Review: Jamestown+ (Steam)

by Jim Smale · January 7, 2020

Set sail for 17th-century British Colonial Mars in Jamestown+: a cooperative shoot-em-up for 1-4 brave souls, designed to be exciting for players of all skill levels.

Pros:

Chunky Pixel art graphics.
273mb download size.
Steam achievements.
Controller support.
Shmup gameplay.
Graphics-pixel perfect/proportional stretch/crazy stretch, widescreen, full screen and retro style.
Tutorial video.
Online leaderboards.
2-4 player local co-op support.
Five difficulties-normal/difficult/legendary/divine/judgement.
Build your ship-select ship type and gunshot type and you unlock new ones.
Can rebind controls.
Difficult.
End of level score breakdown.
Glorious animated backdrops in the levels.
Earn coins for the shop.
Shop-buy new ships, challenges, and shot types.
World map level select.
Bullet hell elements.
Fun to play.
Satisfying combat.
Scores pop up as you kill enemies.
Plays really well.
Huge boss fights.

Cons:

The ship is mute of sounds.
Difficult.
Slight learning curve.
It takes a while to get gold.
No colorblind support.
No online co-op.
Hard to distinguish bullets as the enemy can have the same color bullets as you.

9/10
Graphics - 9/10
7/10
Sound - 7/10
8/10
Accessibility - 8/10
8/10
Length - 8/10
8/10
Fun Factor - 8/10

8/10

Summary

Jamestown was a fantastic Shmup when it first came out as it looked and played liked the hardcore titles but always kept it mellow in terms of new player’s approach to the game and progress. I love the environments you play in and the satisfying numbers that pop as you blow Shit up. The controls are fine and the ship creation again helps you break ground with the game. I wanna say its an easier take on the Shmup genre but it really isn’t but it also isn’t as infuriating and hard to master as it is. I strongly believe that Jamestown is one of the best Shmup games out there and this release just cements it.