Second Person Shooter Zato is a unique kind of action game that flips everything you know about shooters on its head before turning it inside-out and looking at it through a mirror. Well, that sounds like it would cancel the weirdness out, but it doesn't! In this game, you control a gun-toting hero who is being attacked by groups of enemies. However, instead of getting a first-person view of the action, you can only see yourself through the eyes of the enemy. Spin around, fire your weapons, and hope you can survive without looking at the world from behind your own gun!
At the game's outset, developer himo describes Second Person Shooter Zato quite elegantly: camera = enemy. If you can see yourself, shoot the screen, it really is that simple. Hold the [right] arrow key to rotate clockwise (as viewed from above) and [left] to spin the opposite direction. Hit [x] to fire a missile, [z] to shoot your standard beam. The controls are persistent no matter the point of view, and even when multiple enemies (and thus multiple camera views) are active, you'll find you're able to spin and shoot with the greatest of ease.
Your weapons aren't infinite, so forget about spamming the [z] and [x] keys and calling it a day. Each one has a limited clip size, but ammo automatically regenerates after a few seconds. It's best to reserve the more powerful missile for stronger enemies or foes who are uncomfortably close. You can also alternate weapons to ensure they both stay charged. Either way, if you're out of ammo, you're vulnerable, and that's bad.
To further awesome-ify things, new enemies are introduced in almost every level, each one more intriguing than the last. The first few are simple variations on the basic concepts (faster, stronger, etc.), but then you get foes that drop from the sky, shielded enemies, and even enemies stacked in a tower! To top that off, the levels you'll unlock in often have different abilities you can use, such as being able to move around the screen, or challenges to complete, like missile-only combat.
Second Person Shooter Zato isn't your normal sort of game, which is exactly why we love it. The concept is pulled off with a lot of finesse, and the sense of progression you get after unlocking new levels, abilities, and enemies keeps you very much interested in pushing through to the next stage. The multiple camera views are sometimes confusing, and it's easy to get caught in a pinch when enemies have surrounded you, spinning rampantly trying to find the nearest baddie to shoot. But practice makes perfect, and soon enough you'll master the art of shooting cameras that are closing in!
What a cool concept!
Did you ask the developer for permission before you put his game up here? Japanese devs in general tend to take very much offense when their games are lifted from other websites without permission.
[Yes, of course I contacted the developer, Himo, for permission before hosting the game here. I always make an effort to do so, so please don't worry about that on our behalf. I've got that side of things covered. Thank you very much. -Jay]
This is riddling my brain!
This. Is. Awesome!
I've always wanted a game in Second Person.
What's the deal with the shield guys? Do you just have to time it, or does some amount of shooting knock it out?
The shield guys will eventually drop their shield and stand still. That's your chance. The shield will flicker a few times before it drops, and you can sneak a beam in if you're lucky, but it's best to wait for them to totally drop it and deliver a missile.
The Numbers boss is really annoying. It starts out simple enough, but then they drop the visibility to zero, so you have to wait until they're right on top of you before you can shoot.
Enemy Types up to Act 3
Slow (first seen 0-1). Takes 2 laser hits.
Slow movement.
Normal (first seen 0-1). Takes 3 laser hits.
Drop (first seen 1-1). Takes 3 laser hits.
Spawns from the sky.
Crabwalk (first seen 1-2). Takes 3 laser hits.
Moves in a closing spiral.
Fast (first seen 1-3). Takes 3 laser hits.
Fast movement.
Afro (first seen 1-4). Takes 4 laser hits.
When killed, leaves a rock that partially obstructs vision. When alive, hair partially obstructs vision.
Tower (first seen 1-5). Takes 3x2 laser hits. A 3-story tower that loses one story at a time. The camera is placed on the topmost story. It falls as the tower loses stories.
NOTE: if you fire too quickly at the Tower, your shots may go through the monster as the stories fall!
Shield (first seen 2-1). Takes 3 laser hits.
This monster has a pink shield covering it, causing shots to deflect. The pink shield periodically disables, which is preceded by a flashing of the shield.
NOTE: If you were unable to fire at the Shield monster in that shield disabling timing window, you can alternatively
Oddsight (first seen 2-2). Takes 3 laser hits.
