Circuit Breakers Reviews

I've played this game for half an hour and I'm already psyched to play it with my best friend. One of the best couch multiplayer games i've ever played, an original concept, and endless fun. There's no reason not to buy this game, and there's every reason to buy this game. Buy this goddamn game.

A great little SmashTV/Robotron clone. My only complaint is that it defaults to your system language. And if you change it to your desired language it shows a mixture of the selected and default language. Other than that i have no problems Would recommend.

Overall, this is a great game. The controls are amusing, and the indepth setup said controls is commendable. Circuit Breaker's music and retro art sets it apart from the clutter of games with recognizable tunes and indiscernible drawings. Its rooms are delightfully varied and enjoyable, yet successful in not distracting the player from gameplay. The quick pace of the game is what makes it so addicting; being able to run at, run away from, and shoot at the robots in a swift manner creates a rush of adrenaline that makes you want to keep pressing the start button. The game does a great job of keeping the player actually focused by employing a system of crystals used to upgrade characters' weapons and double as ammunition. Instead of mindless shooting, you have to constantly pick up more crystals as you shoot so your weapon doesn't downgrade. One of my favorite things about this game is how oddly soothing it is to shoot at the robots. Playing as Aldo and letting loose a cascade of bullets is just plain fun. For the price, the game is definitely worth it (buy it). Playing with friends make it entirely more entertaining, and the online multiplayer, once released, should bring the game to a whole new level.

Awesome! A somewhat spiritual successor to Smash TV, one of my favorite arcades from back in the day. Multiplayer isn't quite ready at the time of this review, however devs seem committed due to their interactivity with the community and their game updates. Once MP is complete, this is going to be a very solid game. Already a must have!

- Fast paced twin stick shooter. - Extremely challenging! - Retro sound and visuals, awesome art style and the sprites look fantastic. - Your ammo functions as a power-up for your weapon (how badass is that?) - Four characters to choose from, each with a unique weapon/play style. EDIT: Unlocked a 5th character! - Has online co-op (in beta as of this review). - Endless hordes and challenge modes. - Leaderboards! - The dev's are quick to communicate and worked to resolve my issue promptly! Highly recommended!

Brilliant, very replayable overhead twin-stick arena shooter akin to a turbo-super charged version of Smash TV with much more varied arenas, with some Robotron 2084 and bullet hell shooter DNA mixed in -- hindered a bit by limited controller aiming (8-directions) and clumsy keyboard navigation of menus. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1557070622 High degree of replayability due to its starting set of 5 different characters, each with a specific weapon specialty: machine gun, shotgun, chaingun, missile launcher and laser (long-beam type, not pew-pew). Also due to the randomized nature of arena exits in the game -- you’ll experience arenas in different order each playthrough. The layouts of the arenas are very different, and not just simple squares. And finally much replayability because enemy robot swarms come out of lots of different entry doors, and it’s never a predicable mix imho. An innovative energy system meter and the bouncing “energy fragments” left behind by destroyed robots -- supplemented by lightning symbol crates you can blow up to get more energy fragments -- means you’re always on the run and can’t just hide in a corner. This system results in a fluctuating upgrading (via piled up energy) and downgrading (using up your energy firing your weapon or taking damage) of your character's weapon. You're encouraged to 'burst fire' to conserve the energy meter, although you can certainly just "spray and pray" continously. :) But that will drain your energy meter faster and downgrade your character's weapon faster. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1555753883 You can also expend energy to transform into an energy shield “sprite” to avoid taking damage or travel through a large bunch of robot enemies. As you move further into the game, you’ll often be completely overwhelmed by enemies, and this ability to turn into an energy shield spite is often necessary to survive the arena and make it to the next one. Due to I assume the limitations of “x-input” controller support, controller aiming via thumbstick seems limited to 8 directions instead of analog 360-dgree aiming. If using kb/mouse, menu navigation can be rather frustrating. So much so, that I actually posted a Steam game guide about navigating Circuit Breakers’ menus: The game’s final Beta 4.0 Update (see final news post: https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791440145305/announcements/detail/1721950919409908027, has terrific keyboard/mouse gameplay support, but menu navigation remains rather bizarre. To the extent that I actually created a Steam Game Guide that’s ONLY about how to navigate Circuit Breakers’ menus via keyboard: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1556495180 The bullet hell aspect is in both how gameplay is as the difficulty ramps up, and you’re constantly upgrading your weapons on the fly temporarily by piling up your energy meter; and in the memorable screen-filling bosses that appear in every 10th room. I’d call the first two bosses “tough but fair.” :) I’ve gotten far enough to defeat the 1st (Room 10) and 2nd (Room 20) boss. Difficulty in the regular room arenas gets really challenging at that point. :) The game still seems to have some bugs in it. After completing a session and going through the unlocked Challenges, CB always seems to crash to desktop for me with a crash log. The developers don’t seem to be working on the game anymore, so it’s unclear if this type of lingering bug will ever get squashed. SInce this more like an arcade twin-stick (ti's not a roguelike), you earn additional lives, I think based on how much you score. I've had as many as 6 during a session. The game ends once you use up the lives. You can unlock additional characters with diffferent weapon specialties by accomplishing certain Challenges -- I think most games would call these Unlocks or Achievement Unlocks. I've not accomplished any of these yet afik, so I can't speak to them yet. So overall I give it a conditional recommendation. If you enable the beta 4.0 branch in Steam, the kb/mouse twin stick shooter gameplay is great fun with some innovative bits and a great deal of replayability. However, keyboard mouse navigation remains klutzy and strange -- you can get used to it in time. :) On controller, if you can live with the 8-way thumbstick aiming limitation, it’s fun, but in my XBox 360 controller test the 8-way limitation does affect how I play it.

