“…you may not like it, but you’re the bait.” – Ronotra Koss (Sine Mora Ex)
Images and gameplay for Sine Mora Ex are courtesy of THQ Nordic, and feature Odiumar as Ronotra Koss.
Sine Mora Ex was developed by Digital Reality, based in Budhapest, Hungary and Grasshopper Manufacture, based in Tokyo, Japan. Both of these studios have a number of games to their credit, including Shadows of the Damned. Sine Mora Ex is an upgrade to the original Sine Mora, that was developed for the last generation of gaming consoles. Sine Mora Ex is distributed by THQ Nordic for the Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows platforms.
The story behind Sine Mora Ex is a little tough to work out. Playing through as two separate anthropomorphic animal pilots, you can hear and see events in one timeline from the other, giving the sense that the two are happening simultaneously versus linearly. The end result is two separated story lines that are intertwined because they take place in the same, if slightly offset windows of time. Both, are set sometime after the Empire has nearly wiped out the Enkie race with a nuclear attack. One story line involves Ronotra Koss, a father bent on revenge against the Empire for the death of his son Argus. Argus was a pilot for the empire that flew in the nuclear attack on the Enkies, but was executed for refusing to drop his bomb. The second story line involves a group of resistance fighters that are also battling the Empire, employing guerrilla tactics. Making matters worse, it seems that some of the factions have time travel/manipulation technology at their disposal. In the end, I was never quite sure if one story line was affecting the other, or if the characters were working together or separately against the Empire. In the end, the whole thing made me feel like I had stepped into the movie theater in the middle of something important, and I never could quite get caught up.
Grab every power up you can find if you want to live.
Sine Mora Ex is a side scrolling shoot ‘em up game, similar to many others on the market. You play the part of a pilot, taking on the evil empire and their war machines. As is to be expected, if you want to stay alive, you’re going to have to bob and weave your way through every level, avoiding massive amounts of enemy fire. It’s also up to you to take out enemy pilots, turret emplacements, tanks and bosses. The action is smooth and very fast paced, with projectiles flying everywhere on the screen, even at normal difficulty. Oh, did I mention you have a time limit for each stage? Yeah, if you don’t finish fast enough, your plane/submarine explodes! Just as in other games of this genre, power ups and time extenders available for killing enemies. Quite often I was caught needing to enter a rather complex patter of enemy missiles to get a much needed extension. There are also a limited number of continues, if you use them all, you will return to the stage select screen to savor your frustration. Other modes of play include arcade, which dumps the story, boss practice, and challenge modes.
Enemies will come at you from every side…no where on the screen is safe.
The graphics for Sine Mora Ex are quite beautiful. Tough to do with a 2D game, but this title pulls it off quite well. The intro for each level, and some transitions throughout pull the action into the 3D realm, even if only for a cut scene. The water effects and landscapes are beautiful. Unexpectedly, there is also some impressive work in the boss battles, where enemy fire tends to create complex geometric patterns that are as beautiful as they are frustrating. My favorites were the “webs” that the spider boss uses, I just couldn’t find a single hole to get through. Music and sound effects are about what you would expect from a side scrolling shooter, not bad, but nothing special either. The voice action was pretty good. I especially enjoyed Ronotra Koss – he came across exactly as intended, a real cold-hearted bastard.
The achievements for Sine Mora Ex are an unfriendly bunch. Many of them have to be earned in a specific order, and each requires multiple requirements to unlock. If you’re a completionist, you’re likely going to be spending a good amount of time working on these. Currently, there is a 50% difference in the pricing between PC and console, with Steam coming up the winner at only $10, which is a more than fair price for this package. The Xbox and Playstation stores currently have the title at $20, which seems slightly high unless you’re really into this genre. Save your cash for a sale, then jump in and enjoy the carnage.
The post Sine Mora Ex – You’ll be lucky to make it through alive appeared first on PopNerdTV.