Everyday Shooter

Everyday Shooter (known as Riff: Everyday Shooter in the PAL region) is an independent video game developed by Jonathan Mak.

Everyday Shooter
European PlayStation Store icon
Developer(s)Queasy Games
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)Jonathan Mak
Composer(s)Jonathan Mak
Shaw-Han Liem
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
ReleaseWindows
March 29, 2006 (Online)
May 8, 2008 (Steam)
PlayStation 3
  • NA: October 11, 2007
  • PAL: February 14, 2008
  • JP: May 15, 2008
PlayStation Portable
  • NA: December 4, 2008
  • PAL: January 22, 2009
  • JP: June 11, 2009
Genre(s)Shooter, music
Mode(s)Single-player

Development

Everyday Shooter was developed in the span of a few months by Jonathan Mak using Visual C++.[1] After his last project, Gate 88, which Mak called a "complicated mess of rules and controls", Mak desired to make a much simpler game.[2] Initially the game started out as a puzzle game inspired by Mak's interest in Lumines and Every Extend Extra,[3] however Mak had trouble with this route and decided instead to turn the game into a shooter.[3] In addition to programming and graphic design, Mak recorded and implemented an all-guitar soundtrack to the game.

Sony Computer Entertainment took notice of the game at the 2007 Independent Gaming Festival[4] and published it for the PlayStation 3 on October 11 as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network.[1]

Gameplay

Everyday Shooter is a dual-stick, multidirectional shooter. In the game's "Normal Play" mode, the player maneuvers a small dot through eight different levels. The gameplay dynamics (enemy types, chaining systems, etc.) change with each level, encouraging the player to observe their surroundings closely to best adapt to new rule sets.

Jonathan Mak describes the game as "...an album of games exploring the expressive power of abstract shooters. Dissolute sounds of destruction are replaced with guitar riffs harmonizing over an all-guitar soundtrack, while modulating shapes celebrate the flowing beauty of geometry."[5]

In addition to unique background music for every stage, the player creates dynamic music as they interact with the environment. For example, shooting one type of enemy will trigger a guitar note or riff, while destroying another enemy will result in a different guitar sample.

Initially, the only way to play the game is through "Normal Play" which presents the player with all eight stages in order from first to last. However, points scored in the game can be used to unlock several features such as a "Shuffle Mode". Similar to using a shuffle mode on any music player, turning on shuffle mode in the game will reconfigure the order of the stages except the final. Other unlockable features include various graphic filters and the ability to increase the number of lives the player has at the beginning of a game. The player may also unlock the stages to make them available individually in "Single Play". After completing a run through normal mode, a new game mode is unlocked. "Travel Mode" allows the player to play either the main game or individual stages while being invincible, at the cost of the points scored in this mode being unusable to unlock anything.

Reception

The PlayStation 3 and PC versions received "favorable" reviews, while the PSP version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[6][7][8]

A review from 1UP.com said that the PS3 version "succeeds wildly as an engaging shooter for the art-house crowd, and a creative change of pace for the hardcore-shooter crowd."[9] Some critics pointed out similarities to the game Rez,[9][21] while The A.V. Club pointed out homages to classic arcade games such as Centipede, Robotron 2084, and Time Pilot.[21]

Many publications cited the PS3 version's difficulty as a source of frustration,[9][14] though some pointed out that its unlocking system can ease the process of getting through "Normal Play"[9][14] (or, that it can be bypassed altogether by unlocking songs in "Single Play").[21] IGN also criticized the method of point-collecting: Points in Everyday Shooter must be physically collected by the player in the brief amount of time after they appear or else they'll quickly fade away. In IGN's PS3 version review, it was noted that "flying over all the points is far less effective than it should be, since zipping through a huge clump of them will often yield only a few actual pick-ups."[17]

References
  1. "Official Everyday Shooter Information Thread". Queasy Games Forums. September 24, 2007. Archived from the original (Forum Post) on October 17, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  2. Wallis, Alistair (October 13, 2006). "Road To The IGF: Queasy Games' Everyday Shooter". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  3. Sinclair, Brendan (October 23, 2007). "Q&A: Everyday Shooter creator Jonathan Mak". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  4. Shamoon, Evan (February 2008). "Garage Game Developer: Our monthly look at the industry's most interesting gigs". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 225. Ziff Davis. p. 33.
  5. "Everyday Shooter by Jonathan Mak". Queasy Games. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  6. "Everyday Shooter for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  7. "Everyday Shooter for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  8. "Everyday Shooter for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  9. Suttner, Nick (October 11, 2007). "Everyday Shooter (PS3)". 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  10. Edge staff (March 2008). "Riff: Everyday Shooter (PS3)". Edge. No. 186. Future plc. p. 103.
  11. Bramwell, Tom (January 9, 2008). "Riff: Everyday Shooter (PlayStation 3)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  12. Shuman, Sid (January 9, 2008). "Review: Every Day Shooter [sic] (PS3)". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  13. Reboucas, Eduardo (December 16, 2008). "Everyday Shooter Review (PSP)". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  14. Navarro, Alex (October 12, 2007). "Everyday Shooter Review (PS3)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  15. Grabowski, Dakota (January 26, 2009). "Everyday Shooter - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  16. Onyett, Charles (May 14, 2008). "Everyday Shooter Review (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  17. Clements, Ryan (October 11, 2007). "Everyday Shooter Review (PS3)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  18. Clements, Ryan (December 5, 2008). "Everyday Shooter Review (PSP)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  19. "Riff: Everyday Shooter (PS3)". PlayStation Official Magazine – UK. Future plc. February 2008. p. 96.
  20. "Everyday Shooter". PC Gamer. Vol. 15 no. 8. Future US. August 2008. p. 62.
  21. Mastrapa, Gus (October 22, 2007). "EveryDay Shooter [sic] (PS3)". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  22. "The 10th Annual Independent Games Festival". Independent Games Festival. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  23. Crecente, Brian (December 28, 2007). "Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
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