Under Defeat Impressions

I've just had the chance to play Under Defeat from G.Rev, their latest shmup on the "I'm not dead quite YET" Dreamcast. Color me impressed.

Defeat will draw immediate comparisons with Zero Gunner 2, being they are both helicopter shmups, and they both involve rotating of the main ship. Zero Gunner 2 uses the technique heavier than UD, since you can manage full 360 degree rotation. Defeat only lets you tilt the aircraft about 30 degrees left or right. This is very useful since enemies attack from the sides frequently.

Along with the front cannons, you can pick up one of three different options, which are charged up and used when you stop firing the main weapon. This sounds simple, but can be hard to do with all the flak flying in your face. My favorite is a heavy rocket, which does major damage and takes out any enemies in the blast radius, multiplying your score. Your final attack is the tried and tested bomb, but this is one of the prettiest bomb sequences since Truxton. A massive fire wave works it's way up the screen, engulfing anything in it's path.

The gameplay is basic shooter, but the graphics are just killer. The environments are 3-D poly based, so expect lots of depth and things rising and falling to the ground. Enemies shatter, produce smoke, and then plummet, yet don't produce so much eye clutter that it interferes with gameplay (cough Garegga cough). The amount of small details in Under Defeat is just crazy....gun casings, weather environements, even some tanks and planes from your side trying to help out in the battle. My only gripe is that the standard enemy bullet is just a glowing orange line - very boring. The plus is that they are easy to see.

Overall G.Rev has banged out another top notch shmup for fans of the genre....
After taking a second look at this game and Border Down, I can't help but think of G.Rev as the next Treasure. (Yes, I went there.)