Orbital Bullet review

Blasting Round and Around

Orbital Bullet is a unique action platformer rogue-lite in a sci-fi setting that promises a series of adrenaline-filled combat challenges. In Orbital Bullet, you play as a high-tech cyborg tasked with saving humanity from an all-powerful extra-terrestrial threat known as Dread Corp. The story is as generic as it sounds and contains all the sci-fi tropes that you can expect, but that is not an issue as the game’s bread and butter and main selling point is its combat system. You see, “Orbital Bullet” is not just a metaphorical title but also a literal description of the game’s most fundamental mechanic. The game utilizes a very unique 360-degree system for its core platforming gameplay loop, meaning that instead of moving left and right on a horizontal level as you would usually do, you are instead moving around a cylinder packed with objects, threats, and interactive items. This was my first ever experience with a game utilizing such a mechanic and as I jumped in to go through my first run, Orbital Bullet immediately felt very different but in a special kind of way. Platforming in Orbital Bullet’s 360- degree environment is a very distinct experience compared to similar titles and can immediately feel aesthetically impressive as this unique system provides a sort of cinematic dimension to the overall experience. However, Orbital Bullet’s cyclical platforming structure is much more than just an aesthetic choice as it also acts as the foundational component for the game’s combat system. For example, when shooting a gun, bullet projectiles work exactly as the player’s movement system and travel cyclically while in orbit around the 360°-cylinder level (and thus the name Orbital Bullet was born!).

Throughout the years I had become accustomed to the more traditional horizontal platformer shooter formula, and it took me a while to adapt to the game’s unique orbital system. But once I did, the combat felt exciting, dynamic, and very fresh. There is an excellent amount of gun variety, ranging from more conventional options such as pistols, grenade launchers, and assault rifles, to more crazy sci-fi contraptions such as plasma shotguns, toxic goo-firing machineguns, and death-ray powered snipers. The most important part is that all gun options felt well thought out and cleverly integrated into the game’s 360° environment; all accompanied by their corresponding advantages and drawbacks, encouraging players to evaluate their options to better optimize their runs carefully.

The Fun and the Bland

It is obvious that a great amount of time and resources went into developing and refining Orbital Bullet’s gameplay foundations as both the game’s combat system and its platforming elements have been clearly designed with a lot of diligence and attention to detail. The result is a one-of-a-kind platform shooter with an engaging and truly fast-paced core gameplay loop that will certainly challenge both newcomers and veterans of the genre. Enemies are aggressive, especially in later sections, and threats take different forms and come from all directions. This is not a game where you can really take a defensive approach as speed will be your greatest ally and even milliseconds in reaction times will matter. For its visuals, Orbital Bullet utilizes an interesting combination of low-poly 3D models for its environment and most objects, and 2D pixel-art sprites for its protagonist, guns, and most enemies.

It is obvious that a great amount of time and resources went into developing and refining Orbital Bullet’s gameplay foundations as both the game’s combat system and its platforming elements have been clearly designed with a lot of diligence and attention to detail. The result is a one-of-a-kind platform shooter with an engaging and truly fast-paced core gameplay loop that will certainly challenge both newcomers and veterans of the genre. Enemies are aggressive, especially in later sections, and threats take different forms and come from all directions. This is not a game where you can really take a defensive approach as speed will be your greatest ally and even milliseconds in reaction times will matter. For its visuals, Orbital Bullet utilizes an interesting combination of low-poly 3D models for its environment and most objects, and 2D pixel-art sprites for its protagonist, guns, and most enemies.

Progression Issues

Two aspects that define the quality and replay-ability of any rogue-lite are its two progression systems: the standard temporary progression that is erased after each run, and the rogue-lite permanent progression that carries over. It is important therefore to evaluate how these systems are designed and how effectively they work in Orbital Bullet. Skill trees are the core component in the game’s temporary progression system, and while Orbital Bullet does not steer too far away from the classic rogue-lite formula, it does introduce a few of its own twists. For example, instead of making a single choice between a few power-up options on each level, the player instead chooses between packages containing four randomly assigned perks. As you slowly collect these packages you build up your individual skill tree and you are free to spend the upgrade points you gather on whichever perk you want, resulting in an upgrade system that allows for a greater amount of choice variety and complexity compared to other rogue-lite titles. These perks also give you the opportunity to think of smart synergies that can alter your playstyle and enhance your overall loadout. However, the skill tree system can quickly become fairly stale after a few runs as most of the perks themselves are fairly boring and generic, and do not provide the opportunity for exciting combos that are a characteristic of the genre.

Beyond temporary in-run progression, one of the most difficult aspects of designing a rogue-lite is permanent progression. The reason permanent upgrades are one of the most challenging game-design obstacles of the genre is that they have to feel both impactful and interesting while at the same time not overshadowing the core skill-based roguelike gameplay loop. Unfortunately, Orbital Bullet utilizes a vertical progression system that feels more like a treadmill than an engaging addition. Doing runs here felt less like a journey of personal skill improvement, and more like a grind to unlock arbitrary upgrades that made each subsequent run easier. That is not to say of course that understanding the game’s mechanics and getting better as a player were not important elements of the experience, but they were certainly undermined by the way the permanent upgrade system was structured. As part of its permanent progression, the game later also introduces four classes each one with unique abilities and upgrades. And while these classes help provide an additional layer of depth and strategy, they do not solve the much greater issue of grind and difficulty balancing. Overall, I believe that Orbital Bullet is a game best experienced in small doses. Jumping in for a quick run can be very fun as the 360° platform shooter experience is action-packed, unique, very fast-paced, and challenging. However, it is not a game that I would dedicate long periods of time to as it can easily feel bland and repetitive after a while.