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RIP: Strike Back

Published by White Elephant
Price $19.95
Download
Primary Genre Secondary Genre

We live in a world wherein products that sell reasonably well often have a sequel made to give the fans more of what they liked the first-time around. Sometimes, more is better and at other times, well, we all have encountered bad sequels, right? White Elephant games had a hit with their game, RIP. Enough of a hit that a sequel was made in the form of RIP: Strike Back (hereafter referred to as R2). Let's take a look and see if More is Better.

Clobberin' Time. Ka-Plooey!!

R2 is a top-down shooter wherein you play as 1 of 3 characters and fight hordes of enemies. Using a combination of mouse and keyboard you'll aim and shoot through 60+ levels of mayhem. This time around your character can board stationary gun platforms as well as vehicles to help you with your task instead of sitting stationary in the middle of the screen.

Visually, R2 works well. The folk at White Elephant once again put together an eye-candy feast for the player that glows with primary colors and does not skimp on detail. Each of the levels you play through are visually unique. As well, as your guns are blazing away, spent shell-casings accumulate on the ground and wherever a bullet finds it's mark a gratuitous splat of gore leaves its mark. Weapons have visually unique signatures.

Winterland.

Not too much has changed from RIP to R2 where sound is concerned, but then, it does not need to. A good toe-tappin' beat helps to keep you energized as you mop-up the opposition. Guns blaze, enemies howl, engines rev, and discharged casings clang as they hit the ground. Just what you would expect from a hell-bent for leather shoot 'em up.

The key to having a successful shoot 'em up game is to keep things simple. Again, White Elephant provides a game that is not difficult for the player to wrap his/her mind around (player + weapon = termination of enemy army/bosses & repeat as needed) and requires only a minimal number of controls for the player to accomplish the objective of eliminating baddies.

So now you've R2 on your hard drive... will you be coming back to this game again and again? Tough question to answer, but since opinions matter, my guess is that you'll have played through the demo and have an idea of what it is that you are getting into. With that having been said, I'll vouch for this game and say that it likely will remain on your desktop for some time since it allows for character changes, several skill levels, a few different game modes, and a host of levels that ought to keep you busy for quite awhile.

So, is more better? Ummm, I suppose it all depends on what there is more of. RIP Strike Back stands-up on the foundation of it's predecessor (RIP) and expands outward in a way that compliments the original. That being said, if you enjoyed the first game, R2 is well worth your time. If you've not played the first game, but enjoy top-down shooters, I doubt that you'll be disappointed.

Graphics 84%
Sound 80%
Playability 85%
Longevity 80%
Overall Score 83%
Silver Star

Published on 15 Dec 2006
Reviewed by David Simpkins

Keywords: rip: strike back review, white elephant reviews, white elephant games, rip: strike back scores, pc game reviews, indie game reviews, independent gaming.