitive level replaying, and the need to grind for upgrades, particularly in later levels. While some find the grinding tolerable due to the game's fun mechanics, many agree that it detracts from the overall experience, making it feel tedious and poorly paced.
“This game is extremely grindy.”
“Perhaps the first, and most glaring issue, is how much grinding you'll need to do.”
“The upgrades rarely feel significant and that process gets tedious.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game is primarily optimized for controller use, which may lead to a less satisfying experience for players who prefer using a mouse, particularly in menu navigation.
“The menus are also not quite well optimized for mouse.”
“I generally like playing shmups with a mouse, but the game is optimized for controllers, not mouse.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability due to its smooth difficulty curve, well-designed progression systems, and various additional modes, making it accessible and enjoyable for players of all experience levels. Its depth and light system requirements further enhance the overall replay value.
“Thanks to a smooth difficulty curve, well-designed progression systems, and a replayability factor distributed within the main campaign and additional modes, Hyper Echelon offers a very pleasant adventure regardless of one's level of experience with games in this format, age, or PC configuration (thanks to very light system requirements).”
“All you need to know is that the replay value is extremely high.”
“The replay value is extremely low, making it hard to stay engaged after the first playthrough.”
“Once you finish the game, there’s little incentive to return, as the content feels repetitive.”
“The lack of meaningful choices and consequences means that replaying the game feels like a chore rather than an adventure.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers appreciate the game's humor, noting that the developers prioritized creating distinct levels and engaging mini-bosses, which contribute to a charming and visually appealing experience. The inclusion of funny mini-movies and hidden "secrets" adds to the overall lightheartedness and enjoyment of the game.
“The time they saved on the basic enemy types was invested into very distinct levels, background art, mini-movies, funny mini-bosses, and 'secrets'—it's nice to look at and very likable.”
“The humor in the game is cleverly woven into the gameplay, making every encounter feel fresh and entertaining.”
“I found myself laughing out loud at the witty dialogue and hilarious character interactions throughout the game.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is well-aligned with its setting, creating an immersive experience that is also pleasant to listen to.
“I think it fits the atmosphere and setting of the game well, and was easy on the ears.”
