When taking on the persona of Van Helsing and gunning down countless horror-themed enemies, in a bid to reunite the hunter with his prized pups, I thought I’d be done and dusted in a few hours – leaving just the score chasing element to return to. But here we are, several hours of playtime later with the ending scene within grasp but not yet reached. I’ve had a blast trying though, and according to my online leaderboard placing (currently 11th) I’m not the only one yet to see Van Helsing’s kennels re-populated with his missing pooches.
Silver Bullet is inspired by Wild Guns, Cabal, Point Blank and similar shooting gallery games of yore. Stages present a single screen, waves of numerous enemies, several secrets, and eventually a battle against a bullet spewing boss. Not every stage is riddled with spooky enemies however, as it also features a handful of bonus rounds, one of which borrows the balloon popping antics of the seminal Pang. There are plenty of comical sights to take in along the way, boasting excellent pixel art and a proficient use of bright colours, along with jaunty haunting melodies music provided by the YM2612 chip.
Helsing has a few tricks up his sleeve to fend off the ghouls, witches, zombies and other horror nasties. By default, they’re able to fire a barrage of projectiles – with points awarded for accuracy. They can also perform a stationary parry attack, dash left and right to deal with ground threats, and launch their loyal hound directly at adversaries – which results in projectiles turning into sugary treats. These treats evolve over time, dependent on score, forming collectables. New weapons can be collected too, always appearing at the same point during a stage, varying from a spread shot to explosive rounds. Helsing cannot move and shoot at the same time however, requiring you to ‘let off the gas’ whenever avoiding hazards.
If this sounds a little overwhelming, you’re right. Even though the first stage is intended to teach the basics of shooting and aiming, Silver Bullet has quite a steep learning curve due to its multitude of mechanics. It wasn’t until an hour so in that I even began to experiment with the parry, and even longer until discovering the importance of the dash. I also had to try a few different control schemes until finding one that suits, with two schemes on offer, along with custom controls. But none of this felt frustrating; with every attempt I was either able to get a little further or discovered something new – with every stage having secrets or an alternate goal. It’s something intended to be replayed repeatedly, with seemingly impossible challenges eventually becoming possible after memorising attack patterns.
It definitely helps that it’s well presented, luring you back in each time for another ten minutes of mayhem. Bosses explode into showers of jewels when defeated, collectables often populate the bottom of the screen, and precious coins spill out of special enemies hidden behind objects. Blink for more than a second, and you’ll likely miss something important. Or die.
Although Helsing can only take a single hit before loosing a life, a trio of continues are available, making it possible to blunder your way through the first couple of bosses before things crank up a notch. I hoped this would be the kind of modern arcade game that adds an extra continue after failing several times, or perhaps grants infinite retries but cuts your score in half, but this isn’t the case – you’ll need to learn and master every screen, avoiding bullet hell projectile formations and enemies advancing from all angles.
It’s the fact that Silver Bullet demands your attention constantly that makes it so engaging. Later on, a Terror Block puzzle mini game unlocks and is accessible from the main menu, in which falling blocks must be destroyed. So, on top of the online score chasing element, there’s another reason to return. Additional features are few, which isn’t much of a surprise considering the low price point, such as a CRT filter and the ability the show the hitbox.
Silver Bullet may be highly challenging, but it’s a better game for it, giving all the tools you need to succeed but leaving you to work out how to put them to use. Lock and load this onto your Switch, and you’ll likely find that – just like Van Helsing’s trusty canine – it will serve you well.
1CC’s Silver Bullet is out 30th Oct on Switch and PC. Published by Flynn’s Arcade.