Sine Mora EX Xbox One Review

Sine Mora checks off a lot of 2D shooting conventions. It has power-ups, bombs, huge bosses, and on-rail levels with hordes of enemies attempting to shoot you down with colorful projectiles that come from every direction. It does attempt to set itself apart by removing health and lives with seconds of on a clock. The more you destroy the more time you have.

Sine Mora is a convention 2D shooter with a time mechanic. Instead of health or lives, players replenish time that gradually decreases until you kill enemies. This required me to feverishly hunt and destroy everything. In Sina Mora getting hit means losing your standard cannon's power-ups and a portion of your Time if the timer runs out its game over. The developers included sections such as a stealth level where you use a pile of trash to avoid detection.

Power-ups such as bombs, shielding, and your standard cannon are powered by collecting upgrades from killed enemies. The most useful ability comes in manipulating time. With this limited ability you can slow the action down to avoid damage but don't let this power fool you. This is a difficult game but you have choices. Unlike the story, players can choose their own ship and pilot who each have their own sub-attack. These flashy attacks range from powerful beams to massive explosions. 

The standard story isn't too challenging on normal but once you switch to the higher difficulties the game becomes much more intense. Those seeking glory who can take on the game's arcade will find an unforgivably challenging game that punishes hubris. 

The environments are diverse and offer a wide range of hostile battlefields. During specific sequences, the camera pans to give a 3D view of the entire map. These are beautifully designed levels, peppered with damaged terrain and hostile forces fighting one another for country and glory.

Sine Mora's story is much more complicated than other games within the genre. Featuring 2 pilots from different points of time, one pilot taking revenge for the execution of his son and the other a sole survivor looking for retribution. It becomes hard to follow at times but the Sine Mora offers multiple endings for those invested in the story. However, during most of the game, I was confused about what was exactly happening. 

The bosses are definitely the highlight of Sine Mora. Giant creatures with multiple tiers these end-stage enemies test your evading and offensive abilities. Each one is excellently designed with unique combat situations. Getting to the end to fight one of these behemoths was the best part of Sine Mora.

Sine Mora is everything you would expect from a 2D shooter. The time manipulation mechanics does add another layer of strategy and the giant bosses are exciting. It's a difficult game and the story is confusing but Sine Mora the challenging gameplay kept me hooked. It doesn't elevate the shoot-em-up games to new heights but what Sine Mora provides is an addition to the genre.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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