Steam has been my best friend lately which is kind of funny since I never was a big PC gamer till I joined GiN. This time around I was sent the game Ether Vapor. Ether Vapor came out earlier, but got a little bit of an overhaul and then was re-released. Of course this was all new to me so I turned it on and got ready for some action.
To make this game easier for me to play, being a console gamer and all, I synched up my thrustmaster PS3/PC controller. Let me tell you it worked like a charm.
Onwards to the game. First thing that I noticed was the graphics. My jaw slammed into the floor from the bright blues and sharp colors. I have never seen an arcade game with this good graphics. In fact, it’s one of the best looking reworked ports of an arcade shooter that I’ve experienced.
As everyone knows it’s the gameplay that can make or break an arcade game. Pretty only goes so far in gaming I’m afraid. In the case of Ether Vapor, the gameplay is simple, yet fun. The game consists of dodging lasers and missiles and shooting back. Normally something redundant like that would get boring rather quickly, however with the graphics and design, it turns into an adrenaline pumping experience.
Your ship that you fly has these little lasers spinning around it and upon the first time firing them I let out an evil laugh. A couple clicks of the fire button and bright lasers go flying at the speed of light. Of course the only thing more distracting than the pretty lasers are the well built backgrounds. Some of the camera angles they give you make your heart stop slightly. Maybe that’s because I hate heights as much as I do.
This game did have a couple issues though. None of them severe, but nevertheless they are issues. One of which was the text that scrolled on the cutscene. I could not read about half of the text because it was out of my window. Granted at that point I didn’t care about the story I just wanted to blow things up. The other was that if you unlocked a chapter and you used the chapter select to go back there it never let you continue from there. Nothing big, but frustrating.
I decided to end this review on a good note for a change. The audio was absolutely amazing. I loved the background music and the sound effects really enhanced the game. Each explosion sounded lifelike and with a good pair of Skullcandies it was absolutely amazing.
Ether Vapor gets an extremely high 4.5 Gin Gems for not having any major flaws and for being very well designed. Going back and remastering the game instead of just putting it out as a port was a great idea, and really pays off for players. Pick this game up when you can. It’s not a suggestion. It’s an order.