The breakout title from Snow Day Software, Hovership Havoc is a twin-stick arcade-style shooter with frantic action and rewarding gameplay. Playing almost like an arcade game, Hovership Havoc gets straight to the action every time.
In Hovership Havoc players will take control of one of four ships, each with its own type of gun, strengths and weaknesses. Immediately being thrown into the action, the goal is to defeat the boss at the end of each procedurally generated stage. After each success—or failure, players will be able to return to main menu with in-game currency to spend on upgrading their ships to get even further and conquer greater challenges.
Visually Hovership Havoc doesn’t disappoint with its smooth animations and a consistent sci-fi aesthetic. Players who make it to the boss fight at the end of the stage will get an even closer look. As rather than the top-down view of the stage, during boss fights players take control of the ship from a third-person view directly behind it. During this stage, whether it’s in an effort to make the view of the boss as unobstructed as possible some flat enemies are difficult to see. This can be a bit annoying when your ship gets rammed by semi-visible enemies, or worse semi-visible bullets.
As of right now only the first stage, the Research Lab, is playable in the demo. The music is catchy but doesn’t stand out. Or rather it doesn’t have a chance to with how hectic the fights are. The break in music between the stage in a boss fight is helpful in knowing when to shift gears mentally for the new perspective the boss fight puts the player in.
There’s no obvious story in the demo to make sense of, but with its arcade-style gameplay, Hovership Havoc doesn’t necessarily need one. Players will be enjoying zipping from room to room after clearing each wave of enemies. With its randomly generated rooms and frantic shooting, players can expect a challenge every time.
As of now, only one stage and one ship are useable in the demo. In the trailer however, players can see a wider variety of bosses and stages awaiting them with the full release. With more ships and more enemies on the way, Hovership Havoc will have a lot to offer players after an arcade experience.
Players interested in Hovership Havoc are able to add it to their wishlist it on Steam before it’s initial release, and the public demo is available on itch.io.