The Shiner is a powerful guardian with a single objective: to obliterate the darkness that has recently begun encroaching upon the galaxy. Armed with magical light that allows you to push away foul mist and nasty creatures, you advance through a series of treacherous environments set on mostly barren planets, banishing all that is murky.
Glare is in many respects a conventional 2D platformer, meaning that you're called upon to perform many precise jumps. The unique hook in this case is your ability to cast a bright beam on enemies and the world around them, often while airborne. You must master that skill to thrive. At first, you use the dazzling beam to repel projectiles and push away the floating purple aliens and skittering nasties that crowd your space, but the beam's use soon grows beyond such basic utility. Shadowy plant life in the background is brought to the foreground when you shine light in the right spot, allowing the vegetation to propel you toward higher ground. Switches can also be activated, producing zip lines and other helpful means of navigation. Early on, you gain the ability to fire bullets, but you must often choose between illumination and firepower. In tough spots, controlling crowds of strange beasts means alternating. If you are being swarmed by gliding enemies that suddenly emerge from a portal, it's easy to become overwhelmed until you clear out a safe path.
It's always better to jump over this fellow than to face his charge.
At least the bosses keep things fresh. Most of them briefly turn the game into a twin-stick shooter along the lines of Geometry Wars. You float around an enclosed chamber, chipping away at the boss's armor so that its weak point appears and you can blast it. The foe at the end of each successive stage becomes more difficult than the previous one, but the process is never overly frustrating, and those encounters are a nice change of pace from the standard platforming segments that lead up to them.
Glare is satisfying as it goes--it just doesn't go far enough. There are only six stages in all, and the first and last ones can be cleared quickly, especially once you are familiar with them. The first five areas each contain hidden artifacts that lie well off the beaten path, but there's no obvious benefit to finding them, and you don't get to use abilities gained in later stages when you head back to early ones. Securing a better time isn't really motivation to return, unless you're the sort who particularly enjoys speed runs: there's no way to easily share your triumphs with friends or rivals.
Glare offers an inventive mechanic that could have given rise to a memorable adventure, but then fails to build meaningfully on that early promise. This is an entertaining pit stop that can tide you over on your journey to a bigger, brighter galaxy.
A Senran Kagura manga is headed to North America. Seven Seas Entertainment are publishing Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows starting this November, for $13 a volume.
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GameZone: "If I could only use one word to describe Halloween, it would be fun. Coincidentally, that's the exact same word I'd use to describe games from Suda51 and developer Grasshopper Manufacture. Over the years, the studio has showcased monsters, zombies, and all kinds of other ghouls. In Shadows of the Damned, however, Suda51 sends you straight to hell to find your lost girlfriend. It's not without its fair share of campiness, but isn't that pretty much a staple of Halloween?"
