Last Breath: Overwhelmed - Video Game Review

Last Breath: Overwhelmed is a flash animation action shooter created by Newgrounds.com user Joelasticot, with song tracks by Newgrounds.com user Hopeku. Track titles include: Hopeku - Friendly space, Hopeku - O2, Hopeku - Starpest, and Hopeku - Quantum. This flash-based game was submitted to Newgrounds.com on January 25, 2010 and won a Daily 2nd Place award on January 26, 2010.

Game Background

An alien fleet has invaded your planet. Faced with heavy artillery, your race must try to escape the solar system. To buy some time for your people, you must fend off the alien invaders.

Gameplay

The objective of Last Breath : Overwhelmed is to defeat all incoming enemies. Like the classic Space Invader game, your ship starts out at the bottom of the screen, and enemies will approach you from the top of the screen. Enemies will move down towards you until they pass you. Shoot down as many enemies as you can. Also, dodge enemies and enemy bullets to avoid taking damage. However, if your shield does take damage, it will automatically regenerate itself over time.

At your disposal are your primary blaster guns as well as homing missiles that fire automatically at a set rate. The reload time for missiles, as well as other upgrades, can be improved at the Workshop.

Enemies are generally protected by a shield that must be destroyed before the actual ship can be damaged. However, just like your own shield, the enemies' shields can also regenerate. Shooting down enemies will get you money. Shooting down enemies quicker will earn you more money.

Some enemies drop items that can be collected using your tractor beam, which can be activated by pressing Shift.

Last Breath : Overwhelmed includes a variety of upgrades for your ship. Upgrades can be purchased at the Workshop. You can upgrade your Blaster, Missiles, and/or Ship.

Blaster
-Power: increases damage of blaster's bullets
-Fire Rate: improves fire rate of blaster
-Extra Gun: increases number of cannons for your ship

Missiles
-Damage: increases damage of ship's missiles
-Reload Time: improves reload time of missiles

Ship
-Shield Power: improves shield resistance and regeneration time
-Hull Resistance: improves hull's durability
-Engine: increases acceleration and maximum speed

Each upgrade has a number of levels that it can be upgraded.

While in the Workshop, you can toggle what type of enemies your missiles will target. You can also reset all upgrades and get a full refund.

Last Breath : Overwhelmed also includes a good deal of unlockables that can be unlocked by completing certain game objectives.

Game Controls

Ship movement keys are customizable.
Fire by holding down the mouse click or spacebar.
Press Shift to use the tractor beam to pick up dropped items or enemy ship parts

Game Review

Last Breath : Overwhelmed is a highly addicting action shooter that offers a great amount of entertainment as well as replay value. What separates it from other vertical flight shooters is the number of upgrade options available. The number of options are not too many that it becomes daunting but are varied enough to keep players interested in playing. The many levels and various unlockable features also keep players interested. What adds to the game's replay value is the fact that you can reset upgrades and then allocate cash to upgrade different aspects of your ship, giving you a slightly different gaming experience each time you change your upgrade chocies. Allowing users to change game controls is also a nice touch to the game, as it adds a more personalized experience. Also, the music fits very well with the game.

Last Breath : Overwhelmed scores a 10/10 for its high level of entertainment and replay value.