Hello stranger! You're in the mood for some twinstick some bullethell and you're basically too awesome for casual? Jep, then you have certainly come to the right place as Circuit Breakers is delivering a very decent amount of shmup-loving fun. I really enjoyed being swarmed by a vast amount of humangrinding robots, reminded me a tiny bit of the first Painkiller in terms of "more, more, wtf moooore enemies!" Really refreshing. Hilarious co-op couchplay is guaranteed even though this little gem still needs some polishing, it obviously manages one thing perfectly: I simply, jet again want more. Shmup fans unite, this is great fun! This is just the first two hours, will continue this review as soon as I played a little more.

This game is probably one of the best games on steam that throws you back into the SNES era of shooters. Not so much gameplay wise as much as graphics wise and sound. Simple and fun. This game is very much like Smash TV (SNES game released 1991) enemies everywhere minus the power ups, but power ups collected through crystals that enemies drop. More you kill the more crystals you get the more powerful your weapon becomes and the more you kill the more enemies appear getting harder and harder till you die(big run on sentence but you get the idea). Dials back a bit when you stop killing so much. Game gets really insane! No online multiplayer co-op yet but devs are working on it. Buy now to have a blast playing Local co-op with a friend or simply wait to buy when online multiplayer co-op releases. Either way the game is great to play give it a shot (only pun). Nice price for a great game.

This game feels disgustingly incomplete, and boredom is all too quick to settle in when playing for extended periods of time, as you just wait, and wait, and wait for the challenge, grinding away at trying to get everything the game arbitrarily locks away, such as the challenges, or the characters behind their wave-defense mode. The music may as well be royalty free and I would remember it no more. Prepare for such classics as rock tune number whatever as you destroy waves upon waves of braindead robots while running into their faces to ensure you don't run out of ammo for your current tier of gun. Just play anything but this. Such as Smash TV.

[h1]4.0 Update![/h1] The most recent update reveals this game is not going to ever improve, and has been abandoned by the devs. None of the deficiencies outlined in my review have been corrected. The Energium system is still broken AF, and the game is completely bland and buggy. Circuit Breakers is a game I watched eagerly, waiting for improvement which never came and never will. Avoid - and do not buy even at heavily reduced price - the game is not good and never will be. [h1]3.0 Update![/h1] Saw the new update so removed the game from my Hidden games and re-installed. Still boring AF. Core mechanic of kiting endlessly instead of shooting is still fundamentally broken. Nicer levels and more robots so the monotony is reduced. Listen to me, mr game dev: The core mechanic is broken. Get rid of the stupid Energium already. It is so obvious that it is what is wrong with this game. This time I gave up around map 13 when the game lost count of how many robots were left and wouldn't let me exit. https://imgur.com/bWt0qBM --- [h1]A mostly-finished game that just falls flat[/h1] This game has a fatal flaw, and it is that they made the Meta-Game all about managing your shooting resource called Energium. It costs Energium to fire every shot, and most foes drop Energium pellets. The more Energium you have the more powerful your gun is, the less you have the weaker your gun is. So this means the core game is kiting enemies into a blob then shooting so as not to waste a single shot. Because if you do, you will find your weapon becoming slowly degrading in power. Which means you have a shooting game where the core mechanic is all about NOT SHOOTING. I get the intention behind having a "gun power" resource, but it should never have been made to deplete with each shot. When I play shooting games I want to blast the living &@#*%^ out of everything on the screen, not tediously kite around with my finger OFF THE TRIGGER. Aside from the broken core mechanic, here is the rest of the gameplay experience: Level 1 - Basic room where I shoot robots and learn the ropes Level 2 - Died a few times intentionally to learn the health mechanics Level 3 - Ok I got the mechanics, LETS PLAY!!! Level 4 - Hmm... Looks a lot like Level 4 Level 5 - Are we still on Level 4 Level 6 - WTF... LEVEL 4 AGAIN!?!?! Level 7 - Wait I think I saw a different box... maybe I'm on new Levels Level 8 - Still looks like Level 4... And so on. Never gets better, never develops into anything. Enemies have no variety and use the same simplistic attack patterns. There is no challenge to this game and no sense of satisfaction. They could have had something here if they kept going and put a ton more polish on it. Sadly what we have is another proof-of-concept with snappy graphics, that didn't actually amount to a complete game. Sure you can play it, but it's about as bare-bones as you can get. edit: Once I finish idling for cards, this game is going to be Hidden in my Steam Library and never played again. There is nothing here.