Everyday Shooter
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Everyday Shooter}}
{{Short description|2006 video game}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}{{Infobox video game
| title = Everyday Shooter
| image = psn everyday shooter icon.png
| caption = European PlayStation Store icon
| developer = Queasy Games{{efn|Additional work by Santa Monica Studio on the PlayStation versions.}}
| publisher = Queasy Games
Sony Computer Entertainment (PS3, PSP)
| designer = Jessica Mak{{efn|Credited under her former name Jonathan Mak.}}
| composer = Jessica Mak
Shaw-Han Liem
| released = Windows
March 29, 2006 (Online)
May 8, 2008 (Steam)
PlayStation 3
{{vgrelease|NA|October 11, 2007|PAL|February 14, 2008|JP|May 15, 2008}}PlayStation Portable
{{vgrelease|NA|December 4, 2008|PAL|January 22, 2009|JP|June 11, 2009}}
| genre = Multidirectional shooter, music
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
}}
Everyday Shooter (known as Riff: Everyday Shooter in the PAL region) is a multidirectional shooter video game developed and published by Queasy Games for Windows.
Development
Everyday Shooter was developed in the span of a few months by Jessica Mak using Visual C++.{{cite web |url=http://queasygames.5.forumer.com/index.php?s=b438c8ae94f9d4fb2a2b0c0d34bee56b&showtopic=1407&st=0& |title=Official Everyday Shooter Information Thread |format=Forum Post |website=Queasy Games Forums |date=September 24, 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017191738/http://queasygames.5.forumer.com/index.php?s=b438c8ae94f9d4fb2a2b0c0d34bee56b&showtopic=1407&st=0&#entry15097 |archivedate=October 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |accessdate=April 29, 2019}} After her last project, Gate 88, which Mak called a "complicated mess of rules and controls", Mak desired to make a much simpler game.{{cite web |last=Wallis |first=Alistair |date=October 13, 2006 |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/102206/Road_To_The_IGF_Queasy_Games_Everyday_Shooter.php |title=Road To The IGF: Queasy Games' Everyday Shooter |website=Gamasutra |publisher=UBM plc |access-date=August 25, 2014 |archive-date=August 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113830/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/102206/Road_To_The_IGF_Queasy_Games_Everyday_Shooter.php |url-status=dead }} Initially the game started out as a puzzle game inspired by Mak's interest in Lumines and Every Extend Extra,{{cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Brendan |date=October 23, 2007 |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/qanda-everyday-shooter-creator-jonathan-mak/1100-6181581/ |title=Q&A: Everyday Shooter creator Jonathan Mak |website=GameSpot |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=August 25, 2014 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308192928/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/qanda-everyday-shooter-creator-jonathan-mak/1100-6181581/ |url-status=live }} however Mak had trouble with this route and decided instead to turn the game into a shooter. In addition to programming and graphic design, Mak recorded and implemented an all-guitar soundtrack to the game.
Sony Computer Entertainment took notice of the game at the 2007 Independent Gaming Festival{{cite magazine |last=Shamoon |first=Evan |title=Garage Game Developer: Our monthly look at the industry's most interesting gigs |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=Ziff Davis |issue=225 |date=February 2008 |page=33}} and published it for the PlayStation 3 on October 11 as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network.
Gameplay
Everyday Shooter is a dual-stick, multidirectional shooter. In the game's "Normal Play" mode, the player maneuvers a small dot through eight different levels. The gameplay dynamics (enemy types, chaining systems, etc.) change with each level, encouraging the player to observe their surroundings closely to best adapt to new rule sets.
Jessica Mak describes the game as "...an album of games exploring the expressive power of abstract shooters. Dissolute sounds of destruction are replaced with guitar riffs harmonizing over an all-guitar soundtrack, while modulating shapes celebrate the flowing beauty of geometry."{{cite web |url=http://www.everydayshooter.com/ |title=Everyday Shooter by Jonathan Mak |website=Queasy Games |accessdate=October 9, 2007 |archive-date=October 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008145128/http://www.everydayshooter.com/ |url-status=live }}
In addition to unique background music for every stage, the player creates dynamic music as they interact with the environment. For example, shooting one type of enemy will trigger a guitar note or riff, while destroying another enemy will result in a different guitar sample.
Initially, the only way to play the game is through "Normal Play" which presents the player with all eight stages in order from first to last. However, points scored in the game can be used to unlock several features such as a "Shuffle Mode". Similar to using a shuffle mode on any music player, turning on shuffle mode in the game will reconfigure the order of the stages except the final. Other unlockable features include various graphic filters and the ability to increase the number of lives the player has at the beginning of a game. The player may also unlock the stages to make them available individually in "Single Play". After completing a run through normal mode, a new game mode is unlocked. "Travel Mode" allows the player to play either the main game or individual stages while being invincible, at the cost of the points scored in this mode being unusable to unlock anything.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| PC = true
| PS3 = true
| PSP = true
| na = true
| 1UP_PS3 = A{{cite web |last=Suttner |first=Nick |date=October 11, 2007 |url=http://www.1up.com/reviews/everyday-shooter |title=Everyday Shooter (PS3) |website=1UP.com |publisher=Ziff Davis |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308185427/http://www.1up.com/reviews/everyday-shooter |archivedate=March 8, 2016 |url-status=dead |accessdate=April 29, 2019}}
| Edge_PS3 = 8/10{{cite magazine |author=Edge staff |title=Riff: Everyday Shooter (PS3) |magazine=Edge |publisher=Future plc |issue=186 |date=March 2008 |page=103}}
| EuroG_PS3 = 8/10{{cite web |last=Bramwell |first=Tom |date=January 9, 2008 |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/riff-everyday-shooter-review |title=Riff: Everyday Shooter (PlayStation 3) |website=Eurogamer |publisher=Gamer Network |accessdate=April 30, 2019 |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430032333/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/riff-everyday-shooter-review |url-status=live }}
| GameRev_PSP = C{{cite web |last=Reboucas |first=Eduardo |date=December 16, 2008 |url=https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/42535-everyday-shooter-review |title=Everyday Shooter Review (PSP) |website=Game Revolution |publisher=CraveOnline |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926122730/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/everyday-shooter |archivedate=September 26, 2015 |url-status=live |accessdate=April 30, 2019}}
| GamePro_PS3 = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Shuman |first=Sid |date=January 9, 2008 |url=http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps3/games/reviews/155928.shtml |title=Review: Every Day Shooter [sic] (PS3) |magazine=GamePro |publisher=IDG Entertainment |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111220451/http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps3/games/reviews/155928.shtml |archivedate=January 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |accessdate=April 30, 2019}}
| IGN_PC = 8/10{{cite web |last=Onyett |first=Charles |date=May 14, 2008 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/05/14/everyday-shooter-review-2 |title=Everyday Shooter Review (PC) |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |accessdate=April 29, 2019 |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530174538/https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/05/14/everyday-shooter-review-2 |url-status=live }}
| OPMUK_PS3 = 7/10{{cite magazine |title=Riff: Everyday Shooter (PS3) |magazine=PlayStation Official Magazine – UK |publisher=Future plc |date=February 2008 |page=96}}
| PCGUS_PC = 84%{{cite magazine |title=Everyday Shooter |magazine=PC Gamer |publisher=Future US |volume=15 |issue=8 |date=August 2008 |page=62}}
| rev1 = The A.V. Club
| rev1_PS3 = A−{{cite web |last=Mastrapa |first=Gus |date=October 22, 2007 |url=https://www.avclub.com/everyday-shooter-1798212566 |title=EveryDay Shooter [sic] (PS3) |website=The A.V. Club |publisher=The Onion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304003844/http://www.avclub.com/articles/everyday-shooter,7466/ |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=April 29, 2019}}
| award1Pub = Independent Games Festival
| award1 = Design Innovation,{{cite web |url=http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html |title=The 10th Annual Independent Games Festival |website=Independent Games Festival |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009144402/http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html |archivedate=October 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |accessdate=April 29, 2019}}
Excellence in Audio,
GameTap Indie Awards
| award2Pub = Kotaku
| award2 = 2007 Game of the Year for PSN{{cite web |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=December 28, 2007 |url=http://kotaku.com/338479/kotakus-2007-games-of-the-year.html |title=Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year |website=Kotaku |publisher=Gawker Media |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420083950/http://kotaku.com/338479/kotakus-2007-games-of-the-year.html |archivedate=April 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |accessdate=April 29, 2019}}
| MC_PC = 77/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/everyday-shooter/critic-reviews/?platform=pc |title=Everyday Shooter for PC Reviews |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=April 29, 2019 |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506002450/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/everyday-shooter |url-status=live }}
}}
The PlayStation 3 and Windows versions received "favorable" reviews, while the PSP version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
A review from 1UP.com said that the PS3 version "succeeds wildly as an engaging shooter for the art-house crowd, and a creative change of pace for the hardcore-shooter crowd." Some critics pointed out similarities to the game Rez, while The A.V. Club pointed out homages to classic arcade games such as Centipede, Robotron 2084, and Time Pilot.
Many publications cited the PS3 version's difficulty as a source of frustration, though some pointed out that its unlocking system can ease the process of getting through "Normal Play" (or, that it can be bypassed altogether by unlocking songs in "Single Play"). IGN also criticized the method of point-collecting: Points in Everyday Shooter must be physically collected by the player in the brief amount of time after they appear or else they'll quickly fade away. In IGN's PS3 version review, it was noted that "flying over all the points is far less effective than it should be, since zipping through a huge clump of them will often yield only a few actual pick-ups."
{{clear}}
Notes
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20210611041210/http://www.everydayshooter.com/ Web archive of Everyday Shooter official website] Archived from the original on 2021-06-11.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_svyxgxh3mg GDC: Nikki Inderlied Gets the Low-Down on Everyday Shooter] on YouTube
- {{moby game|id=/everyday-shooter}}
Category:Independent Games Festival winners
Category:Multidirectional shooters
Category:PlayStation Network games
Category:PlayStation Portable games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Sony Interactive Entertainment games