OmegaBot is set in a world where a virus has turned humans into machines, but ones that still eventually die. It is a world where the heroes have become monsters, and places once a hub of life are in ruins. To save the world from itself, OmegaBot has arrived to take down the villains that have let the chaos continue.
OmegaBot is a side scrolling action platformer that wears its retro influences on it sleeve, with Mega Man being a clear inspiration from the graphics to the gameplay. You will start off with a decent gun and as you beat the bosses more weapons and abilities will become available, including a flamethrower to abilities like Dash.
The levels are designed so you have to use the abilities you are awarded with, with traps like spinning razor wheels that need to be avoided, or platforms that require a double jump to reach. Enemies offer a decent mix from starting off with snails and hopping frogs and then flying enemies that will be drawn towards you. There are also stronger enemies in the middle of most levels that will require more hits to be destroyed.
The environmental designs are colourful and varied, as are some of the enemies like the dragon knights. They go hand in hand with the soundtrack, which suits each stage well, even if it does loop pretty quickly. What’s missing from OmegaBot, though, is a hook that really grabs you. Playing the game felt like going through the motions. The story is straightforward, the side characters don’t really add anything, and the boss fights can go on for a bit too long, making them become a bit repetitive. The game is supposed to be challenging, but the bosses actually felt easy compared to some of the enemies in the world – they only take so long to beat because they are bullet sponges.
The platforming could be smoother too. There are sections where you have to use your weapon’s firing mode as a pogo stick to get across some gaps, but the process isn’t smooth. On top of that there is some issue in that the game does not indicate how to interact with the menu. There also seemed to be a bug where OmegaBot’s energy did not always refill properly, which is frustrating as you need the energy to use weapons and the dash ability. There was no indication as to why the meter would not fill, so I would put it down to a bug. A very annoying bug.
