Soldner-X flies again on PSN

by JC Fletcher { Sep 14th 2009 at 10:08AM }

Eastasiasoft, the publishing branch of import retailer Play-Asia, released its first PC game in late 2007, a horizontal shooter called Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer. It came out on PSN a year later. The company has just announced its second game, this time exclusively for the PS3's PlayStation Network: Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype. Unfortunately, the lack of a PC version means no huge limited edition box!

The Sidequest Studios-developed shooter is expected out this winter, but then the PSN version of the first game missed its original release date by a year. If you're really in the mood to punish yourself with a shmup, may we suggest the downloadable PS1 classic R-Types in the meantime?

Gallery: Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype (PS3)

Tags: eastasiasoft, psn, shmup, shooter, sidequest-studios, soldner-x, soldner-x-2

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

LegendaryRedass @ Sep 14th 2009 10:24AM

While it's not a traditional shmup, I think stardust is alright.

acefondu @ Sep 14th 2009 10:24AM

This game is so hard! And not in the fun way hard either, hard in the "you're going to get hit no matter what you do" hard.

FD @ Sep 14th 2009 10:58AM

I agree that when it was first released on PSN it was way too hard, even on the easiest setting.

But have you updated the game yet to version 1.10? I think they made it a lot easier and introduced the "Beginner" difficulty mode. This makes it a lot easier to play and a lot more fun.

I'm not the best gamer but i managed to finish the game yesterday without too much trouble.

PN04 @ Sep 14th 2009 11:06AM

I totally agree, the game was ridiculously hard for a 10 dollar game. The hit detection box for the ship was massive so you'd get hit in dozens of cheap ways. You could get trapped in the back ground due to a poorly planned spawn animation. Back ground elements were either too large or too indistinct to be able to avoid while simultaneously avoiding super fast moving enemies with a large clunky tub of a spaceship with largely ineffective weapons.

In short it was a "Pretty" but HORRIBLY DESIGNED GAME for the amount of time it took to develop. and the "Developers" (term I use very loosely for them) were amazingly arrogant towards anyone that said so on their forums. They pretended to listen to comments and critiques only to tell people "No, we wont change anything." Their ultimate response thousands of complaints was to tell people to just play it on easy and make an easier difficulty level thus alienating anyone that considered themselves an average gamer. As a result this second game can kiss my ass as I wouldn't buy their products again even with a gun to my head.

If ever there was an argument against Digital download it would be THIS game's predecessor. I bought it and there's no way to get rid of it or make any money off of a product that I dont want anymore. It's wasted money.

eNrique @ Sep 14th 2009 12:01PM

The game is awesome, it just needs practice, don't be such a pussy.

acefondu @ Sep 14th 2009 1:02PM

Yes because trying to enjoy a broken game makes me a pussy.

futurebiblehero @ Sep 14th 2009 3:40PM

Gotta second the sentiment that Soldner X is cheap and/or broken in it's difficulty. Just about 98% of Soldner X's difficulty is due to bad design; it's like an entire game of the last few levels of Ninja Gaiden on the NES.

MOST Shmup fans feel the same way about Soldner X. Defending this game merely because it's difficult often says you're overcompensating rather than actually familiar with the genre. Yes, the best Shmups out there are hard-as-balls, but Soldner X belongs nowhere near that list.

Matt @ Sep 14th 2009 5:03PM

Honestly considering that Soldner X actually gave you a health bar rather than Hit points, and you have the ability to change the difficulty level I don't think it was too hard. And regarding the price I think it was well matched. I would rather pay for a game at $10 that would challenge me and keep me play rather than a $10 game I blew through in the weekend.

Let alone the ability to play co-op was also another great feature. My firends and I loved playing this game with two ships blasting all over the maps. That being said, I agree with futurebiblehero by saying that the majority of shmups out there are hard. And in my opinion R-type for the Snes killed me everytime I tried to play that game, considering it took only one hit to kill you, and you only have 3 lives.

Overall, I thought Soldner X was a great game, and I can't wait for the second one.

