When I was a wee lad I had a hearty fear of the bugs. Not all of them, of course, but enough to make me skittish. Wasps are no fun. Daddy Long Legs was creepy. Moths bumping into you at night were always a bit of a scare. I managed to outgrow those fears, now I would even consider myself a friend for all the creepy crawlies, spiders included. Nonetheless, Entomophobia tossed me into a harsh world of bug extermination where I must embark on a crusade against all the not-so-little bugs.
The game is a survivor-like. I am not sure if that's a proper name for the genre... Wait, wasn't it Bullet Heaven? If you played Vampire Survivor or any of the countless clones, you know the drill - hordes of enemies, lots of updates, becoming a god of destruction. It is a genre I devour with great gusto, by now played a hundred of those, give or take. Entomophobia doesn't break new grounds here, do not bring to the table anything fresh. There are no unique ideas on display, but despite this sounding a bit harsh, there's nothing wrong with making a competent game in its genre.
And Entomophobia IS quite competent indeed! It has all the expected ingredients. A few levels, growing difficulty you unlock per arena clear, a pretty great selection of weapons and upgrades, and even multiple characters that differ from each other well enough to freshen the gameplay. Some mechanics aren't well explained, like the dash not being locked to a cooldown or number of uses, but rather to Stamina that comes back at a slow pace. Or I couldn't find info about each character's Special Power that unleashes every minute or so. Took me a little bit to find out that Shells are different from Goop as well, being a currency when the other is experienced. Those are relatively minor nitpicks, but it has to be said, that the game could offer a better introduction to some of its elements.
The audiovisuals aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea for sure. Everything feels brown and blurry, stylization for a dirty retro game is a direction to be sure, but it never clicked with me. But Lo! And Behold! VuVuu Inc., the developer of the game thought of that, and the game has generous customization to how it looks. After reducing the bloom and screen shake to zero, and removing some outlines, I was surprised at how well the game looks - sharp pixel art, clean, colors finally popping. If you dismissed the game because you found the art style to be too messy, I can assure you, that it's something you can alter in the game settings. Kudos!
As for the game itself, it's fun. Hard not to be, given the source material, and even if it doesn't offer anything new, it's more of the good stuff that I enjoy. At first, I was a little disappointed at how easy the game felt. Every initial run I completed without issues, at some points even going AFK, because I was so powerful that I could just stand in place and nothing could touch me. Including the bosses. While this is a fun power fantasy, common in the Bullet Heavens far and wide, it shouldn't be something achievable so easily! However things changed when I ramped the difficulty up - bugs spawn in greater numbers, they are faster, tougher, more vicious. The game will force you to go on the move and finally use that Dash to get out of hairy situations. It's not as brutal as some other titles, but it will keep you on your toes if you go for those higher difficulties.
In short, Entomophobia is Yet Another Bullet Heaven to toss into my overcrowded folder. If you were looking for a fun new twist to the formula you won't find it here. But if you are starving for a new game in your favorite genre - like I did! - you can't go wrong picking this one up. Unless you fear the bugs. But even then, squashing them in their thousands might be a cathartic revenge on the creepy crawlies. Pick it up if you love the genre.
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