Parents' Guide to NeuroVoider

This is a grueling and fast-paced action title where, to truly experience it at its best, you must play with other people. Obviously, not every game could possibly include every feature, but the lack of online multiplayer guarantees you will be playing solo from time to time, and the game really isn't meant to be played that way. You're supposed to be outgunned in this game, but when you play alone, you get no backup at all and have to play much more defensively. This isn't a game that's meant to be played defensively, since it's clearly a hack-'n'-slash kind of action title. It's a different story with other players, but not everybody will be able to have up to three friends over (or a willing family) to help the experience be as varied as it possibly can be.

And that's just part of NeuroVoider's charm and minor frustrations. It's built around a simple premise: survive, Blast enemies, level up. But the game winds up being a tad too coy from time to time, especially between levels. You have up to three character classes you can choose from at the outset of any game (with strengths in offense, defense, and speed), but you can upgrade different parts of your chassis and weapon. You collect bolts and power-ups on each level, though how they're used to level up characters is unclear. For example, why can you sometimes upgrade an item if you have enough bolts, but other times you can't? When you upgrade a certain part of your chassis, will that truly be an upgrade or will it downgrade other elements or completely change your character class? In most cases, these things are unclear until after you've gone for it -- which is a surprise, since there seems to be some care in allowing players to comparison shop. There's just no information, so you frequently wind up flying blind in a game that requires at least a little bit of strategic thinking.