There is a lot of confusion over this title and I myself am caught up in it. For a long while, it was shown throughout the internet that a game by the name of ‘Firehammer’ from Fathammer would be released for the Gizmondo. It was a 2D, arcade style, scrolling shooter. Navigating your ship through the dark and treacherous regions of space and your desolated home planet, you had to destroy the invading aliens that were now swarming throughout the galaxy. This title was even released on the Zodiac and many screens were taken from it, placed on certain sites to show that Gizmondo would too be getting the game.
Now the part of confusion. Whilst it was speculated that Firehammer would be released for the new handheld console, Gizmondo themselves never officially announced the title or feature it on their site where other titles are displayed. However, now, a new game has appeared in their archives by the name of ‘Angel Fish’, a 2D, arcade style, scrolling shooter. The layout and story of the game matches that of Firehammer to the point of it nearly being the same title but this new game features a higher quality of visuals.
It is the future; such scenes have been painted many times before within games and films. Technology is of such a high level that many advances have been made, one being the ability of space flight. The world is full of new machines to help the lives and survival of mankind, to help them with transport and living. There are minimal deaths due to the good care of medicine and good health. War is a thing of the past and peace has reigned upon the earth for many years. Such is the thoughts of man when it comes to the future and how we might live.
Within the world of Angel Fish, all of that is turned upside down. A cruel race known as the Sirians have invaded earth and have completely desolated it. There is nothing left in the way of human life; all of the great cities that once stood have been raised to the ground, people massacred and all of their advanced technology destroyed with them. The world is in such a bad state that now all of the natural resources that are the key to ma’s survival have gone. Peace has been replaced with anarchy.
For the few humans that live within this dark world, all that is left within them is hate and a lust for vengeance and revenge against the alien race that caused all of this. Take the role of a futuristic pilot. The sorrow and grief of death have been and gone and now all that your eyes can see is an angered fury for blood.
Welcome to the future of Angel Fish.
Angel Fish is pretty much Firehammer but better. It has all of the classic elements to become a great arcade style shooter.
The gameplay is simple. With the arsenal available to you, all equipped in the sleek model and of the Angel Fish ship, you fight your way through several levels of the game to annihilate the alien forces that have taken over your world and have your much wanted revenge. Some of the weapons at your disposal are your standard blaster (these having an infinite supply) and special weapons that you can collect throughout the game by either destroying scenery and small enemies or taking out the bosses at the end of each level. Lasers, wide spread shots and missiles are among the range that are to be expected.
With an entire alien race, come a variety of enemies to destroy. As you progress further through the levels, they become faster and stronger so you have to be skilled enough to blast them out of the sky before they get you. From the screens there are standard alien ships they only take one or two shots to kill but then there are others that shoot multiple blasters at you or implode when you get near them. When these enemies are destroyed, they explode and at times, golden rings will drop down from them. By flying through these, it will raise your score potential, multiplying the amount by eight with every ring that you collect. This is said to come in handy more for the multiplayer, high scoring competitions. At the end of each level, as always in every classic arcade game, there is a huge, hulking mother ship that you have to destroy in order to advance through the game. With these you must use all of your skill and firepower available to you, do not hold back, otherwise, they might get the better of you. Once you have blasted them away and managed to send it burning back to the hell from which it came, you will be rewarded with upgrades of weapons that are more powerful or will have a unique shot.
The game is straight forward, simple and a format that is well known within the games market, even those who are new to gaming will have experienced classic titles such as Asteroids, R-Type of a game similar.
As far as graphics and the looks of the game goes, it is similar to that of Firehammer but said to be better and from the screens that have been released of the new Angel Fish, is has been given a little bit of a make over.
The ship itself, for a start, has been revamped to fit in with the futuristic setting. The plain white design of the ship is very similar to that of the surroundings and design of P.N.03 for the Gamecube. It gives a clean and stylish look to the ship that makes it look as though it has a lot of technology hidden underneath its shell. From both the art design and the look of the ship within screenshots, it looks to be a very well created model and moves smoothly through the levels, firing its blasters and speeding through explosions and dangerous surroundings.
Each of the levels are different and unique in their own way but they all have the similar setting of future earth. You fight your way through destroyed cities where there once was life but everything is now gone at the hands of the Sirians, the deep and dark corners of space where you are constantly barraged by flights of alien scum and also through weird alien worlds that have never been explored before and where the enemy surround you on all sides. Using parallax scrolling and graphics design, each are full or rich colour and interactivity, being an entire living environment so you are not just simply watching the world go by.
Although for the style of game that it is, it is very impressive in the way of looks, they could have pushed it further and to the limits that the Gizmondo has. The handheld is more than capable of running such environments and graphics, which will ensure that the game runs smoothly, but a more impressive design, such as the impression given by the art of the Angel Fish itself, would have been bother stunning and enjoyed.
Keeping in tune with the arcade theme of the game and also being a 2D blaster, the soundtrack to the game is said to be very much a heavy metal/techno type. Such songs like those from prodigy during the nineties fit in well with the fast and high explosive type of game that it is, burning through space at high speeds and causing all kinds of plasma mayhem! Such songs are featured on all of the great 2D arcade shooters that appeared when it was great during the nineties; the R-Type series was renowned for its blood rushing, adrenaline pumping rock!
The sound effects of Firehammer were said to be weak and a bit pathetic compared to the explosive game itself and that the gun shots and explosions were very meagre compared to the sound capabilities of the Zodiac on which is was released. The Zodiac has a very powerful sound system and formats such as MP3s play on it with great clarity and power. It is a shame then that Fathammer did not utilise this when making Firehammer. Angel Fish however, is more of a mystery at the moment, only just being announced of late as a title to feature on the Gizmondo. It is hoped by all that if this is a revamp of Firehammer that they will have done just that and made the sound a whole lot better.
As said, Gizmondo have not officially announced that Firehammer will be on their new handheld console but at the same time, after announcing Angel Fish, they have not made it clear that it is a port and revamp of Firehammer.
Putting that mystery aside, Angel Fish looks amazing. Just like Firehammer, it is a solid title within a genre that is widely loved by all and one can spend many hours just blasting their way through an alien infested level. Hopefully we will see more from it nearer the release and that the capabilities of the great handheld have been pushed to their limits in visuals and gameplay. It will appeal to all of those gamers who love games that you can just pick up and start right off from the start screen. Angel Fish with its edge and look will fair well and will surely see itself in front of the pearly gates of heaven instead of the fiery depths of hell.
TR
