Few developers have been as consistent as Finnish studio Housemarque. They’ve been releasing well received titles since 1996’s Super Stardust, and most recently released several must-own PS4 titles in Resogun and Nex Machina. The latter of which released just a few months ago, and now they’re back with their second 2017 release, a platform shooter called Matterfall. Can they keep churning out high quality games at such a rapid pace"
The answer is a resounding yes, as Matterfall‘s core gameplay is a fantastic combat loop mixed in with some light platforming. Players use both analog sticks to control the character and shoot their primary gun, and then use the triggers and bumpers of the DualShock 4 for other actions. Everything from running to the game’s unique dash maneuver (which is an evasive stun that can weaken enemies) is done with the top of the controller, and it results in a pretty decent learning curve. I regularly mixed up the controls when I got flustered against the shooter’s many enemies, but it eventually clicked after finishing the first world. Platforming is a big focus here, and there’s even some light puzzle solving that comes from the gun’s secondary action. Players are able to phase in matter, which will make platforms appear. This leads to some tricky segments where I had to shoot an enemy in mid-air, switch to my alternate fire, use that beam to create a platform, and then land on it to avoid f...