Since the dawn of video-games, one genre has remained true over the years. Side-scrolling shooters have evolved from the days of Defender, to fully immersive adventures like Gradius and R-Type. Drakojan Skies picks up the torch and keeps the genre flying in the RIGHT direction. (See what I did there? ‘Cuz you fly right… hello… is this thing on?)

The visuals in this game are outstanding. The variety and detail in the spacehips alone is amazing, as are the weapon effect. What really took my breath away was the rendering and interaction of the levels themselves. There’s so many fine touches in the presentation. Buildings explode as you pass them, while the city in the background is alight with fire. Particles fall as giant robots walk on the ceiling before crashing through to attack. You just have to see it to take it all in.
The sound is also fantastic. There’s a lot of variety in the weapon sounds and explosives, and the soundtrack is a much appreciated break from the over-used electronic crap most other web-based shooters use. Heavy guitars are MUCH better suited for this type of game.

The awesome gameplay is what seals the hat-trick. Sure, you pretty much just move around the screen and shoot, but between the fact you can use a variety of ships, the ability to use (and upgrade) multiple weapons, and the way the environment itself interacts with the gameplay, it feels like you are actually in the middle of a war.

You aren’t even flying solo a lot of the time, you see (and try to protect) friendly mechs and vehicles in a few of the levels, and the fact there is actually a well-written story throughout the game makes it that much more immersive.

With oldschool gameplay, and modern presentation and storytelling, this game should appeal to anyone with a pulse. The bar for web-games has been raised again.

[ Play Drakojan Skies ]