maxlords
04-30-2005, 10:24 PM
Sleeper of the Week: Philosoma (PSX)
A longbox Playstation game! And one that’s actually good! Well, really there are several that are good and this is only one of them. Philosoma is a shooter, and one where shockingly, you’re repelling an alien armada virtually singlehandedly. Big surprise huh? Heck, by the time aliens actually invade the earth we’re gonna be so bloody good at fighting them off that the military will just say “Hey look…an alien armada. Send Mort out there and let him wipe em out.” You’ll be pleased to know that Philosoma is no exception, though you don’t play anyone named Mort thankfully.
Anyway, Philosoma is a pretty standard shooter. You start out flying down a corridor blasting ships left and right, flying vertically through the level. The music is decent. The graphics are ok, but nothing special. The enemies aren’t incredibly innovative. Then you beat the first level…
So now you’re wondering what happens right? Well, all of the sudden the game shifts from a vertical shooter to a trailing viewpoint similar to Starfox. I was actually so shocked the first time I saw this that I dropped my controller. I mean, who ever heard of a shmup that shifts perspectives? Then I beat another level…and the game was horizontal! This was an absolute revelation for me, as I had to suddenly shift strategies level by level! Horizontal, vertical, close in horizontal, reverse vertical (yes, flying down towards the bottom of the screen!), trailing. Philosoma has them all! And well executed as well! The control is nice and tight and the difficulty curve is just about right. It makes for a really interesting gaming experience.
Ultimately, Philosoma is a little bit of everything and nothing spectacular in any one area though. It’s literally an all around shooter, and the only game that even semi-reminds me of it is Awesome for the Amiga 500. There’s really nothing else like it. If you want a great shooter with some unique twists, grab this little gem and give it a try. I found my copy a few months ago in an EB for $14, mint complete, and it doesn’t sell for much on eBay either. Check it out!
My apologies but I actually can’t even FIND any screenshots online of this game other than the ones at this LINK (http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/playstation/philosoma.html). I was kind of surprised actually, and the ones I tried to take with my digital camera didn’t come out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/41bdd3e3.jpg
A longbox Playstation game! And one that’s actually good! Well, really there are several that are good and this is only one of them. Philosoma is a shooter, and one where shockingly, you’re repelling an alien armada virtually singlehandedly. Big surprise huh? Heck, by the time aliens actually invade the earth we’re gonna be so bloody good at fighting them off that the military will just say “Hey look…an alien armada. Send Mort out there and let him wipe em out.” You’ll be pleased to know that Philosoma is no exception, though you don’t play anyone named Mort thankfully.
Anyway, Philosoma is a pretty standard shooter. You start out flying down a corridor blasting ships left and right, flying vertically through the level. The music is decent. The graphics are ok, but nothing special. The enemies aren’t incredibly innovative. Then you beat the first level…
So now you’re wondering what happens right? Well, all of the sudden the game shifts from a vertical shooter to a trailing viewpoint similar to Starfox. I was actually so shocked the first time I saw this that I dropped my controller. I mean, who ever heard of a shmup that shifts perspectives? Then I beat another level…and the game was horizontal! This was an absolute revelation for me, as I had to suddenly shift strategies level by level! Horizontal, vertical, close in horizontal, reverse vertical (yes, flying down towards the bottom of the screen!), trailing. Philosoma has them all! And well executed as well! The control is nice and tight and the difficulty curve is just about right. It makes for a really interesting gaming experience.
Ultimately, Philosoma is a little bit of everything and nothing spectacular in any one area though. It’s literally an all around shooter, and the only game that even semi-reminds me of it is Awesome for the Amiga 500. There’s really nothing else like it. If you want a great shooter with some unique twists, grab this little gem and give it a try. I found my copy a few months ago in an EB for $14, mint complete, and it doesn’t sell for much on eBay either. Check it out!
My apologies but I actually can’t even FIND any screenshots online of this game other than the ones at this LINK (http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/final_word/playstation/philosoma.html). I was kind of surprised actually, and the ones I tried to take with my digital camera didn’t come out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/41bdd3e3.jpg