Don't let the name fool you -- Everyday Shooter isn't your typical blast fest. This $10 game available for download on the PlayStation 3 puts a fresh spin on the routine blast-em-up formula. In the game, you control a small, nearly unidentifiable icon as it goes from stage to stage, shooting groups of enemies to form chained explosions and collecting glowing icons left in their wake.
Gameplay is relatively simple. Score enough and you'll earn extra lives, which come in handy for the tougher stages in the game. Another cool aspect is how music ties into the experience. It works in the same fashion as Rez, with enemies exploding and playing musical notes. Chain together the right kind of combo and you'll execute an excellent rhythmic melody. It's enough to make you want to play through stages several times.
In Everyday Shooter, no two stages are alike. The first, featuring a glowing blue background with rising and falling columns, has groups of blocks flying around in straight patterns. The next has rapidly flashing blobs shooting beams of energy and launching homing missiles at you. The game gets progressively oft-kilter from there, even going as far as placing a neon Cyclops-like eye smack dab in the center of the playfield. The visuals are unlike any shooter before it and the sole programmer, Queasy Games' Jonathan Mak, has done extraordinary work putting it all together.
Working alongside the visuals are the terrific audio effects. The game is made up entirely of musical tones, along with background music that varies from soothing guitar strums to hard-rocking beats.
Along with eight stages, which are available to play as a group or separately once unlocked, Everyday Shooter also has a slew of unlockables. Bonus visual items, extra ships and other options are available for purchase in the shop, with points accumulated with each play-through. Still, it all comes to an inevitable conclusion just a bit too soon. Extra downloadable stages would've been a nice way to keep the experience going a bit longer.
In the end, though, Everyday Shooter is a pivotal release for the PlayStation Network, an original, independent piece of work that demands your attention. Our recommendation: buy it, immediately.
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