Radio Free Europa

Radio Free Europa is an enjoyable arcade space shooter, with some nice gameplay touches, but a cumbersome between-stage phase to get upgrades and a weird loot structure. The play here is enjoyably rich. Your ship direction matters for shooting and for thrust, so there's an added physicality/mindfulness to the action, and you have a dodge-type move that has added movement utility and enhances the play rather than is just some iframes. The enemies have a variety of armaments to deal with, and staying on top of them takes a lot of attention and some acquired know-how. This is not an easy game, and your first time against new enemies tends to not be pretty, and may even have you quite mismatched. It's very much an arcade slanted roguelite: you have little cross-run progression (a few loadout unlocks rather than upgrades), and your goal is very score oriented. No grinding to bring the game up to the level you're supposed to get to play. You also start with a nice variety of starting ship options, each with their own movement and weapons, and they definitely play differently. Scoring offers a hit-chain based multiplier to add interest and challenge you. It feels a little at odds…

All i can say for this games bosses is "bullet hell" This game looks and feel phenomenal. And the fact that the creator of this game made it ALL BY HIMSELF is a feat by itself. He had no devs helping him with art, no people he hired to make the code, he built it all from the ground up. and the fact that i know the guy that made this game is kinda cool aswell good job Scott

Original Review: Really enjoyable space roguelike! Quite scratched the itch for space based destruction and ship customization. There are a lot of weapons and weapon mod combos that can make things fun, weird, and super powered. Get out there and start blasting! Hope you enjoy as much as I have. Edited Review after a bunch more time in the game: I did want to note that I engaged with the dev on ideas and QoL for the game, they were receptive and interested and made some changes based on my recommendations. It was a very pleasant experience and I continue to wish them well for what is obviously a labor of love. Good luck blasting out there, friends!

This is a good, cheap space shooter, with a nice amount of variety to its ships, flying, weapons, enemies, and upgrades. Inventory management could be more convenient by far, and it's a difficult game, even on easy, but still worth its price point (especially on sale) for the other aspects.

Your typical simple twin stick arcade shooter with plenty of options. I keep coming back to it when I don't know what to play and just want to zone out for a little while.

I tried this with the keyboard and it just didn't feel even remotely natural. I'm assuming the great reviews are those that used a joystick. thankfully i have one. I'll try again using that.