Booster Trooper Review

Indie-made Booster Trooper brings the old fast-paced platform shooter back. Remember the first time you played a multi-player shooter that was so fast-paced you could hardly grasp what was going on, but you were nonetheless having a great time?

Booster Trooper reminds us a little bit of that situation, except that here you eventually realize that you actually CAN get a grasp on what is going on. By providing a mix of guns to choose from (including the shotgun, the sniper and the rocket launcher) you can pick your own style and preferences. In my case, that’s the shotgun. All the guns have different impacts. The shotgun kills instantly from close-up, the mini gun shoots fast bursts but with little accuracy. Weapon choice makes a difference in Booster Trooper: some maps are just more suitable for up-close combat and other facilitate the use of a sniper rifle.

Jetpacks and Rocket Launchers. Need I say more?

The jet-pack adds extra fun to the mix. Dodging enemies has never been so stylish; and neither has shooting rockets. Hitting a bot (or a human player) in the face with a missile is even harder when jet-packing, but more satisfying when you succeed. The jet-pack adds tremendous speed to the game, which can either leave you dead in a second or help you pull off a massive killing spree within those same seconds.

Booster Trooper surprised us with its simplicity. It provides basic weapons, maps and game play elements, but the combination lift it to a game that is what a game should be: fun. Whether you’re playing against bots or against human beings, a Booster Trooper round that lasts 15 minutes, flies by. The single-player is entertaining and the multi-player promises even more fun; if it weren’t, unfortunately, so deserted. Maybe everybody is so caught up with fragging bots in the single-player, that they forget there’s a multi-player, where I’m awaiting a human opponent. This was actually one of the few down-points to Booster Trooper; the lack of human presence. After several hours of manic single-playing, I could have done with some human opponents who could actually hear me yelling profanities. Opponents over 18, of course.

For the shooter-fan Booster Trooper is a must-have. Its low price (8,99€) and low threshold for newbies makes it a good buy. You don’t have to wait to play and you can just push in a short game-session in between serious studying, work, or anything else that is keeping you from gaming all day. Although equipped with simple graphics that don’t demand much from your pc, the game’s splatter-effects are rather hilarious and make a shotgun or (especially!) missile kill feel even better. Or at least look very definitive: there’s no doubt about your enemy being dead.

No doubt about it... he's a goner.

Indie-games are pushing their way into our homes more and more. The quality keeps growing, the games keep getting more original and they all abide to the #1 rule of games: they’re very much fun to play. Booster Trooper proudly portrays these characteristics and it’s tie-in with Steam adds the fun of achievements. Achievements include surviving one minute without dying, killing 10.000 enemies and surviving 15 matches without beings killed. Believe me: it’s harder than it seems. But once you start playing, you can’t help but wanting to unlock those achievements…

4/5