Schildmaid MX is the latest shoot ’em up from our prolific publishing pals Eastasiasoft and it comes to PSN a couple of years after its initial PC release. And this is quite an unusual take on the genre as while it does look like your standard low-budget horizontally-scrolling shooter, there are some interesting mechanics at play.
The set up is pretty standard. You’re the lone ship massively outnumbered by a foe but beyond that there isn’t a lot of plot on offer initially. The title (literally a translation of ‘Shield Maiden’) and the artwork (which features some sort of space Valkyrie and dragons) hint at all sorts of weirdness but once you get into the game, it’s all pretty standard space-y stuff. And who cares about plot anyway? Well, you do get a bit of a text dump of it when you finish the game but it’s all nonsense, so let’s get into the gameplay.
This is where Schildmaid MX gets weird. But in a good way. This is a shoot ’em up for sure but there’s a very strange mechanic involved here. Yeah, you can just play it as a normal shoot ’em up, dodging everything and blowing away enemies, but the best thing to do, somewhat unexpectedly, is to get hit.
When you get hit by a normal bullet, your shield will activate. At this point, the more bullets you eat, the stronger you’ll become. Eventually things will turn deadly, indicated by your shield and all the new bullets turning red, and you’ll need to start avoiding them but until then what hits you makes you stronger.
It’s weird and it shouldn’t work but it does. There are various bars and timers at play that clue you in to what you’re doing but you can ignore all that. If the bullet is purple, absorb it. Your shield will activate and is blue and any absorbable bullets will now be blue also. When you see red: stop.
Absorbing bullets levels you up too. Your ship will eventually max out at which point the bullets you want hitting you will be gold. And at this point it’s all a bit strange because you’ve gone from being the outgunned lone pilot into basically your enemies’ worst nightmare. An ultrapowered death craft that absorbs bullets and gets stronger. That’s like some sort of villain in a shitty Marvel movie!
That said, you can’t just be decimating fools in some sort of God Mode. Enemy missiles and lasers will take you out if you’re not careful, as will any environmental hazards. And with you pumping out insane amounts of firepower, you’ll need to study the screen constantly if you want a chance of avoiding any threats.
So does it work? Yeah, kind of. Okay, this does all make the game a bit easy (we 1CCed it on our second attempt) with only a couple of late bosses really offering up any resistance but there are harder modes on offer if you want the extra challenge (and unlike most Eastasiasoft titles, you’ll need to dabble with them to get the Platinum). So there’s a pretty good range of difficulties there, it’s just a shame the default one is too easy. That said, after playing R-Type Delta HD Boosted, we were happy to treat this one as some sort of palate cleanser.
The other disappointing thing about the game is that the level design is quite repetitive and uninspired. The same structures come by a few times and there’s no sense of journey or progression into the heart of the enemy. The devs describe the stages as ‘handcrafted’ but they feel under-designed for sure.
The good outweighs the bad though. The originality of the game really helps it to stand out in a sea of much more traditional shoot ’em ups and it’s a fun way to play. The risk vs. reward mechanics do mean that you’ll be playing on the edge of your seat for most of the time. Also, the visuals are suitably dramatic and exciting. Sure, they’ve got a pixelated retro look but this doesn’t feel like some old SNES game. And despite everything that is going on, the screen is pretty easy to read. The game is good at not just slamming you from behind with some sneaky bastard enemy (we’re looking at you R-Type).
As such we’re happy to recommend this. It’s one of the more interesting shoot ’em ups on PSN and is much more a test of reflexes and skill than it is a punishing memory exercise. And, for us, that’s what we want from this genre. Mass destruction, colourful visuals, plenty of action and the option to push the difficulty when we want more of a test. This is a sneaky hidden gem that definitely deserves a closer look from any shoot ’em up fans looking for something interesting to play.
+ Bright, confident visuals
+ Exciting action that doesn't rely too much on memory