Solstice Chronicles: MIA

You might forget the STROL virus, or that you are tackling insurgents and mutants, but you won’t forget just how much fun you have, solo or with a local co-op friend, with the non-stop action of Solstice Chronicles: MIA. While there are still some areas to be polished, and online multiplayer is unfortunately missing, Solstice manages to translate the souls of games like Alien Breed and Helldivers into a challenging two-player or solo adventure.

Solstice Chronicles: MIA is a breath of fresh air in the twin-stick shooter genre. The threat system makes it feel like nothing else out there, transforming it from just another run-and-gun into something far more strategic and complex. It’s not a complete success, but it manages to add a satisfying amount of strategy without skimping on the action, which is a feat that I’m shocked no one has managed before. The ending promises a sequel, and I can only hope that the developers work the bugs out of their concept by then so that they can establish this as a whole new subgenre of the twin-stick shooter.

Solstice Chronicles may lack some of the charm that made the first game one of my favorites of 2015, but it still stands on its own two feet as a good game in its own right, held back once more by a weak narrative, weaker level designs, and a fear of throwing too much at the player at once. Please, throw more at me. Please.

Solstice Chronicles: MIA comes to the table with a compelling horde-onslaught management experience, solid technical and audiovisual fundamentals, and a passable story. What it might lack in graphical splendor it makes up for in raw, mechanical fun, and emergent desperation as you fight to stay one step ahead of the endless mutant tide. Bring a friend if you can, and buckle up, because it’s a hectic ride.

The coolest effects are the flashlights and the bullet tracing, but the awe stops there. The textures are rather bland, the levels don’t have all that much detail, and the characters animations, for the protagonist and enemies, are almost at a minimum. When you put all of it together, you’re left with something that’s just there, with decent visuals and not much else. The sound department doesn’t help either. The only redeeming quality if the voice and the interactions with the drone, but they are few and far in between.

If MIA were cheaper, or had more interesting art design, or tried to say or do something different than other games like it, or at least leaned a bit more into some of the silliness it gestures at (the dialogue has the occasional quip that indicates something the game could have been), then we’d have a something I could recommend buying. At its current state, it’s worth playing if you can get it for cheap. Go save Mars in another game.

A twin-stick shooter with good potential, but also afflicted by bugs and problems.

It’s well polished and offers moments of great fun, especially in co-op, but as a single player experience the game is slow and starts to drag quite quickly. In some aspects it feels rough and unfinished. As it stands, if you have a friend to play Solstice with, you’re likely to enjoy your time with it - but if you’re going to attempt the game solo, then maybe wait for a sale.

Solstice Chronicles M.I.A is a competent shooter, with its dynamic threat level leading to tense, frightening moments. The constant dread forces an engaging and tactical risk vs reward style of play - but the often awkward controls and derivative story let it down.

Solstice Chronicles: MIA is an enjoyable experience. Most of the gameplay is engaging, and when you’re using all its mechanics and systems as intended, it’s fun and gels well.