CrashSpyro123 @ Sep 14th 2009 7:38PM

It's hard, but not too hard. I can reach the final level fairly easily now that I got the mechanics down pat, so I could work on higher difficulties or going for trophies.

Levi @ Sep 14th 2009 11:04PM

Kind of replying to others, but started my own comment to be notified of replies:

the game really isn't that hard compared to the shump world. I was playing it on Hard mode on accident, and when I finally reverted back to Normal, I got to the last level 2nd try. If you aren't a regular shumpper though, of course it's hard. Even veteran shumppers don't beat that many of them. Buy R-Types, give yourself the same amount of credits as you would get in Soldner-X, and see how long you can last. Guarantee you won't last long. Soldner-X is easier.

As far as the complaints from the shump world, they are stupid complaints for the most part. The shmup community are the most purist elitist gamers in all of gaming. This game got shunned for two reasons mostly: the health bar and the "underpowered weapons." They don't like health bars, because they are elitist. The underpowered weapon complaint is kind of ridiculous in my opinion. There are tons of enemies, and the weapons don't kill enemies in one hit oftentimes, which is non-traditional, but WHO THE FUCK CARES if it's non-traditional? ONLY HARDCORE SHUMPPERS, who are elitist as hell. For a normal gamer, it's OK. Like UN Squadron; I friggin' love that game. It has a health bar and level select. It's not R-Type, but it's a fantastic game.

I liked this game a lot. It's not perfect, but it's far from the terrible game that the shmup community makes it out to be. I can see why a normal PSN customer / shump beginner would find it too hard to enjoy though.

Levi @ Sep 14th 2009 11:04PM

...or I didn't start my own comment. What a fail!

freechain @ Sep 14th 2009 10:34AM

I finished the first 2 levels of Himmelsstürmer and have never played the game since. Not that i didnt enjoy it other games just had more happy happy joy joy to em. But ill still get this version and maybe only play one/two levels again. I cant wait for Gran Turismo, Uncharted and God of War.

Mr_Ahh @ Sep 14th 2009 10:36AM

first one frustrated me until I just deleted it off my drive

Jerk Face @ Sep 14th 2009 10:41AM

Might I recommend Ikaruga - the game so difficult that beating it will instantly absolve you of all sins.

killdash9 @ Sep 14th 2009 10:45AM

We may suggest R-Type Delta as well, also available as a PS1 Classic in the PSN Store. Astro Tripper is another side-scrolling shooter in the Store, though a bidirectional one like Defender. If vertical scrolling is more your thing, there's 1942: Joint Strike and the PS1 "Classic" Mobile Light Force, which is a cut-up localization of Gunbird.

I bought both the PS3 and PC versions of Söldner-X, though the latter was only to get the information guide and soundtrack (and it was cheap). I think the game is okay, though I wish the main guns weren't so weak. Sadly, I'm rather terrible at playing the game, though I've managed to beat it (on Easy, maybe also Normal) thanks to earning credits.

PN04 @ Sep 14th 2009 11:16AM

Dont let the game foul you, it IS excessively difficult, not just because of the weak weapons but also because of the lack of clarity in showing a hit response that you're actually hitting enemies. When you're in the mine level dodging background cranes, trying to avoid heat seeking missiles, maneuvering tight spaces with a ship that can get caught on EVERYTHING... AND THEN THEY THROW BOULDERS AT YOU? that's just badly designed. Cheap deaths, respawn deaths (which by the way they claimed was a FEATURE of the game to make it more challenging) tell me they have no idea what a balanced game is.

Levi @ Sep 14th 2009 11:07PM

The game's major flaw is Gradius syndrome. If you don't die and get as many chains as possible, you'll blast through the enemies and boulders in level 2 with a good 3 or 4 way multishot and no problem. The boss is the most unfair part of that level, unless I'm just missing something. I've never beaten him without dying.

hatchimatchi @ Sep 14th 2009 10:57AM

the first game rules. I'm really excited for this. It is a bit hard but i don't think it's as bad as everyone makes it out to be. There's about 6 difficulty levels and 3 of them are variations of easy. Also the more time you put into playing the game it unlocks more continues and lives for you to start with. Beautiful graphics, solid gameplay, excellent soundtrack. Overall it's a great game, i'll definitely be buying the sequel.

