Video Game Review - Endurance - Space Action

Rob Lake reviews Endurance - Space Action on Xbox One...

Developed by solo developer Ivan Pansenko and published by EpiXR Games  Endurance - Space Action is a pixel-art top-down shooter mixed with an RPG/Rogue-Lite element.

Endurance - Space Action is the sequel/prequel to Pansenko's previous game - Ailment. Regretfully I've neither heard of nor played Ailment so I can't compare, but after playing Endurance, Ailment is next on my list. 

The story takes place on a space-based laboratory spaceship. The game opens with a montage of the abandoned ship, with a message stating that the entire crew are dead. You're then taken back to disaster day-3 to experience what caused the deaths of the crew. You take control of a character named Sam who's caught up in all what's going on onboard the sprawling spacecraft. To begin with, you can select from various versions of Sam, which range from cosmetic looks to various stats. Once you've settled on a look, it's then down to business within Sam's laboratory. It's all business as normal until something rocks the ship and a few of Sam's fellow scientists decide to beat a few of the others to death. Sam is then given various objectives to work out what's going on and to try and get help. 

When you first take control of Sam, you're given a very basic tutorial, which is shown via an onscreen pop-up. This gives you a brief overview of how to control Sam, as well as how to access both the shop and your stats. In terms of controls is incredibly basic, and is very much like every other twin-stick shooter on the market. You control movement with the left analogue stick and aim with the right. 

When it comes to combat, enemies are highlighted in red, whilst those unaffected by whatever is going on have a blue highlight. NPC's also fight each other and it's perfectly feasible to let the reds and blues fight it out until you come in to mop up any reds that are left.  Whilst Sam starts his or her adventure armed with only their fists before too long you're given access to quite a variety of weapons. These weapons can also be upgraded through various power-up and that litter the ships lockers and chests. 

With each kill, you receive credits that can be used to upgrade your stats. These stats range from overall health and speed, to shield capacity and regeneration. One of the unique perks is trap detection, which I highly recommend putting some points into early on. Throughout Endurance the traps we discover a near-invisible, and without a degree of trap detection skill, they'll remain silently in the dark waiting for Sam to trigger them. Each stat is represented by a %. My chosen Sam started with a respectable 80% to his health, but this was sacrificed in both his speed, regeneration and trap detection. Throughout your journey in Endurance, you're able to upgrade your character in whatever way you please and you're not penalised for pumping everything into one skill - just don't expect an easy time.

Enemies are varied and there's plenty of shoots. Occasionally you'll encounter a "boss" character who's often equipped with a hard-hitting long-ranged weapon, and they can take a tonne of damage before dying. If death does come for you, you're given two lives before your forced to start the level again. On occasion, this can seem a little bit unfair, but if your slow and steady and have a bit of skill you shouldn't too many problems. The game also has three difficultly levels if things get too easy or too hard. 

The visual representation is very good and is reminiscent of Alien Breed mixed with Terraria. The 16-bit ascetic is straight out of the '90s, but with that added modern touch, such as higher resolution. Ivan Pansenko also gives us a very generous playspace as the camera angle is just right. It zoomed in enough to give you a claustrophobic feel, but it doesn't cut you completely off from your surroundings. The only real issues I have with Endurance is that Sam only faces left or right, and that aiming moves the gun around on its circular axis. However, even with this, both movement and aiming are responsive and it's very easy to move and shoot - something which you need to employ throughout. 

Considering that Endurance - Space Action has been developed by one person, it's a very good game. It's not perfect and gameplay can feel a little repetitive at times, but Ivan Pansenko has done a brilliant job. Both the gameplay and visuals work great together to make Endurance that hidden gem. While its simplicity won't appeal to everyone, fans of top-down shooters or even sci-fi fans shouldn't rest on this one.

Rating: 8/10

A review code was kindly provided for this review.

Endurance: Space Action is out now for Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and Android.

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev