With a bizarre title like
Einhander and being developed by newcomers to the
shoot 'em up genre Square, I was very curious
about this game and wanted to
play it for some time. I finally got my chance a
few days ago and I'd like to say
that it is a high-calibre title and I thoroughly
enjoy playing it.
Reviewed by Basi
  
THE
ARM
The word
Einhander, for those not good with their
German, means 'one-arm'. The game is
given this title because the aircraft you
pilot in the game has, as well as wings,
an arm. This arm is very useful and is an
innovation in the genre. After blasting
away another ship's armour, you can swoop
down, and using the arm, can collect that
craft's weapon. For example, after
destroying a turret fixated on a moving
train, you can pick it up and use it for
yourself. The arm has two firing
positions. It can either be placed below
your ship or above. In the harder stages,
you are required to toggle between
positions depending on what direction the
enemy approaches you at. It must be noted
that any weapons you collect all have
only a limited number of rounds or
missiles.
Those
interested can take a look at THE STORY
(Above
& Below) Rendered Square art for
Einhander - click on the pics for larger
versions!
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THE
SHIPS
Endymion
FRS Mk. II
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There are
three ships you can choose to
pilot. The first one is equipped
with a machine gun with unlimited
ammunition and has three gunpods.
A gunpod is storage for one
weapon. So this ship can hold
three weapons at one time, and by
pressing a certain button you can
select which of these weapons are
to be latched onto the ship's
arm. This ultimately means you
can only use one of the probable
three stored weapons at a time in
collaboration with the standard
machine gun.
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The second
ship on the menu is the easiest
to pilot. This one has two
machine guns with unlimited ammo
as your standard gun but only one
gunpod. This basically means,
whichever weapon you collect will
instantly be extended onto the
ship's arm. If you happen to
sieze another weapon than it will
replace the one already on the
arm. Ifyou attempt to collect a
weapon you already have on the
arm, than that weapon's
ammunition will be increased.
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Endymiion
FRS Mk. III
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Astraea
FGA MK I
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The third ship is very different
from the other two. It has no
standard machine gun but just two
arms. You must be very economical
with this ship since you are
relying soley on weapons with
limited ammunition. You can swap
the position of the weapons by
pressing the arm-manipulation
button. Pressing this button with
this ship makes the top arm
exchange weapons with the bottom
one.
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THE WEAPONS
The game
offers a vast range of weapons to
collect. The first one you will
come across is the Vulcan. This is a
gattling gun: a cylinder shaped
agent of destruction. Hold down
fire and the gun will rotate
rapidly, firing a staggering
amount of rounds per second. On
the bottom of the ship, the gun
points diagonally downward, on
the top it points straight ahead,
above the ship's windshield.
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The Cannon is of a
similar size to the Vulcan. It
does not fire as rapidly as the
Vulcan, but it inflicts more
damage. Since it is so powerful
it does not have a generous cache
of bullets. On the top of the
ship it points diagonally upwards
and below it, it points straight
ahead, just underneath the ship's
windshield. |
The Spreader is a big gun
with three openings at the front.
By pressing fire, three bullets
will be sent out, first in close
knit formation, than they will
spread out on increasing
distance. This weapon is useful
to hit enemies approaching at
different directions. On the
bottom of the ship, the spreader
points straight. The alternative
position is not on the top but on
the ship's rear.
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The Wasp is a very
common weapon. There are two
types of Wasp. It can come in the
form of a missile launcher,
sending out several missiles at
once at a fast firing rate. The
other version is to send out
bright, heat seeking missiles.
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There
are a few more weapons that I haven't
mentioned:
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Powerful
grenades which can be launched
forwards in an arc or dropped
below your ship onto enemies
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Emits a
high-voltage electric charge
which can be further powered-up
by holding down the fire button
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A useful
defensive weapon which scatters
aerial bombs above or below your
ship, forming an effective
barrage of explosions
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A
ship-mounted light-sabre! -
similar to the one seen in
Radiant Silvergun, it can be
switched between upper and lower
gunpod quickly to 'slash' at
enemies
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