Drifting Lands is a hybrid shooter, RPG game in which you go from mission to mission, defeating enemies, collecting loot and then upgrading your ship between levels.
General Gameplay
The game at heart is a SHMUP (Shoot ‘em Ups) with a balance of collecting loot to improve your ships. You go from level to level shooting enemies’ ships out of the sky while collecting loot and credits to upgrade your ship.
Audio
In game audio is nicely done with a mild background music in the levels and a great soundtrack throughout the game. From lazer shots to the computer telling you that the ship is damaged, everything is done very well. The game does not have any spoken dialogue so there is nothing offensive in the in the game’s audio.
Visuals
Drifting Lands’ graphics are just plain gorgeous. The game does a great job in the graphics from the design of the ship, enemies, backgrounds and everything else. Even the in-between levels when you are back at your home base are done very cleanly and are easy to see. The game does not support a color-blind mode, but the game is so sharp in its presentation that it is not needed. After seeing similar games like this, there is no game that we have seen so far that can even hold a candle to the graphical presentation that Drifting Lands does. We would recommend a 22” inch or larger monitor to play the game, as it gives you more of the viewing of the game itself. In our playtest, we only noticed that when the game is played on a smaller monitor that it was harder to see the game’s graphics. The game does not contain any type of nudity, or anything offensive towards younger gamers, so parents can be assured that the game is very family friendly.
Controls
Now for our playtest, we used a gaming controller (Xbox One Controller wired to our PC) The controls were very tight and buttons were mapped very well for a shooter like this. Drifting Lands control scheme is just the left thumb sticks to move around the ship, the face buttons for your special, and the left trigger to shoot. As the game is a shooter it is designed around the controller to be easy to pick up and play the game. We did not however get a chance to try out a keyboard and mouse combo but from our play testing everyone in our gaming family liked using the controller better. (We will in a later date try to use a keyboard and mouse setup and will update the review to reflect this as such)
“What Drifting Lands does right is mix a great blend of a shooter and light RPG elements that make the game a whole lot of fun”
Delivery
For those who are in the market for a good shooter with replay ability then Drifting Lands is the game for you. As the market is saturated with good shooters out there, Drifting Lands stands out as a game that is more shooter as it is a loot collector. During out testing here, everyone – shooter fan or not – loved the game, how easy it was to pick up and play and the overall feel to it. Drifting Lands is one of those games that will keep you busy for hours and you will always see or do something new. It’s a must-have for any PC gamer.
Family Friendly
To ask if Drifting Lands is a family friendly game for our PC gamers out there is like asking if fish need water to survive! Drifting Lands is one of the best PC/Loot Shooters that we have came across in an long time. From how easy it is to pick up and play the game to how to balance your loadout to even the PC game specs to run the game, this is a must-have game for your digital library. What Drifting Lands did right was make the game so approachable to non-shooter fans that they themselves enjoyed the game! In our play testing, no one from our group had any issues with playing the game what so ever. The only concern was with few were how to upgrade their gear on their ship and some of the later levels but that was it. In the end, testers old and young alike loved this game. In our special needs gaming testing the only thing that we ran into was the fact that some of the testers got the controller buttons mixed up at first, but this was a minor thing and after a couple of levels, everyone got the hang of the game. While most gaming families play on the console, this is a PC game that you should have. We also saw with some of our gamers that are in school (at the time of this writing of the review) that this game was a great break from school work for our gamers to relax. Also parents, as the game does not have any foul language or graphic violence, this is an all-around family fun game.
Closing
Drifting Lands is a fun shooter for all to play and have fun, even in a very saturated PC shooter market, this game should not be passed up! A must have for any shooter or non-shooter gamer out there.
Be sure to listen to our podcast about our real thoughts on Drifting Lands!
