Swordship Review (PC): A Thrilling Dodge ‘Em Up Experience

Flipping the traditional arcade shooter formula to provide players with a completely “pacifist” experience from which weapons lack completely, Swordship is far from being a full-fledged racing game, but if you like speed, this offers a thrilling gameplay loop like no other.

With a premise set in a future when humanity has retreated underwater, Swordship puts players in charge of stealing precious containers that are usually delivered between megacities and giving them to the banished, people who are expelled from cities due to lack of space.

The game offers you a choice of either helping the banished and giving up on the containers that you manage to steal during a level or keeping them in order to upgrade your ultra-fast boat with various perks.

Typically, upgrades involve benefits ranging from quicker delivery of stolen containers to blocking enemies from popping up on the map or even deep-diving to avoid enemy fire. There are no weapons in Swordship, which makes gameplay extremely tactical.

The goal for each level is to reach the end while trying to steal and deliver as many containers as possible. Mines, turrets, drones, and other types of enemies will try to kill you and while you can avoid them for the most part, you can score a lot of points by destroying them.

The trick is to position your boat so that enemies shoot each other. You don’t just have to be very accurate when it comes to positioning, but you also have to time everything right, otherwise, you risk exploding along with the enemy.

Since this is a rogue-like, you get to keep some of the upgrades that you got during a previous run, but you’ll have to start over if you die. The good news is you won’t feel any frustration dying over and over again; Swordship is quite addictive, and the gameplay loop is enjoyable enough to make you forget that you’re stuck on the same level for a few hours.

It’s important to mention that you’ll be playing on randomly generated levels, so no playthrough is the same. Depending on what passive upgrades you’re offered, your run might be longer or shorter. I also found that many of the upgrades define certain playstyles, so that’s something to keep in mind when choosing your combo package for a new run.

Unlike traditional dodge ‘em up games, Swordship adopts a reversed camera angle, so you won’t have to look ahead all the time. It’s a formula that fits yet doesn’t make the game any easier. Make no mistake, as enjoyable as Swordship can be, this can be a very hard game if you don’t have good reflexes.

Visually, Swordship is uncomplicated fun. The low-poly graphics are far from impressive, but it totally works for this kind of game. As far as performance goes, Swordship runs silky smooth at 60 fps (frames-per-second) and the controls are pretty tight and very responsive.

I never felt that the game was punishing me whenever my boat was destroyed. I always knew it was my fault whenever my run was cut short by a sudden death, which is what makes Swordship an enjoyable experience despite being a hard game.

After unlocking new abilities like capture assists, EMPs, and other important perks, you’ll probably manage to complete a few levels and stock up on extra lives. However, nothing can prepare you for the first boss, and you’ll probably die in less than one second. Bosses usually appear at the end of the string of levels and are much harder to destroy than basic enemies. They require multiple runs until you learn their attack patterns, because positioning is king in this game.

Although you start with a single life, it takes less than an hour to stock up on this extremely valuable resource. The secret is to reach the boss with as many lives as possible, and while this may seem hard to achieve on paper, it highly depends on the combination of enemies you get in each level. That’s what makes Swordship so entertaining: not knowing what’s coming next and whether or not you’re prepared to deal with everything the game throws at you.

Conclusion

Swordship is a different kind of dodge ‘em up, one that marvelously combines elements of rogue-like, arcade shooter, and racing. The idea of not including weapons and letting players deal with enemies through positioning and timing works great for Swordship.

It’s amazing what a clear vision and an original take on an established genre can do for Swordship. Every system in the game works together for a single purpose: to provide a thrilling, joyful experience. And the best part is that it achieves that without making any compromises when it comes to difficulty. Swordship is one of those rare dodge ‘em up games that leave you wanting to play “just one more run.”

RATING: 85/100