Sector Six

About

"Sector Six" is a side-scrolling, sci-fi shooter with a unique silhouette aesthetic and procedural loot. As a space pilot, you must save the universe from the Eight Machines by building and customizing your spaceship's performance, appearance, and abilities. The modular difficulty system allows you to tailor the challenge for better rewards, making for a truly personalized experience. Master the ship combat, learn enemy patterns, and obliterate foes with lasers and missiles in this thrilling adventure.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 366 reviews

story64 positive mentions

grinding38 negative mentions

The ship customization system is deep and allows for a lot of creativity in building unique ships.
The game features engaging gameplay with a satisfying loot system and RPG elements that keep players hooked.
The art style and soundtrack create an intriguing atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.

The game lacks a proper tutorial, making it difficult for new players to understand the shipbuilding mechanics.
Some gameplay elements, such as enemy damage and difficulty scaling, feel unbalanced and can lead to frustrating experiences.
The UI can be confusing and cumbersome, especially when managing inventory and ship parts.

story
284 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
73%
4%
The game's story is generally considered engaging but lacks depth and sophistication, often taking a backseat to gameplay mechanics. Players appreciate the unique art style and thematic elements, though many find the narrative somewhat generic and repetitive, especially as they progress through missions. While the main story can be completed in about 10-15 hours, the endgame offers extensive grinding and customization options that can extend playtime significantly, appealing to those who enjoy a mix of narrative and action.
- “The story manages to make me feel what the character feels in a way that, considering their art style and that this is a shoot 'em up, is pretty astounding.”
- “There's a long story that I really enjoyed; it's a great game for anyone who likes story elements mixed with destruction and chaos.”
- “The story is pretty decent for a shmup of modest scope, but it’s definitely the customization system that steals the show.”
- “The plot is fairly generic and nothing to write home about.”
- “Suffice to say, the game has a certain lore and progressing story, but it’s hardly sophisticated.”
- “Sector six seems to refuse to tell the player what it is they're doing, and it just makes it even harder to keep track of the game's trainwreck of a story.”
gameplay
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
69%
2%
The gameplay of this side-scrolling shoot-'em-up is characterized by a blend of bullet hell mechanics and RPG elements, allowing for deep ship customization and progression. While many players appreciate the addictive nature of the gameplay loop and the satisfaction of upgrading their ships, some express frustration with the lack of tutorials, clunky controls, and certain boss mechanics that can feel unfair. Overall, the game offers a unique experience with a solid foundation, though it could benefit from improved clarity and variety in gameplay.
- “Absolutely fantastic and beautifully made side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game with really deep progression and mechanics that will likely keep you playing for many hours.”
- “The actual gameplay is your typical bullet hell, but the way the ship can be upgraded from parts you gather during the mission, and ship design actively affects how your ship behaves in combat, is a very interesting gameplay mechanic that more games should adopt.”
- “I was surprised going into this game to find a really fascinating and cool world hidden behind the very solid gameplay, and a fully customizable ship building system.”
- “I got this for like $1, so it's really hard to be upset, but the game is really frustrating, has no tutorial to speak of, does not explain the surprisingly deep shipbuilding mechanics, and there is one region boss that is really ticking me off because it's just so cheap and I can't figure out how to beat it.”
- “The core gameplay loop involves running missions you don't get experience from, accumulating parts you don't need and can't mount, using a control scheme that feels clunky by design.”
- “So the gameplay experience for me was spending 30-ish minutes per mission holding down a button and dodging incoming fire, waiting for health bars to very slowly be ground down.”
graphics
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
57%
3%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a distinctive minimalist art style that effectively complements its themes and gameplay, though some players find the simplicity can lead to a cluttered visual experience during intense moments. While the aesthetics are generally praised for their uniqueness and cohesion with the game's atmosphere, there are criticisms regarding the lack of graphical fidelity options and the potential for the art style to feel overly simplistic or lazy in terms of ship customization. Overall, the visuals are appreciated for their charm and fit within the game's context, despite some reservations about their execution.
- “Sector six is a highly enjoyable shoot-em-up with slick, clean and beautiful visuals.”
- “Unique art style that works well with the destination themes and story.”
- “The graphical style, while minimalistic, has great particle effects and a large variety of enemies with different attacks and patterns.”
