
The dual-stick shooter genre has seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks to Geometry Wars. While frantic, top-down shooters can be addictive, they never managed to draw me in, due to the reflexes required; I just can’t keep up.
Tri is a different story. Tri involves moving your triangle around the map and shooting at enemies, much like Asteroid. Instead of frantically dodging debris and enemies, however, the pace is slow and methodical thanks to one small change: You have to stop moving to fire. Your enemies also stop moving in order to fire, and between shots there’s a recharge time where you cannot start firing again. Holding down the fire button for longer improves your shot’s accuracy, but also increases the time it takes to recharge. This turns a rapid-fire bullet-fest into a methodical sniper battle.
The enemies also vary based on accuracy, speed and re-fire rate, which means you can have “sniper” enemies which can aim all the way across the map, or enemies that are so fast they can close the distance rapidly. The map also changes constantly, with obstacles and corners to hide behind that are necessary to fight some of the higher level enemies. An open fight would be suicide; you have to use the terrain to your advantage to win.
It’s a very minimalist looking game, with geometric shapes representing the enemies and black lines on a white background for anything else. Simplistic and easy to pick up, this game’s levels keep throwing new twists at you that keep the game interesting.
Why You Should Check This Out: Tri is a thinking-man’s top-down shooter. You stop to aim and fire every time you shoot, and your enemies do the same, which means the gameplay almost takes on a turn-based feel at times. You still have to be able to aim quickly, but the constant positioning and re-positioning of yourself and your enemies makes the game methodical. And the enemy and level variety keep the game from getting bogged down.