FD @ Sep 14th 2009 11:19AM

Although the first game had a lot some design flaws and is kinda hard to play I still like it a lot and i'm also excited about this sequel. I hope they fixed many of the issues that people complained about. I still might give it another shot then. But first i will wait till i read some reviews instead of jumping on it right at launch like I did the first time.

Maulok @ Sep 14th 2009 10:51AM

This is the first PSN game to release a direct sequel. That's probably noteworthy.

Maulok @ Sep 14th 2009 10:51AM

Unless I'm forgetting something, that is...

Tim Parsons @ Sep 14th 2009 12:04PM

Though the first wasn't a PSN exclusive game it came to PC first so that doesnt count at all.

Maulok @ Sep 14th 2009 12:20PM

Excellent point, TP.

Darlaten @ Sep 14th 2009 11:06AM

Given the poor gameplay of the first game, I will be staying away from this one. Any game that respawns you in a wall or respawns you in a section that you can't fly through is simply poor game design. What's worse, is that you have to sit there waiting for all your ships to "die" as you can't do anything else. Bad Game. Bad Design. And certainly not worth a giving a second chance to a sequel.

FD @ Sep 14th 2009 11:13AM

The moment you respawn you get about a second of invincibility. This will allow you to quickly move your ship into an open space to prevent it from getting stuck in the background. But yeah i agree it's ridiculous how sometimes you get stuck inside a rock or wall and can barely recover from it and lose a life because of that. Very frustrating.

Kodros @ Sep 14th 2009 2:11PM

I'm sorry, but respawning in a wall is inexcusable. There are plenty of better ways to fix that. A very shortly timed invincibility is the laziest and least effective way.

Levi @ Sep 14th 2009 11:09PM

There's nothing inexcusable about it - the game TELLS you to avoid spawning in a wall - you steer your ship as you enter the screen. It's your own fault if you spawn in a wall in Soldner-X.

Kodros @ Sep 21st 2009 9:48PM

"It's your own fault if you spawn in a wall in Soldner-X"

Spawning in a wall is a design/coding failure. It's never the fault of the player. How is the game telling you to not spawn in a wall while at the same time, it's placing you in a wall?

Mike @ Sep 14th 2009 12:04PM

I found it really hard, in fact the I thought it was hardest game I owned. I never got past the second level.
The best I ever did was get to level 2 without dying and then when I did it spawned me in a bit of background I couldn't get out of and just lost all my lives one after another and there was nothing I could do.
I never played it again after that.

Tim Parsons @ Sep 14th 2009 12:05PM

First game was great. Can't wait for this

RagingStormX @ Sep 14th 2009 5:28PM

Yeah it is...I still have two silver trohpies left to get 100% on the first one. But beating the game on Hard and Impossible is nigh on impossible lol. And credits don't mean shit if you don't have alot of weapon upgrades in the latter stages.

Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ Sep 14th 2009 8:06PM

Yeah in that asteroid field on level 3 (or is it 4) you either have good weapons or die, simple as that. I loved the first one too and will definitely be buying this. I wish there were more horizontal shmups on PSN, a remake of "Lifeforce" would be awesome!

FeaturePreacher @ Sep 14th 2009 12:10PM

Did this game ever get a patch for custom soundtrax?

Tez @ Sep 14th 2009 12:39PM

The first one sucked. People should just buy R-Type Delta off the store.

FD @ Sep 14th 2009 4:14PM

I have R-Type Delta too and it's a cool game, but i think it's almost more difficult than Söldner-X because you can't play it with the analog sticks on the PS3. I think moving your ship around with the d-pad is pretty tricky. I at least enjoyed R-Type more on the PSP where you can remap the movement controls to the analog nub. So weird that the PS3 won't let you do that too (unless i overlooked something).