Preview – Galactic Glitch [Early Access] PC
FINALLY, IT’S FIXED! I had a bit of a tussle with Galactic Glitch’s release into Early Access last month. Due to some now resolved issue, I kept getting locked out of progressing through the ever-increasing levels of difficulty the narrative takes you through. I felt like this dampened my experience significantly and didn’t really give me a fair view of the true progression of the title, so I held off my preview until I was able to try the real thing. And it was so worth it. After loving Minishoot’ Adventures, an open-world twin-stick shooter that I reviewed a few months back, I’ve been itching for more fast-paced bullet-hell adrenaline. Galactic Glitch delivers. Not only does it have the smooth, slidey drifting that makes twin-sticks so fun to control but the ability to throw around pieces of the environment (and smaller enemies!) is like a cheat code for endless satisfaction. There’s just something about the ebb and flow of combat in this genre that’s so gripping. Weaving between torrents of enemy attacks, dipping in for some big damage with your charged super shot just to make a quick getaway-dodge through a laser; grabbing a mine as you do and launching it backwards into a pack of foes before you ease off and to reposition and evaluate. A true sense of action.
Plus, due to its roguelite nature, it also presents a healthy dash of challenge that I find myself always on the hunt for. Especially so as you complete runs and step up through the more advanced trials. Less healing, more damage taken, crazy team-ups of enemy types introduced earlier than usual and thrown together to test your knowledge of their patterns. Of course that also means per-run upgrades, diverging paths, and a skill tree to permanently reward you with a little boost or even perhaps a new weapon after every attempt. As you make your way through each of the ‘bubble’ rooms, encountering either a fight, goodies, or both, you’ll be collecting power-ups and the scrap necessary to purchase more power-ups between levels, or in the occasional shop that also always has a spot of healing on hand if you’ve got the cash.
These items come come both in the form of stat boosts and passive abilities, such as being able to throw larger objects; dealing backstab (don’t even start) damage even when hitting enemies side-on; or getting a little helper drone that almost always ends up being immediately rocketed into a monster’s face upon entering an arena due to its proximity to my death zone. That may make simple increases to damage output and speed sound boring in comparison but every one of these also comes with material to upgrade your cobbled together arsenal, so you can haphazardly friendly-fire your (now slightly stronger) ally bot into the nearest threat mere seconds after it bursts into existence.
Three stages, each with a mini-boss of their own at the end, then a boss, two more stages with tougher brawls punctuated by a toughy with their own life bar, and then the final boss. That’s what it takes to succeed. Also note that the first stage has two separate exits that lead to slightly different second and third zones, presenting an alternate route with different enemy types and hazards. However, the bosses never change so it can quickly get stale to play through. And due to the amount of things you can find each go round, the abilities soon feel similar. Therein lies my only complaint. I need more. More enemies, more weapons, more areas, routes, secrets, bosses, events, and upgrades. Everything!
When I was first sent Galactic Glitch I was under the impression it was to be a review of a full game – version 1.0 and so I was obviously disappointed. It had a great foundation for something excellent but it simply needed more time to be expanded upon – explored further. It was a perfect example of an Early Access title, I thought. Well imagine my delight to find out that’s exactly what I was playing. A mechanically sound, fun, and addicting little title that still has so much more to come. I even found myself jumping on for a quick go when I knew I wouldn’t be able to get any further and would eventually lose my save file, something I’m not one to do. In fact, I’ve even found myself playing beyond that, much past what I needed for this preview which is something I really don’t like to do with unreleased games as I’d rather not spoil myself the final version. Seriously high praise that I gravitated back when I’m usually so good at holding off. Simply put, what we have here is a dense neutron star of potential – infinite in the directions it can go. The starting point is spot-on, ready to be chiselled into an exhilarating and deep system but only time will tell where it ends up. I’m on my knees with my Steam Deck held high hoping that we’ll see it turned into a staple of both roguelites and twin-sticks because I’m dying for exactly that.