EveryExtendExtraExtreme – from here known simply as “E4″ to save my fingers - is exactly the kind of exuberant, joyous and undeniably compelling gaming experience you would expect from Tetsuya Mizugichi, the man behind classics such as REZ, Sega Rally Championship(Arcade and Saturn versions), Space Channel 5 and, more recently, Lumines. It’s the kind of original concept the shooting genre was crying out for, simply a merger of shooter and puzzle for high scores and even a little rhythm action thrown in.
For a new title, in a similar vein to Geometry Wars : Retro Evolved, it’s visuals are distinctly 80′s style and visually striking, like a kind of HD digital firework display. There is no plot. You control a ship, a sort of star-shaped reticule, the sole purpose of which is simple, blow stuff up, but – and here’s the clever part – you blow stuff up by starting a chain reaction with yourself, Kamikaze style! So, here’s the rundown of 10 seconds of playing E4.
You appear on screen, and a 4 second timer starts ticking down indicating your invulnerability while the space around you fills with various enemy craft or shapes. They start off simple enough, nothing more than instant and unsavoury death if touched sans protection (the best kind), but they become more aggressive, rocketing about firing shots at you and fading in to the action right into your path. So, dodging and setting yourself up in that sweet spot becomes increasingly tougher to perform. You hastily manoeuvre to the best place to explode to start your chain, wait for it. Wait for it?! BOOM!! You suicide yourself into oblivion sending out a shockwave that - depending on how close you “hit it” on the beat is larger or smaller - causes enemies to explode sending their own shock waves pulsing into others! Thus is the essence of E4. You watch for power ups to drop from shapes, like the “quicken” that, as name suggests, speed up the pace (or BPM) of the tech-synth beats, as your neon-drenched chain explosion fizzles and cracks across and around the screen, and “shield”, which upon re-spawn, should you collect enough in time will give you more time to wait for that sweet spot of chain effectiveness, and then you go hunting for “time extend” in order to keep that clock at bay long enough to keep that multiplier soaring. 10 seconds over.
It’s very simple, but hard to master. And when I say multiplier, I don’t mean the score multiplies into millions, or even billions. I myself have scored over 40 trillion points on this game… and it took me 3 hours on one stage! The bigger the chains, the higher the multiplier and the higher the electric eye candy and noise, it’s hypnotic. The music is catchy but you can also put your own soundtrack to the title in the Wiz Ur Muzik mode.
It’s definitely a score junkie’s game…
The strange part about E4 is that, while a chain is destroying the screen with radiant and colourful expressions of visual music and light, you’re basically left admiring your score rising up into the multi-trillions. Oddly satisfying, which it really shouldn’t be.
The whole thing, in action, is madness really. The backgrounds pulse and pound with hypnotic, strangely relaxing shapes and particle effects mixed with neon and fluorescent signals that tell you how Brilliant, Awesome and Extreme you are, is really the reason I sing this games praises. The way the package is presented in-game is fabulous. It really does have that ” just one more go” compulsion just clawing you back to the 360 before you switch off.
I don’t believe I’ve ever been so disheartened whilst playing a video game before, mind you. Upon hitting the zenith of my personal high score, I immediately crashed into the first flower shaped drone that wandered into my path. The trance like beat slows and the screen fades from brilliance to black. Here, you start again. And watch as the Billions you were handing in a few seconds ago dwindle down to hundreds. So, you go again, and start the process of raking in the points as before, but wonder about what your score “may have been”. As I’ve said, compelling.
The official term the creator coined for this kind of game is Synesthesia. Not really meant to be played as a regular game, but more like a trance inducing chill out session with high scores.
E4 has 5 different game modes. The best way to find out your preference is to simply explore the title and go from there as the game play changes quite drastically depending on which one you choose. I prefer the game unlimited mode, as described, you play against the clock. Although, the revenge mode is a fun alternative in that it turns the title into a more traditional kind of shooter. E4 also has, as is pretty staple for the online community, world-wide High scores tables to show what the best can achieve, and online multiplayer. The online multiplayer is essentially the single player game, but you try to get the better chain explosions than your rival, not quite SSF4, but not bad either.
While it’s appreciated that E4 may not be to everyone’s taste by the very fact that it’s so different, I urge you to at least give the demo a try to see if you could enjoy it. After all, it really is quite unique in what it is, and what it does. If that’s not worth a go on the demo, I don’t know what is? I find it mesmerizing. You may think it’s tosh. Try it and see.
I thoroughly believe E4 is best enjoyed with a couple of mates and a few beers. It’s the kind of game to play after a night “on the piss”.
And, just so you know, Tetsuya Mizugichi is now working on the recently announced “Child of Eden” for 360 and PS3. Fair play, It looks astounding! Look up the trailer.
I loved this game. I need to revisit.