[Review]Gravity Heroes - Nintendo Switch

Developed By: Studica Solution - Electric Monkeys
Published By: PQube
Categories: Shooter
Release Date: 04.09.21

Gravity Heroes is a game that really bums me out. It has so much going for it. Great sprites and animation. The guns feel good to use. The bosses are big and difficult. Last but not least, I love when games let you control or even mess around with gravity. Not to mention, there’s co-op.

What don’t I like about the game then? It feels incredibly awkward to play. For the most part, controls seem fine, but the use of the right stick to change gravity was just something I could never get used to in my time playing. Left moves the gravity to the left, right to the right, and so on. As far as I could tell, this means you can’t really aim, or at least I couldn’t find a way to properly aim. This leads to you having enemies that are often going to be missed due to being at an odd angle. This is of course meant to be remedied with the change in gravity.

Changing gravity comes off feeling off and not really enjoyable. It works in the way you think it would and playing on walls and ceilings to any surface is great. It’s when you need to use it for combat where it falls apart. Like mentioned earlier, to make up for a lack of true aiming, you need to use gravity to your advantage. Make sure you don’t accidentally fall into an enemy’s shots or worse, the enemy itself. When you have a lot of places to move around, this is manageable, but in wide open areas, issues draw their ugly head.

The first boss is a prime example. Big, empty room, big boss. Lots of missiles going everywhere making the game feel like a bullet hell. For the first boss, it has a frontal shield, meaning you need to move your gravity and position yourself behind or above the boss. There’s some fun to be had for aiming for the boss’ unprotected topside, shifting back and forth quickly, but this can showcase another issue with bosses. They have way too much HP. Your guns feel fine with normal enemies, but don’t do even near enough damage to bosses. I completely understand bosses needing to be stronger, but bullet sponges are not fun.

Drones will occasionally come by to drop off powerups and items. From new guns like a spread shot, a quick laser shot, to batteries to recover your armor, to grenades, and so on. It’s a joy to see the drones come by, even more so when you’re in dire straights and need one. It comes often, but not often enough to feel like it’d make the game too easy or the game is mocking you.

As mentioned earlier, Gravity Heroes is a great looking game. The sprites themselves are great, but the animation work puts it a step above. There’s little details like taking enough damage to have your characters helmet fly off I really like too.

As you can see, there’s plenty I liked about Gravity Heroes, I just wasn’t really having fun with how the controls actually worked. A few tweaks and it’d elevate to something I’d love.