Omega Strike Is Perfectly Fine – Review (Switch)

By Ben Smith On Dec 26, 2018

In a year jam-packed with metroidvania style games, we get yet another one on Switch with Omega Strike from one-man developer Woblyware and publisher Digerati.

Omega Strike is an open-ended playground with a variety of enemies and worlds to explore. Across seven stages, you’ll be asked to help defeat Doctor Omega and the mutant creations he has willed into existence. There is a true sense of progression with many new areas being unlocked, skills to discover, and multiple characters you can play on the fly.

The set-up is pretty simple… Doctor Omega is set on world domination and you are the only one who can stop him. Unlike many metroidvania titles where you must play through as one character, you’ll be able to switch between three different characters at nearly any point. Your first hour or so of the game will have you playing as a single character attempting to rescue the other two characters that have been captured in this retro-inspired platformer. Much of the strategy in Omega Force comes down to the fact that many areas or paths are visible, but not quite accessible without the help of these other characters. New opportunities to explore and progress will be opened up little by little as you unlock these new characters and their abilities.

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A progression system comes into play with multiple upgrades that can be purchased as well as discovered. Initially you’ll be able to shoot a different weapon with each character. Save up some coins and you can enhance the effects of that gun. At first, you won’t be able to shoot through certain types of barriers – but defeat a few particular enemies and you’ll unlock the ability for one of your characters to shoot through these blockages. Progression and leveling up is fun and rewarding, overall.

Our story leaves something to be desired, but that’s not exactly the reason you’ll be playing Omega Strike. You know there’s a bad guy and lots of monsters to defeat, but the reasons why you care are not explained outright. In addition, there’s very little guidance as to what you’re supposed to be doing or why. There are points where you’ll need to return to the main town and then venture back out to stages you’ve explored before – but unless you give it a shot by sheer luck, you’ll have no way of knowing. In addition, as with many metroidvanias, there’s a ton of back-tracking and re-exploring the same areas you’ve been to already – so prepare to do a lot of work getting somewhere only to turn back, get destroyed by a monster you just killed, and lose all of your progress.

The save system leaves a little to be desired. You can only save your game in specific spots – which is fine – but oftentimes the spots are spaced too far apart. You can save, battle through a hoard of enemies and barely get the goal you were headed for, and then have to fight back through all of the aforementioned enemies before being able to save again. This can make for a pretty frustrating experience if you don’t have enough health and weren’t able to stock up on food (meds) before you left.

Overall, Omega Strike is perfectly fine in every way. It’s a fun experience, but nothing that will change your life. Otherwise fantastic concepts are hurt by the save system and lack of direction. Still, if you have a bit of time on your hands and are a fan of retro-inspired metroidvanias – we think Omega Strike is a fine choice.