A very excellent space shooter game from the creators of the Final Fantasy series.
The word Einhander is a German word which translates to "one hander". It refers to the single manipulator arm slung underneath the stomach of the Einhander fighter jet. The story of the game takes place in the year 2045 when a war between Earth and Mars takes place. The lunar city of Selene has the most advanced technology and it gave them an advantage early in the war, but Earth's greater population and resource base turned the conflict to a draw. In response, the city began sending advanced one-man tactical fighters on suicide missions against Earth. The player of the game will take control of an unidentified pilot which was his first but most likely his final mission. The player chooses from five different fighters each requiring a different fighting style though you get only three at the start the other two can be unlocked as you play the game. Also there are a dozen of powerfull weapons you can obtained during the game. You can obtain these weapons by shooting down enemy fighters who has the weapon and by stealing them you can attached it to your manipulator hand. These weapons have limited ammo and is dispossable but most of them are very common to find so players will not have a hard time getting them. Some of the weapons you can obtained are a Vulcan machine gun,which literally is a big machine gun that fires ultra fast bullets. A rocket launcher called Wasp which fires three bullets and has a seeking capability. There is also a weapon called Riot, which is a lightning gun that is very powerfull when its energy is charge up. There are still lots of other weapons to obtained in the game so its up to the player to discover them all.
Einhander's gameplay is very much like any other space shooter games. You shoot down enemies in stages with rather futuristic environments. Thus the gameplay here is very fast yet its also furious. Enemy fighters will be coming towards you all the time at a really fast rate, so there isnt much relaxing to do when your playing this game. But these are nothing compared to the bosses of the game. In my opinion, the bosses are the main attractions of the game. If you think your fighter jet is already the best in the universe then you wont be able to know unless you fight these bad boys. They range from gigantic robots to not so gigantic yet very high tech ones. Fighting these bosses are the real challenge of the game and if you manage to beat one you get a real sensation of success.
Graphically speaking this game is gorgeous. When i first look at the cover of the game i wasnt really impressed but when i played the game it took my breath away. The stages are stunning each one of them has its own unique and high tech environment. Every element in the game is designed very accurately even the fighter jets and the bosses are in full 3D thus showing what Squaresoft was all about that time. The sound and music of the game must also be given credits. Not many space shooter games has excellent background musics. No doubt that the game's music is really breathtaking and it gives a tremendous athmosphere that keeps the player going. But its very strange that the game has some German voices which is usually heard after a boss battle.
Einhander isnt that insanely long. It can be finished around an hour or so if the player has the skills. Of course as you play the game your skills get better, making you to beat the game even faster. The difficulty settings can allow you to make the game easier at first or making it harder if you want some extra challenge. There are some secrets on the game including secret weapons hidden on some secret locations on most stages not to mention two extra fighter jets you can unlocked. To end this review, Einhander is definitely the best space shooter game out there even though most people has not heard of this game. Its very rare to find these days but still its an excellent game that brings fun and challenge to everyone.