Yes, the game will try its best to make you fail, while getting the best out of you, in teeth-grinding, white-knuckle spectacular ways. But it will also be fair, it will recognize and reward your achievements, and it will display the trophies of your conquests. You will receive your honors if earned, fair and square. At the end of each level you will be presented with a summary of your performance’s criteria and an overall grade. There are medals awarded for exceptionally high grades. The regular fare is Bronze, Silver and Gold.
In StreetWalkingMan levels aren’t a physical place or a scenario, they are a set of policies and behaviors, defined by Difficulty and Length. Difficulty manages the intensity and strategies with which the game reacts to you, how it counters your success and how much it is affected by your failures. Length directs the magnitudes for intensity and rhythm, thus also endurance and concentration. Therefore, any combination of factors has a directly distinct feel to it. There are nine levels, composed by three settings of Difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard) and three settings of Length (Short, Medium, Long). These settings have been chosen for having a very specific distinct feel to them, sufficiently distanced from each other, but still making for a sensible progression of skill and rewards, while remaining a cohesive game experience on any level.
On each of the nine levels you have the possibility to earn medals and set records. Earning medals, unlocks fully narrated, original sci-fi history segments, by the talented and experienced D.E. Medus, adding a layer of literal narration to the aesthetic worldbuilding of the game.
Earning better and better medals also unlocks upgrades and more RPG-like goodness, just beyond the spoiler alert here below:
| Spoiler Alert: The following section contains spoilers for the game's progression. |
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Asgardian Armory
That’s right, you get hardware! Sort of. These weapons are triggered upon times of need, a crash, or when at time for lightning strikes, here to aid your step if it might falter. Every level offers a different upgrade, that is awarded upon the highest medal earned on said level. For example, and Easy-Long medal earned serves to decrease your Shield’s cooldown timer. Giving you a shorter time exposed when you’re walking around carelessly without a shield.
These power ups and upgrades aren’t meant to reduce the amount of skill needed, they are meant to give you and assist whenever sometimes goes wrong, but there’s still an element of real time management when it comes to exploiting their benefits.
The allocation of the type of assist and how you upgrade it is directly linked to a natural progression of your gaming skills. I recommend starting on Green and making your way to Red, one level at a time. Though this is not set in stone, because, according to your play style, it might be more beneficial to first have a better cooldown on your Wings, than a bigger range on your Weapon, or maybe you have no use for a longer lasting Shield. So, play around see what progression better fits your style.
Shield
A shield for instance will help not count that hit against you when time comes for the level’s evaluation. It will have an immediate impact on your scores. Easy levels unlock this entry level assist.
Weapon
When you’re in Electric Combo, and you gain invulnerability, this artifact will extend your reach, enriching your Electric Combo counter and Electric Combo timer, allowing you not only to score more points, but to ride invulnerability for a bit more. Normal levels upgrade the stats for your electric weaponry.
Wings
Wings will lift you whenever you crash, they will serve as impulse to get you back up to speed and reduce the time you waste catching up after a crash. Because those moments, short as they are, have a real impact of your final score. Hard levels is were you’ll find these Wings really come into play.
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| Spoiler Alert: This is a spoiler even for the spoiler above. |
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The Final Set: Perfect Weapons.
No mere man can wield weaponry of this caliber and metaphysical constitution, but these weapons transcend notions of matter and energy, and will prove to be essential allies during the battle for the end of all. Feel the sheer power of Asgardian Weapons for Gods.
Svalinn, the shield feared by the Sun.
Mjolnir, the power of thunder strikes.
Huggin and Munnin, Odin’s own, on your shoulders.
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New Game Modes
Infinite Length
Collecting all medals on a Difficulty setting (with all it three Lengths) unlocks Infinite Length mode for it. To me, it’s about gameplay, so if you just want to play for a while, and you’ve already achieved everything you can achieve on a Difficulty setting, I think it’s a fitting reward to get to play that level boundless, forever. No end to the fun, no need to worry or stress about perfection, just unbridled gameplay for as long as you need it. Have it as a well deserved gift from me to you!
| Spoiler Alert: The Final Game Mode. |
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Bullet Hel
This is the end, my friend. You know how sometimes people on the street seem to go straight at you? Trying to trip you on your mission… They don’t, BTW. But what if they did? If they got a chance to fight back? That would be hell… Ragnarok’s dawn, to be precise. Here things are shaken up a bit. You get a life bar, which means now you can die. And you will, because you will be attacked ferociously by energy manifestations of Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungandr. You still have your Asgardian Arsenal to fight back and regain your life, though. It’s a very different feel to the game, while still retaining and requiring all the acquired Super Powers and skills of StreetWalkingMan!
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