Game Reviews

Star Troll

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Star Troll

Star Troll has an arcade heart. It's a one-try, one-finger shooter that sees you weaving through retro obstacles in an open top spaceship.

But that heart is decidedly cruel, and for your first few tries you won't even make it to the boss that punctuates the end of each level.

And for some that's going to be a massive put-off. But if you're willing to put in the practice, there's a reasonably entertaining intergalactic outing to be found here.

Laser fried

You play the titular troll, who's bobbing through space in a small ship. You control everything with a single finger, swiping it around to move around and fire.

The waves are maze-like in their construction. Red asteroids can be destroyed but blue ones can't, so you need to clear yourself a path to avoid collisions.

There are enemies as well. These are a mixed bag, ranging from simple yellow blobs that can be blasted or dodged, to angry balls of fire that charge at you.

Others blast out lasers or bullets, or explode if you get too close to them. You need to learn their patterns if you want to master the game.

One more coin?

And this is very much a game of mastery.You can take three hits, but when things get busy on the screen it's very easy to succumb in a matter of seconds.

It makes for a challenging, decidedly unforgiving experience. It's likely that plenty of people will simply give up after a few tries, frustrated by a lack of progress and the repetitive nature of the first level.

Those who put some time in will find the game opens up a little after those early skirmishes, although there's nothing particularly groundbreaking in its waves of space invaders and floating rocks.

There's fun to be had with Star Troll, but it feels like the bones of an experience more than a fully fledged shooter. If you do give up, you're not really missing out on anything save bragging rights.

Star Troll

A reasonably well put together blaster with a cold heart, Star Troll is reasonably rewarding if you're willing to put in some work
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.