Windows Mixed RealityLinuxPC (Microsoft Windows)Mac2021
Antecrypt
Single-stick arena shooter on mankind's last hard drive
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588
Positive
21 Steam reviews
Review History
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
Single-stick arena shooter on mankind's last hard drive
Positive
21 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
as usual, another punkcake gem to fall in love with. these games keep me up far past my bedtime, and my partner helps me with the smarter ones like hexle and rock of ages
Completely rewired my brain with regards to dual stick shooters. Genius game design here.
At time of review this is all of $6 and I'm gonna say this is a very nice experience. Not your typical twin-stick, since you're not in control of the other stick. I like it. It takes skill to maneuver and more to hit enemies. One life, unlimited shots provided you keep your energy up. The little one-and-done modifiers are really interesting too. There's well enough variety of interesting enemies and combinations. I'm only 20 minutes in and, yeah, I'm having fun. Check it out!
Great game to try, 100% worth the price tag. There are no bugs (except for the ones you kill) and was so fun i might play it again on hard mode.
Antecrypt gives new meaning to the concept of a moving target. In short, you only shoot in the direction relative to where you are toward the reticle, but you have to go inside of the reticle to recharge to shoot more enemies. That, combined with the fun and unique enemy movements, made this a really fun game right off the bat, it's so hectic. It's still a difficult game, but the concept itself is easy to grasp. The upgrades are fun, too, but be warned, ones you can select before entering a file can only be used once, so save that one promising more firepower for a rough file. Props to the developers for another novel take on an arcade shooter.
I wouldn't search such a game, but I got it with the bundle and decided to try. Well, I liked the idea, it's interestengly played, but you start depending from the RNG of where is the target going. There are a lot of moments where the game is felt totally unfair. I'd say it's the main problem. And i've just completed the hard difficulty, and I'm going to get all achievements. But I don't get why are levels giving access to items so hard? It's very painful expirience, where you can't make levels easier unlike later with items. Also I didn't like the lack of information. You just don't see where and which stats you get before and after completing levels, so I had to write it to notes. Overall I like it. Feels like Dark Souls.
Edit: I've made all achievements. Last dif is hell.
I like this a lot, but I'd like to give a personal "go ♥♥♥♥ yourself" for the level 40 boss.
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An amazing game and soundtrack! Even with what was the first Punkcake game the style of mixing game genres is fully realized and highly addictive. Edit: Playing this game enough times to get all achievements I learned about how the power ups synergize with each other, how to best take down the bots, and optimal stat upgrading. Cryptic mode is a true test of mastery over the game.
absolute banger
from beggining to end
Hard and addicting. Hard is good, and so is addicting... PUNKCAKE seems to have games that always make you want to have one more go before getting off.
I didn't not like the game. It's just the power up system (the weapons and such), were a big turnoff for me, especially regarding the fact I have to play a level twice just to use an upgrade and keep it. I do understand that you're supposed to leave them, but I don't think it would be very fun for me to play the game that way. I hope to support more of these dev's games in the future, I just don't feel like this one quite met my standards.
It's like that game you used to play when the DVD logo screensaver would come on and bounce around the screen, except its actually a game
Dosyć prosta, ale też wyjątkowa gierka. Limitowana kontrola nad kierunkiem strzału może czasami irytować, ale ma sens i poziom trudności bardzo często można łatwo dostosować przy użyciu jednorazowych power-upów. Fajna gra dla tryhardowania, ale też ogólnie ciekawy koncept.
Antecrypt's a tight and addicting single-stick arena shooter! Yes, I mean it when I say "single-stick"! Your aim is dependent on a reticle that bounces around the arena and while shooting depletes your energy, standing close enough to the reticle while not shooting will let you recharge. Already this makes for interesting gameplay as you have to improvise with your and the reticle's positioning as you kill enemies, which [i]also[/i] have their own things going on like chasing you faster if you have more energy or infecting arena tiles which cause you to move slower and get chased more while standing on them. Cool stuffs!
As for the full game itself, you tackle individual levels that have waves of enemies to defeat and as you complete certain levels, you'll gain permanent upgrades for the rest of the playthrough (having access to more levels to pick from, being able to bring more powerups into levels, making the reticle recharge range bigger, etc.) and powerups that you can use on the levels (different weapons, letting the reticle follow you for strafe shooting, starting with extra bombs, etc.), with a catch: Each powerup used on a level can't be used again until you beat the level again without that powerup. (Later you can unlock the ability to use more than one powerup on a level and say you use powerups A and B on a level but want to renew only powerup B. You can do so while still using powerup A to complete the level, if you wish!) I like being able to renew powerups like this, especially since you might not need the powerup anymore for previous levels due to your upgrades, and then you can save them for harder ones down the line...and you'll need them! ;u; At first I was a bit stingy with powerup usage but they can certainly help on some of the tougher levels Antecrypt has to offer. It's all good though, just some classic arcade-style stuffs!
Speaking of arcades, I mentioned this in my Moonpong review already but a fair amount of Punkcake Delicieux's games feel like they belong in an arcade, and Antecrypt's no exception with its juicy visuals/effects, awesome music that fits the computery/cyberpunk vibes, little to no downtime between deaths (other than a powerup that revives you, you die in one hit) and restarting, etc.! It's a pretty fun (and challenging) time and if you're into arena shooters and/or experimental mechanics, Antecrypt's right up your alley!
snappy top down shooter that makes your aiming part of the problem, i really like hoiw limiting the game is, it gives you powerups but clearing a stage with one locks it to that stage and then if you want it back you have to beat the stage again without it
enough achievements to keep you in here for at least 5 hours, its a good ride alright, also check out the rest of punkcake's catalog please!
Difficult without being unfair. The single stick concept is refreshing and requires more thought in movement. Soundtrack is perfection, presentation is killer.
The CRT effect makes it a little difficult to read the text on the bottom of the screen. Maybe a little more incentive to use the modifiers would be nice. Also maybe I missed it but there was nothing clearly stating that you have bombs when you are first starting out.
However, these are minor critiques, I think this and other games that Punkcake make are perfect lunch-time snacks that don't cost so much and are endlessly replayable.
I enjoy twin stick shooters, but the gameplay gimmick gets old very quickly. I get it's part of the challenge, but the randomized difficulty of being at the whim of a bouncing aim reticle feels like you're getting dragged around on a leash. It can place you into some awfully unwinnable spots or chasing it around to snag the last enemy on screen.
you move. you shoot. to aim is to walk. just one more try.
antecrypt is great on the steam deck.
waiting for more games this devs already released on itch. everything I played from them was fun and addictive.
This is a really fun game. Unique gameplay, and a clever upgrade system, if you can call it that. Well worth your time and money to give this some attention. I'll take games like this over mega-budget games like CoD or FF every single time.
I've already beaten all the difficulty levels on the itch version, I just picked this up on Steam because I wanted to support my favourite indie gamedev team, who always bring the absolute freshest neo-arcade game designs. Definitely check out all their other games if you're a fan of bangers. :D