- “The issue with this is that the game's simplistic art style, while being unique, makes this effort at ship customization seem extremely lazy, and the ship will obviously always be better off as streamlined as possible to reduce the size of its hitbox.”
- “And the art style really does not help here, with flat black ships against fuzzy tan backdrops, without even a nebula or starscape in sight.”
- “Sound could be improved upon (maybe contact keygen church for music for the sequel?), graphics are what you see in the screenshots.”
music
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
38%
6%
The music in the game has received generally positive feedback, with many players praising its ability to fit the game's theme and enhance the overall experience. While some noted that the soundtrack can be repetitive, others found it empowering and enjoyable, with a good variety across different levels. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's atmosphere, making it a standout feature despite some calls for more diversity.
- “The latter is improved even further by the fitting soundtrack and ambience.”
- “What I got was a fantastic soundtrack, a narrative more compelling and engaging than most AAA games, the most in-depth ship customization I've seen in a shoot 'em up, RPG mechanics, abilities, loot, and an ocean of depth in what I thought would be a shallow time sink.”
- “The music is pretty darn good, and there's a lot of variety from one level to the next, or even playing the same stage over and over again to grind.”
- “There's a pervasive melancholy to it all--the story, the music, the look, the dialogue, everything.”
- “Along with the severe lack of a diversified soundtrack, the repetitive mission roster really drags the game’s rating down by a bit.”
- “Sound could be improved upon (maybe contact keygen church for music for the sequel?), graphics are what you see in the screenshots.”
grinding
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is a mixed bag; while it offers a highly addictive loot and customization system reminiscent of diablo-like games, many players find the combat becomes tedious and repetitive after a few hours. The ability to adjust difficulty and the depth of ship design help mitigate some grindiness, but the experience can still feel shallow and predictable, especially in later levels. Overall, it appeals to fans of shmups and RPG mechanics, though some may find the grind overwhelming.
- “After a couple of hours into the game, the combat really starts to feel tedious and boring.”
- “On the other end, the 'sector six' becomes shallow after the main campaign and the plain, predictive grinding becomes very obvious.”
- “When I got to a certain part of the mission where I had to destroy a stationary target, I was repeatedly and tediously pushing the two buttons to shoot mines and detonate them almost 30 times just to destroy it.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
Players appreciate the replayability of the game, noting that the randomized levels prevent it from becoming predictable and encourage extended playtime. However, they also express that meaningful customization options in shoot 'em ups and shipbuilders are often lacking, making this game's replayability feel particularly valuable. Overall, early impressions suggest a strong potential for continued engagement.
- “The levels are randomized to a point, so that beating a level is not muscle memory, which is great for replayability for me.”
- “Overall, I have really enjoyed my early playtime with Sector Six and I envision spending quite a bit more with it, especially if the replay value is as good as I think it will be.”
- “You could crank a few hours in it because of the replayability.”
- “Finding shoot 'em ups and shipbuilders that have meaningful customizations as well as replayable levels seems regrettably rare, even on Steam.”
- “You could spend a few hours in it because of the replayability.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is described as strange and intriguing, set in a world that is falling apart yet conveys a sense of indifference to that chaos. Its simplistic black and white silhouette style, combined with futuristic techno elements, creates a unique and fitting ambiance that enhances the overall gameplay experience.
- “The atmosphere of the game is very strange and intriguing; the world around you is falling apart, yet you get touches of how little that matters.”
- “It’s a simplistic, black and white silhouette style, with some futuristic techno vibes, that manages to deliver a rather unique atmosphere.”
- “It was a nice fit with the game's atmosphere.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-received, with players appreciating the developers' understanding of what makes them laugh. The game is described as weird and funny, setting it apart from others in the genre. Overall, it contributes positively to the gaming experience.
- “The developers have a good sense of humor and seem to actually understand what we want.”
- “Weird and funny! It's different from other games, and I'm excited to go back to fight against the machines!”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a lack of emotional engagement due to minimal rewards for optional challenges, leading to a sense of disconnection from the game's content. The scaling of enemies is perceived positively, as it allows players to feel a sense of progression, but overall, the emotional impact remains limited.

Buy Sector Six

64h Median play time

48h Average play time

15-80h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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