HATCHICK Reviews

This was wild. It's not wild enough for 15 bucks, but is worth at least 5 on sale. The reviews suggested that it was some kinda Xortex clone, and I like those alot. In this game, your ship is a bird though. A little chick. Initially, after the first few simple waves, I thought I got ripped off. The bird keeps shooting no matter what happens, and that started off annoying but pretty soon it's ignored, as you're completing wave after wave of robo drone fodder that is more colorful, larger, and more spectacularly arranged than the last. [i]You get infinite lives, and only have to restart individual waves, which I think was a smart idea, because you can try to keep going, always amazed at what comes next.[/i] It's like a fireworks display where each send off is a finale that was better than the one that came 30 seconds before it. [spoiler]More varied powerups, and maybe using the trigger to shoot would have made it even better. It should be 9.99, too. [/spoiler][list][*][quote]       ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː ːwboxːːwboxːːpboxːːDragon_Eyeːːpboxːːpboxː ːbboxːːwboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː ːbboxːːbboxː      ːpboxːːpboxː    ːbboxː      ːpboxːːpboxː          ːpboxːːpboxː       ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː    ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː    ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː       ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː          ːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxːːpboxː          ːwboxː   ːwboxː   ːpboxːːpboxː          ːwboxː   ːwboxː      ːpboxː          ːwboxː   ːwboxː [/quote][/list]

It's a pretty good SHMUP with a few problems: - only lasts about 40-60 minutes - last boss is laggy +- Story? Now let's talk about the positve points: + good music + stable learning curve + many interesting enemy patterns + fluid controls I would say get the game in a sale for around 5€ because I don't think 15€ is a justified price for a short game like this.

The concept of a VR Shmup is great, and this execution doesn't live up to it. The sound is annoying and the levels are really repetitive. It could become something better if updated!

A relatively short (30 minutes) game, which brings bullet hell concepts to a 3D VR space. Popular with friends of mine who've tried it, though they all agree that it's stylistically odd!

This game is a total blast and a dream come true. I'm so glad I bought it. How to describe it? Its like a bullet-hell shooter but different in some obvious and not-so-obvious ways. Obviously its in 3D (where the bullets can come at you from any angle) but not so obviously the control is fantastic with vastly more granularity than you can get in a 2D bullet-hell shooter. Another way to describe it is with a comparison to other VR games which control similarly: Xonix from 'The Lab', Final Fleet, MSI Electric City: Core Assault, and Xion. If you've played any of those then you know what the control scheme is like, this game has a better game structure and patterns than any of those imho, although those are all excellent in their own ways! The structure of the game is simple but great. You try to destroy all of the enemies on the level and then it moves you to the next level with no fanfare. If you die (if the bird gets hit by a projectile you die) you pick up the bird again and it immediately starts you at the beginning of the level. Simple but it works great and more games should be like this at a minimum. The levels and enemies are designed excellently with interesting patterns and behaviors. They're a good length for the most part, not too easy not trivial but also not too long or drawn out. (I hate being punished for dying with lots of time, like when I have to run through 10 minutes of level just to die and start over again!). Each level is kind of a puzzle to figure out how to dodge and destroy at the same time. Its got a perfect difficulty curve imho. The last few levels have some really tough stuff and the final boss is a doozy. It took me about an hour to beat it which is pretty good for a shooting game. The graphics are beautiful due in no small part to the patterns the bullets create in VR. They fling and swing and shoot out of the enemies and come right at your body in amazing geometric patterns that overlap and even sometimes seem to react to each other. I would love to play a sequel someday. IMHO it wouldn't take much: Maybe a single new powerup (a shield? a drone?), a new skybox or arena outline, and a bunch of new levels. I might like more levels in the middle of the game, ones that take a few tries to figure out the pattern and how you can beat it almost every time. It doesn't need to be any harder (its perfectly hard already) and it doesnt need any more levels with things you can't keep track of (missiles?). A sequel wouldn't need much work imho because this game is fantastic already! Theres a cute story thats really only told through the final cutscene after you beat the game. This is fantastic. Thanks so much for making it. I'm going to beat it again tomorrow (if I can!)

