Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer

Soldner-X will challenge you with a large number of enemies and onscreen threats, but the significant number of power ups, coupled with deep gameplay thanks to the weapon and chain system will keep you coming back for more, especially when you start unlocking extras.

With Soldner-X Himmelsturmer, SideQuest Studios and Play-Asia have delivered a solid shmup that checks off all of the basic requirements, but if you simply need a shmup fix that takes advantage of your PS3, it really isn't a bad deal as long as your patience can hold it together.

Despite the challenge Söldner-X can be an extremely enjoyable and addictive shooter when all is said and done. The poor design decisions do certainly take away some of the luster from this game. However, even after throwing your controller in sheer frustration and disgust there is still enough here to keep gamers coming back for more (if only just as a pastime between playing more major titles).

In the end, your enjoyment of Söldner-X will lie solely on how fond you are of Shoot-em-ups. Those unfamiliar with side-scrolling shooters will be put off by the game’s difficulty while veterans may not experience anything new to make this game stand out from other similar titles.

Although it's always competent, Söldner-X rarely revels in its own arsenal, and the result is a game where shooting things never feels like a particularly big deal.

Soldner-X is not really a fun experience. The high difficulty settings and the occasional repetitiveness of the same levels only can raise the frustration in each time you play.

After a few hours the only thing keeping you coming back will be a furious determination to beat the sodding game, rather than actually approaching enjoyment. [Mar 2009, p.105]

It's never very exciting thanks to limp weapons, largely generic baddies (giant space-wasps excluded), and boring bosses. Great name, though. [Mar 2009, p.75]

For the price, and I stress that, Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer is an fun little side scrolling shoot-em-up. It's not quite in the same league as Konami, Treasure or Cave shooters or the like, though it has it's place. 2D side scrolling shooters are sort of a lost art these days, so it is nice to have a new game in the genre, and a flashy high definition one at that.