AIPD Review (PC)

A lot of ambitious twin-stick shooters have arrived in recent years as plenty of independent game developers have tried experimenting with this classic genre. While bigger franchises, such as Geometry Wars, have also made a comeback, indie projects like Zenzizenzic, have managed to make a name for themselves.

Enter German studio Blazing Badger, which has just rolled out AIPD, which stands for Artificial Intelligence Police Department in its sci-fi setting. More precisely, you control a police ship that faces off against hundreds of AI-controlled enemies in a pretty claustrophobic arena.

With a huge amount of customization when it comes to your ship as well as plenty of modifiers relating to gameplay and enemies, AIPD looks to offer a lot of entertainment for up to four players, thanks to its local cooperative mode.

Does it manage to form a coherent package or should the AI win over the police? Let’s find out.

Gameplay and Multiplayer

AIPD offers a minimalistic explanation of its setting – in the year 2144 police fight against evil AI-controlled ships in cyberspace – but it doesn’t try to deliver a proper story per se, relying just on its gameplay.

This isn’t a bad thing, as fans of twin-stick shooters should feel more or less at home in this game. Throw in the neon colors, the dark background, and the geometrical figures and many players might confuse it for a new installment of Geometry Wars.

However, AIPD stands out through a few interesting aspects than other games in the genre. First up, the arena is round instead of rectangular, and while you can’t encompass it in a single screen, at least on a 1080p resolution, it strikes a great balance between allowing freedom of movement while constricting your tiny ship to prevent any Benny Hill-style chases.

Another key factor is the customization relating to elements of your ship. You can swap out weapons, from the regular machine gun to shotguns or even a phaser, but also your chassis to provide better shields, less overheating for your weapon, or other such stats. Unlocking new gear is tied to reaching better and better scores during your campaigns.

Battle small enemies in AIPD

However, while customizing your ship can provide an incentive to keep on replaying through the different modes, the main factor of interest is provided by the gameplay modifiers. At the end of every stage, you must choose between one of two different modifiers that provide a bigger challenge but also larger multiplier for your score. From faster foes to random bombs or dangerous borders around the arena, there are plenty of tough choices offered to players.

While the core gameplay is mostly the same, there are quite a few standard modes offered to players, offering some interesting twists on certain rules. What’s more, you can create your own custom game type by selecting from an array of modifiers.

Even with this added variety, AIPD can feel a bit tiring in extended single-player sessions. However, if you can get a friend or up to three others in the experience, via local co-op, things get much more entertaining.

You can alternate loadouts to complement one another or just create pandemonium in your own custom game. It’s unfortunate that there’s no online co-op, but at least AIPD provides a reason to get together and enjoy some neon-colored chaos.

Dilate time in AIPD

Visuals and Sound

As mentioned above, AIPD employs a standard yet gorgeous sci-fi neon-colored visual experience. Framerate is rock solid, particle effects are impressive, and everything looks as sharp as possible. Blazing Badger proves that the Unreal Engine 4 is quite versatile and can even support a twin-stick shooter experience, not just actual first- or third-person games.

The soundtrack is adequately futuristic and manages to complement the intense stages quite well, without distracting from the actual action on the screen.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion