If you want to talk about rising stars in the video game world, one of the best examples is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Housemarque. While the company has been kicking around for a while, and have made games for a number of different platforms, it was really when they startedꦛ producing games for the Playstation ecosystem that things s🌺tarted to really take off for the developer.
In this list, we’re going to look at their output on the Playstation exclusively. From simplistic, yet satisfying, arcade-style classics to their recent push ℱinto the Triple-A gaming space, Housemarque has a pretty impressive library of titles. The people behind the company have produced a number of new IPs, and this list seeks to highlight them (so we will skip the one time they helped make an Angry Bird game). Ultimately, this is a fantastic studio thatꦇ has produced excellent games from top to bottom.
9 ꦉ Fuꩲrmins, Vita
Furmins is a physics-based puzzle game. Your goal is to deliver lost eggs to their nest. There are two phases: a setup phase, and an action phase. In the setup pha📖se, you place platforms and objects around the playfield in order to (hopefull🐻y) deliver the eggs safe and sound.
While the game isn’t really a looker, the puzzles are well-designed. It has that engaging quality to it where each puzzle is simple enough, and the sensation of solving them is so pleasant that you can find yourself getting sucked into playing more rounds than you had first planned. It certainly isn’t what you would think of when you hear the name Housemarque, but it is a perfectly c🔯ompetent little title.
8 ﷽ Dead Nation, PS3
Housemarque wasn’t above 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:banking on the zombie craze, which was in full swing during the seventh 🔜generation of consoles. Dead Nation is a very competent twin-stick shooter where you fight hordes of zombies.
This is on💛e of the few Housemarque games to have a narrative, but it isn’t really anything to write home about. In general, Dead Nation is an enjoyable title, especially when played with a friend, but it can feel a little generic. Still, its gameplay is responsive, and the combat is satisfying. Which are, of course, the hallmark features of a Housemarque game.
7 ♎Outland, ꦍPS3
What happens when you cross 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Super Metroid with Ikaruga? Well, you get Outland. Outland does a lot of great things to help it stand apart. For starters, it is visually striking. The world of Outland is largely cast in shadows, and the color palette is muted. The exception is the neon blue and red elements sprinkled throughout the environment. This all helps the game establish a unique v🐼isual identity.
This unique visual style also makes for better readability of the enemies and environments, which is important as you need to switch between forms constantly. You can only damage blue enemies when you are in your red form, and red enemies when you are in your blue form 🐭(this is the aforementioned Ikaruga element). This form shifting is also important for the platforming sections, as🃏 it changes the way you interact with the world. It all adds up to being a very cool, metroidvania-style adventure game.
6 𝕴 Matterfall, PS4
Matterfall really feels like Nex Machina, but with a side-scrolling perspective. It delivers a lot of the same thrills, but the switch in perspective changes the way the action plays out pretty dramatically. It still has that twitchy appeal, but it doesn't feel quite as frenetic as Nex Machina or Super Stardust 3D.
There is a varied selection of weapons, and they are all fun to play with. Matterfall also has some very inventive level designs. This is one of the many great arcade-style games in Housemarque's vast library of solid games. It is quite simply a genuinely good time.
5 ꦇ Super Stardust 3D, PS3
This is a remake of one of Housemarque&ꦓrsquo;s earliest games (originally rꦿeleased on the Amiga). Super Stardust 3D delivers that fast, frenetic twin-stick shooter experience that would expect from Housemarque. It is extremely simple, but it is also infinitely replayable.
Super Stardust 3D does everything you would want a game like this to do. It feels responsive, the weapons are enjoyable, and it fills the screen with enemies and bullets. Also, due to🐷 its simplicity, it still runs vꦬery well and looks pretty sharp. Not many games from the seventh generation can make that claim.
There is also a PSP, Vita, and PSVR version of Super Stardust 3D. The PSP version is a valiant effort. However, it is a twin-stick shooter on a console that doesn’t feature two analog sticks, which is a problem. The Vita game, on the other hand, goes toe to toe with the PS3 title. If you have a Vita kicking around, it is absoꦺlutely a must-buy for the cons🅰ole. The PSVR is similarly very good, and the implementation of VR is subtle but very effective🌄. The first-person VR mode, on the other hand, is enjoyable enough, but extremely limited. Super Stardust 3D, and its many ports, is 🏅just an excellent game.
4 ꧑ Alienation, PS4
Alienation is a game built on the bones of Dead Nation. Everything that game did well, from tight gameplay to the satisfying armory, is done better here. However, Alienation also adds a more engaging progression system, a more distinct visual identity, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:and even a Dark ⛄Souls-esque i✃nvasion mechanic.
While Dead Nation was a very competent isometric shooter, Alienation ﷽feels like it is Housemarque’s attempt to leave their mark on the genre. And it largely succeeds in doing so. It is just top-to-bottom a better game all-around.
3 🐭 Resogun, PS4 ♊
During the early days of the 𒉰PS4, there weren’t a ton of killer games. There were a few great cross-gen titles, but otherwise, the first year was a little on the bleak side. Than𒊎kfully, Resogun was the little game that could.
Despite being an🍸 arcadey title with a pretty simple premise, its extremely sharp gameplay, and inherently addictive arcadey nature, helped sell it🌄 to a larger audience. Resogun is simply a great game. The inclusion of more challenging, optional, objectives also helps to improve Resogun’s replayability. It is a modern classic that has earned its excellent reputation.
2 Nex Machina♔, PS4
Housemarque has made a ton of truly excellent, twitchy arcade-style games. It really is their bread and butter. However, with Nex Ma𝔉china we received the culmination of everything they had produced before it. It feels like a fusi🦋on between Alienation and Resogun.
Nex Machina is an incredibly fast-paced, isometric, twin-stick shooter. However, on top of that, it fills the screen with neon enemies and bullets, and has the heart-pumping pacing of a Resogun. It also features the same optional hostage rescuing mechanic as seen in that title. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fans of Neo Contra, or Smash TV, are likely to get a lot of joy out of this title.
Overall, Nex Machina is a standout game and has a🦩 place in the pantheon of amazing twin-stick shooters.
1 ꧂ Returnal, PS5 ♏
When Housemarque first announced that they were moving away from arcadey games, everyone despaired. They had become synonymous with the genre, so it really fe🍸lt like we were seeing the end of an era. What we didn’t know is that Housemarque wasn’𓂃t abandoning the genre, they were just updating it in a surprising way.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Returnal’s gameplay has the same responsive, twitchy appeal as the studio’s other titles. It also has a pleasing array of unique, and interesting, weapons. So, most of their trademark style of gameplay is present here. However, Returnal also incorporates rouge-like elements and incorporates them into a metroidvania setup. On top of that, the people behind Housemarque have also managed to 🗹craft the💦ir first truly stellar narrative.
This is the first time the story has been more than perfunctory in a Housemarque game. And, ifܫ we are being honest, we didn’t know that was something we wanted. Housemarque has long been a tal🍰ented game developer, but with Returnal it really feels like we have seen them take a step into the next phase of their studio’s story. Their future looks bright, indeed.