Hatchick is a Xortex clone that certainly has its moments. It takes less than an hour to beat, and can lag during some later bosses when there is a crapload of things going on, but other than that is a solid progression of 55 levels. A fun little game to pick up when half off or better!

Incredibly immersive! The visual effects are really next level. If you liked the Xortex game from The Lab, you'll absolutely love this. It's a fairly quick play through, but a tough challenge. At forty minutes play time I'm nearly at the final boss. This game could be incredible if the devs added the ability to create your own levels/gauntlets and share them with other players! The idea of setting up levels in VR, creating new enemies and dragging their movement paths and stuff sounds really fun. As it stands right now, I would recommend to people looking for a very fun hour-killer, and a great game to introduce people to VR with. It doesn't get much better than this with its simple mechanics and breath-taking visuals. But if you're looking for a deep game with hours of content you'll have to wait and see if anything else is added.

I got to 47 of 55 levels in my first play through, but at the sale price I consider that good value. I was really enjoying it. Very simple, certainly not all that spectacular visuals or audio. But just plain fun. It had a clean interface and kept on going even after death, you get back into the action fast. I'd recommend it.

In short, this is VR's best SHMUP so far that i have played. Gameplay consists of directly carrying the "ship" and avoiding fire by moving it with your arm and body. The game looks crisp, flashy and stylish and music is catchy enough. I particuarly liked how strategicly speaking, doing things like looking at the bullet patterns from other angles, or even sitting on the floor for some patterns rewards experimentation. Saying that, here's my hangups, from least to most serious: In game option to mute music is needed. The music gets a bit annoying after a half hour. Might have been nice to have a pause button outside of shifting focus with the menu button. Theres how many inputs on the controllers we aren't using? Difficulty needs to be more flexible. Not everyone will enjoy one hit kills kicking you back several stages repeatedly. On that note, no way to save or restore progress? What? It's really distracting the fact that the second hand does literally nothing. You'll be dodging and weaving through bullets with one, while the other performs literally no function other than draining battery life. Why is it even on, why is it even tracked if you aren't going to use it? I mean at least a power up for a temporary option in that hand. A shield maybe, anything! Performance issues. Towards the end of the game, but most notably the last boss suffers from huge frame drops. The last boss was actually completely unplayable because it was slide show city. And my PC is no slouch, i7, 1080Ti and tons of RAM, Hell, the 1080Ti is only plugged into the headset, no monitor. Theres no excuse for this. It was upsetting to get through a difficult game liek this only to have to leave because the last boss cannot be fought due to performance. In closing, a good game. A great way to kill a couple hours. Also a great example of an unfairly overlooked title. Because yeah, people still don't give a shit about VR in mid 2018. Depressing. If you like shmups, support this dev. The indie market needs encouragement in this dry spell to save us from the corporate AAA greed when that finally takes hold of VR too.

[h1]Experienced on the Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality[/h1] You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/J3gTFRagvC8 HATCHICK VR is a bullet hell shoot 'em up, similar to Xortex from The Lab. There are 55 levels in total and I beat the game in about 30 minutes. You can beat many of the early levels in mere seconds. I had fun throughout. The game has a nice progression of difficulty. It ran smoothly and I experienced no bugs. I enjoyed the graphics and the simple, but still challenging gameplay. I especially liked how the dev did not add any artificial difficulty to the game. Many devs have you restart from the beginning of the game once you die or have checkpoints spaced between multiple levels. Not the case here. You have very quick restarts and if you leave you can restart at the last level that you beat. You only use one motion controller. However, my main & only real criticism is the lack of content, especially when considering the normal retail price. This is just too little content for that big of a price. Luckily, I did purchase this game during the Steam Lunar New Year Sale 2020 for less than $2.50 USD. I think it was a great deal at that price. [b]Rate 6/10. I had a blast playing this game, however, it is way overpriced. Buy on deep, deep sale only recommendation.[/b]