Just another day in the life of a laser shooting crow.
Twin-stick shoot’em-ups are the bread and butter of the indie gaming scene; coming in all shapes and sizes, standing out is a difficult task. A Quiver of Crows’ mix of twitch-based combat and novel art design, whilst original, at this point is just another featureless face in the crowd. Thankfully, being in alpha, this is the perfect time to discuss its shortcomings and address any issues at hand.
The setting and the theme is the most unique aspect of A Quiver of Crows and also its namesake. By controlling the flight of a crow and shooting bullets and lasers from its beak, you travel the land murdering demons and saving your bird pals. Each caged bird you save gets you one feather closer to opening the exit portal of the level.
As you progress, new bullet types and consumable special weapons are unlocked. If you are using a higher tier crow-laser and take damage, you will drop the upgrade and be relegated back to using the default bullets until you maneuver your way over and pick it up. A novel concept in of itself, however ends up being one of the most frustrating due the unpredictable enemy spawn patterns. As you move through the level enemies consistently spawn behind you, meaning you are constantly fighting a battle on all fronts. While I understand the need to keep the pressure and difficulty up, simply flooding the player with a deluge of insignificant enemies isn’t the answer. This is especially true when you consider that one of A Quiver of Crows listed features is “ragdoll physics.” What this actually means is that as you kill the onslaught of enemies, their dead bodies block your shots, cluttering up the combat, leading you to take damage and losing your firepower.
Another strong point for improvement is the movement. You are a crow, with wings, that should fly like a crow, with wings. Instead, although the movement is tight and accurate, there is no illusion of flight. Luftrausers, a very similar concept, excelled in creating a constant sense of momentum, battling with gravity to not only defeat enemies but just stay to in the air. There is a huge disconnect between gameplay and theme when your crow is flying backwards and smacking into walls, all without batting an eye.
Obstacles play a part in each level. More often than not they take the form of a pole dividing the enemy area. I believe the intention is to provide an element of strategy in taking on the scattered denizens, however with the previously mentioned spawn issue they offer little more than a road block to get stuck behind as you feverishly try to move through.
A Quiver of Crows definitely has its fair share of issues, but it has potential to be a great game. By tweaking the volume of enemies and trying to emulate flight, it would be a lot closer having a successful future.
