WiiWare: Diatomic, First Look

Diatomic–a WiiWare action game that we got to see for the first time today. Inspired by the ’80s arcade game Sinistar, Diatomic is a shooter of sorts, set within the confines of a particularly dangerous petri dish.

Assuming the role of an organism, your mission in each level (75 are planned) is simply to kill all of the enemies on the screen so you can progress to the next. There’s an interesting twist, though: Large “spawner” enemies constantly introduce new enemies to the dish, so if you avoid destroying them you can score a lot of points killing the increasingly challenging waves of smaller enemies that they spawn.

Those enemies will purportedly include around 10 different organisms, including drones that fire projectiles at you, revolvers that spin around firing in every direction, and unusual “pregnant Mary” creatures that grow rockets and homing missiles inside their bellies. Like the spawners, these femmes fatales can be destroyed before they deliver, or you can wait for them to give birth to their deadly offspring and then earn points for destroying those. If you’re familiar with the Geometry Wars series, you’ll find that enemies in Diatomic–though clearly more complex–feel similar in that each species behaves differently but predictably. You’ll also know that being able to predict enemies’ behavior doesn’t always make them easier to deal with when you’re onscreen with two or three different species simultaneously.

[GameSpot]

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