Curved Space Reviews
I like playing Curved Space, but I found it most enjoyable when played in fairly short bursts. The ideas and the gameplay are both good, but the level design runs counter to the fast-paced gameplay when you simply can't find an enemy. The music slaps though, so that's a nice touch if you do find yourself enamoured with the strange mix of impossible spaces and bug shooting.
Curved Space is described as arcade-style anyways, so I don’t understand why the devs thought the story was needed at all. If they focused on polishing a mode that players can have some mindless fun, Curved Space could be leaps and bounds better. There’s a reason why rogue-lites have been finding so much success in the indie sphere: gameplay-first designs that just feel nice to play.
In a genre where many feel that they've seen it all, Curved Space succeeds in providing something new. The titular curves may not be a huge innovation, but the game borrows enough from its procedural cousins to make its shooting feel refreshing. Curved Space likely isn't going to win over anyone who prefers something more than a high score chase, but anyone cruising a list of ROMs more than a digital storefront will probably want to give this one a look.
All in all, I came away impressed with this game, will it make me a convert to ‘bullet hell’ types? No, but it will be a nice change of pace between some of my other games. If you are just looking for some frantic, twin stick action that will test your reflexes as well as your resolve then look no further than the beautiful landscapes and twisty levels of Curved Space.
Curved Space isn't quite what I thought it would be when it comes to twin-stick shooters, but that's not saying it's bad by any means. The concepts are interesting, flying around and shooting down enemies while on planets that can loop themselves inside-out. However the boss fights can be downright tedious and it's not fun getting bounced around all over the place when getting shot and hit by enemies. The Survival Mode is where I spent most of my time as it felt the closest to a twin-stick arcade-like experience. If you like space shooters you might want to give Curved Space a shot. But for those wanting a more traditional twin-stick shooter experience, you might be a bit disappointed.
Despite its strong first impressions, Curved Space lacks the true variety to stand out in the crowd. You will find plenty to enjoy over the span of its brief runtime, but it isn't substantial enough to warrant a replay. Only diehard genre fans need apply.
Curved Space is a noble attempt at a twist in the twin-stick shooter genre, yet it never reaches the highs of several other predecessors, with a synthwave soundtrack doing more to get the blood pumping than the slow gameplay and bland objectives.
Is Curved Space more The Sixth Sense (a drum-tight, show-stopping thriller), or closer to The Happening (a meandering jumble of half-finished ideas)? The answer lies somewhere in the middle.
If you’re a huge fan of twin-stick space shooters, Curved Space will do enough to hold your attention for a while. Its unique features don’t amount to much, however, leaving you with a rather mundane entry into an already crowded genre. Simply put, there are much better arcade shooters out there to spend your time and money on.
Curved Space is a fun modern take on the twin stick shooter genre but doesn’t offer many new advances that players might expect in this day and age of video games.
A fantastic looking game with a banging soundtrack, but not one that will keep you occupied for too long. Gameplay is far from bad, but it's not up to the same standard as the graphics and audio sadly. Curved Space is a slickly presented but sadly average title.
If your idea of fun is flicking your boogers on the wall to see which ones stick, you probably won't enjoy Curved Space. However, those who simply want some old-school action in a roguelike setup will surely appreciate what it has to offer.
Taking familiar gameplay and changing things up to take some risks has always been a core component of my love for indie titles...
Curved Space tries new things in the twin-stick genre. I appreciate the attempt, but most of those new things don’t work out. Playing it is often uncomfortable, and too many of its weapons are duds. At times the fast-paced shooting can be enjoyable, but even that is too often broken up by pacing issues. I’m all for destroying spiders, but I’d rather do so without feeling sick to my stomach.
The game has many new viewpoints and camera movement compared to any other conventional video games. While it’s cool, it also serves as a health risk to some. While the idea is fresh off the imagination, considerations may be lost due to the fun and excitement of creativity. While some of the dialogues seem a bit ‘last second’, they fail to deliver the sincerity as it was difficult to feel any emotions from the characters. While I understand the intentions of putting life into new ideas and creations, all the energy from the excitement of the development may transition into exhaustion from the players.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Curved Space is a decent twin stick shooter which has a variety of weapons, striking level backdrops, satisfying upgrade systems and a cool leash mechanic. Sadly, it’s significantly let down by repetitive objectives, technical issues and level design which is aesthetically, but not practically, interesting. While not a bad game by any means, Curved Space sadly fails to capitalise on its promise despite its solid offering of modes.
As it stands, Curved Space is a pretty good arcade shooter that manages to stand out even though it suffers from an annoying amount of feature creep.
Curved Space may look like a one-trick pony with a simple gimmick, but it's actually a very engaging twin-stick shooter teeming with good ideas and fun combat encounters.
Curved Space is a slick sci-fi shooter that is a lot of fun to play, but that lacks that special *something* to keep players coming back for the long-term. It’s not that anything is bad in the game at all, because I really had a good time blasting through the campaign. I just wasn’t all that interested in spending too much time chasing scores afterwards. Still, there’s no doubting that it’s a really enjoyable game, whilst the vibrant presentation and clever anti-gravity traversal gives it a unique identity. It will just probably appeal the most to those who like to spend hours chasing high scores and seeing their names light up the leaderboards.