Target Earth

The premise is simple. In the distant future, a cyborg army has set a course for Earth, and they've got ill intentions and vengeful spirit. With your Assault Suit, it is up to you to stop them. Target Earth isn't setting itself apart from the rest of the side-scrolling shooter pack with its plot, but rather its cinematic qualities that morph it into a proper space opera.

There is a sense of scale to the action that suggests the player isn't alone in his fight to save the world. This unique urgency to the war for Earth is a result of the player fighting along side other Assault Suits, large battlegrounds and objectives of import. The epic scale of the overall conflict isn't matched by the game's boss fights. Target Earth does not have the same climactic fights as many other games, but that actually doesn't detract from the experience in the slightest. Its sort of dramatic moments are less overt, but just as impactful, like when it's time for your shift of patrol duty and sniper fire takes out the guy you're replacing, or when you're about to enter atmosphere and need to get back to your ship before you burn up.

Those are the sort of things define Target Earth. That's not to say the gameplay isn't enjoyable. Even if it is a bit by the books, shooting cyborgs is fun, and there are plenty of weapons to choose from. Before each mission you are able to outfit yourself however you want. You can go all armor, all guns and ammo, or a bit of everything, and you'll unlock more options as you progress through the story.

While that story isn't anything remarkable, the nature of each mission is sensible. You will have to infiltrate and destroy outposts crucial to the enemy advance, protect an outpost of your own, or destroy a warship threatening your landing on Earth. The environments also mix up the action as you will take your Assault Suit to fights on a moon, earth and in space. On the ground you can jump pretty high and even use a jet-pack to gain more altitude or hover for a bit. In space you can straight up fly around. This level of variety forces you to rethink your approach to situations based on the gravity, and it adds an unexpected authenticity that only enhances the game's finer points.

Unfortunately, Target Earth's tragic fault is its unforgiving nature. It is quite the challenge already with no checkpoints or saves, but it's the finite number of continues that really clashes with the idea of a more cinematic experience. Luckily, health regenerates over time, so you might be able to regroup and collect yourself after narrowly making it out of a tough fight. That is of course if you find a place of respite. Enemies are almost always coming from all sides. While they are all more or less fodder compared to the player, their sheer numbers will produce enough of a bullet hell to more than make up for it.

It's almost a shame that there is so much worth seeing. It's a nightmare to get through, and while the payoff doesn't quite match that nightmare, it's in line with the rest of the game. That its only palpable flaw is its unrelenting difficulty is a testament to the quality of Target Earth's gameplay within its larger, more cinematic experience. It's a groundbreaking shooter, and its only crime is that it doesn't want you to see that it is.