It’s always confusing when a series has the word Final in the title and yet isn’t necessarily “final”. Case in point – the Final Fight games and, of course, Final Fantasy.
But now we have R-Type Final added to the stack. Years after Irem released the original game, the series came roaring back with a successful Kickstarter campaign and a worthwhile sequel, R-Type Final 2, which continues to make waves with the “shmup” community. And now we have NIS’ R-Type Final 3: Evolved, though the title may be confusing.
R-Type Final 3 isn’t an entirely new game, but rather an enhanced version of R-Type Final 2. It has seven new levels, an enhanced visual engine that takes advantage of the PS3, and some other neat little features. But it could’ve easily been called R-Type Final 2+ and gotten away with it. Alas, the name isn’t the thing here – the shooting action is. And there’s more than enough of it to go around for fans. Not to mention that being able to upgrade from R-Type Final 2 for mostly no charge is a nice touch.
Shoot Shoot Shoot
As you might guess, R-Type Final 3 is all about bringing down the Bydo Empire with your ship. But you have a number of upgrades you can pick up along the way, even though the difficulty can get downright savage in some stages. (That seems to be the status quo for the series in general.)
That said, R-Type Final 3 plays beautifully. Dodging objects, obtaining power-ups and blasting unworldly enemies to kingdom come is still a great deal of fun, especially for fans of the genre. And it’s nice to play around with the different ships at hand, created by R-Type creator Kazumo Kujo himself.
What’s more, the game will have plenty of extras as time goes on. Along with the unlockable ships and the new branching levels, R-Type Final 3 also promises some new multiplayer modes. It’s unknown exactly how these will play out, but we’re expecting a competitive edge of some type.
In the meantime, you’ll have a lot to dig through, provided you can take the brutal content that’s dished out to you. Prepare for a challenge.
The Best Looking R-Type Yet By Default
Considering the game has arrived on PlayStation 5 and uses the latest Unreal Engine technology, you’d probably expect that R-Type Final 3 looks the best yet. I can easily say that this is the case.
Though some of the levels can be a bit on the murky side (that’s the usual look the series goes for), the visual details are refreshing at times. What’s more, the enemy and level designs are brutally imaginative; and it really moves at a nice, smooth clip, even as chaos explodes on-screen.
Granzella (taking over for Irem) also did a good job with the spacious audio within the game. Along with moody soundtrack selections, there are also top-notch sound effects that make the most out of the atmosphere. It’s also great to hear some of those classic weapon effects again.
A Must For R-Type Fans
While R-Type Final 3: Evolved can’t really be considered a revolution for the series (as it’s not really a full-blown sequel), it is more of what fans love, and you can’t argue with that. While the difficulty still spikes ridiculously, the game looks and sounds great, and plays like the fun nightmare that it is. Not to mention the new content, both present and upcoming, that will keep you busy.
If you’re a fan of the series – or the genre in general – consider this a must-add to your game library. If you’re a newbie, however, proceed with caution. This may not be R-Type of game for you.
