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Futuridium EP Deluxe Review

By: RJ (@rga_02)

• Futuridium EP Deluxe
• Developer - MixedBag
• Publisher - MixedBag
• PlayStation 4 & PlayStation Vita (reviewed on the PS4 & Vita) - Also available on PC & iOS
• Rating - E

Zig zagin’ through deep space with WipEout-esque music blasting in your ears, and acid inducing scenery that makes your eyes melt with joy. This is Futurdium EP Deluxe. But instead of racing your way through highways of the future, you are a space pilot shooting blocks. In what seems like an old video game trope rehashed into something pretty, MixedBag attempts to well….mix up the genre a bit.

The core gameplay is relatively simple. You fly around in your space ship shooting blocks to reveal a core that you have to destroy. Easy enough right? Well to make it more challenging, you have a energy bar that depletes as you are zipping around in your B-Tier Airwing. Should that energy bar run out, it’s basically game over for you. It may not sound frustrating, but should you deplete all of your continues you have to complete the whole zone from the first level. So should you become cocky and get a game over on the last level of the zone, you have to start over from scratch. While it may sound like a case for you simply just to “git gud” it is extremely annoying. Especially those to casual players who are probably just looking for some fun. For those who don’t mind it, it provides that extra push for you to keep shooting along. Its simplicity is also its downfall. You need to be very precise with the controls, but you really can’t do any moves with your ship. It feels like cheap rail gun shooter when its not supposed to be. The missions are also repetitive. Once you have experienced 4 of them, you basically experienced the whole game sans a few bonus missions here and there. Which in most cases, you just try to fly through rings before your health runs out.

The soundtrack of the game is wonderful and fits into the whole “space shoot-em-up vibe”. It really reminds me of WipEout, which is a plus. The whole vibe of the game is really pleasing to the eye, although in later stages, it does get a bit nauseating while you are flying around. 

Futuridium is like that concert that can make your thoughts, eyes and ears melt with joy in the beginning. But sadly it starts to fall flat in the middle. While it may feed into your “beat your high score/must get past this level” craving, for most it will just end up leaving a sense of repetition and frustration. For those who choose to stay til the very end, I suggest you skip out on the encore.