The vision of this monster will be rotated 90, 180 (?), or 270 degrees.
Big (first seen 2-2). Takes 10 laser hits.
Camera will be slightly elevated. Slow movement.
Warp (first seen 2-3). Takes 3 laser hits.
Periodically warps to a random angle, while maintaining the distance it was before.
Blind (first seen 2-4). Takes 3 laser hits.
No camera. You have to observe where this enemy's location is from a different enemy's PoV.
Bird (first seen 2-5). Takes 1 laser hit.
Flies around player for a while, then swoops in. Fast movement while on land.
TowerKing (first seen 2-6). Takes 30x2 laser hits.
Same as Tower, but with a lot more floors. It moves EXTREMELY SLOWLY. Though, interestingly, if you focus on the TowerKing's perspective for the first 2/3rds of the game, the game becomes a 3PS.
Zombie (first seen 3-1). Takes 2x3 laser hits.
Spawns looking at the sky. After the first death, it falls down, and after a while, it climbs back up and walks towards you again. I believe it's faster movement the second time around.
NOTE: if you try to hit it as it is climbing back up, the zombie will neutralize the shots, so don't do that.
SlowDown (first seen 3-2). Takes 1 laser hit.
Emits green particles. Fast movement. If it hits you, you do not lose a life. Instead, your rotational and movement speeds are decreased quite drastically.
Spin (first seen 3-3). Takes 3 laser hits.
Like OddSight, but the camera is constantly spinning.
BlackHole (first seen 3-4). Takes 2 laser hits.
Creates a gravitational field, deflecting missiles towards it. And that's not all, it neutralizes missiles once they hit the black hole!
BirdKing (first seen 3-6). Takes 15x1 laser hits.
A normal bird, with faster land movement and slower aerial movement. Has a marker on the camera, making it easier to distinguish from any other bird.
Enemies:
Drop: drops straight down.
Crabwalk: Nautilus-style, circling towards you.
Fast: fast.
Afro: I lol'ed. Part of there "eyes" are covered; that's how you know its them. Take 2 missles to down.
Tower: 3 normals, 1 on top of another.
Shield: wait for the shield to flicker 3 times, then it drops.
OddSight: heads at you either on its side or upside down.
Big: big. Takes a few hits.
Warp: warps around every few seconds.
Blind: No view. Use the other views to find him.
Bird: Like drop, but circles around a bit before heading at you quickly.
Boss: TowerKing: he's really tall. Just keep knocking him down.
Zombie: gotta kill him twice.
Slowdown: If he hits you, he'll slow down your movements.
Spin: spirals in as he heads at you.
Blackhole: will suck any missles shot to him. Only lasers will hurt him.
Birdking: like other birds, just more health.
Beamwall: Invincible to lasers, only a missle can kill him.
Sidestep: keeps dodging side to side.
Light: This level is completely dark: they keep the room lit. Keep them alive to make it a little easier.
Boss Numbers: Kill the 3 tiles in order, 1-2-3. Visibility gets worse as his health gets lower.
Phantom: Invincible; you must shoot the floating red cube to his side.
Girl: don't shoot her!
LastBoss: this one shoots back! shoot the yellow balls and missles he shoots at you. Save your missles for him; he warps after each hit. After a few hits, he puts up a beamwall, so you can only hit him with missles.
BTW, very original idea, and VERY well implemented. Nice job keeping it simple in graphics and gameplay, yet complex in strategy. I really enjoyed it.
Agreed. Great idea, very original, vary playable. Well designed learning curve. Somewhere mid-L3 got too hard for me, but it's not the game's fault.
5 mushrooms.
bio
Waves get long, and multiple blind enemies spawning in a row is really unpleasant, but otherwise very interesting.
It says i do not have the required plugin...
[Click on the "plug-in info" link in the review header next to "Platform: Unity" to download the latest Unity plug-in. -Jay]
Please put up plugin info.
[Click on the "plug-in info" link in the review header next to "Platform: Unity" to download the latest Unity plug-in. -Jay]
What plugin do I need?
[Click on the "plug-in info" link in the review header next to "Platform: Unity" to download the latest Unity plug-in. -Jay]
Hey, could you possibly provide some sort of information regarding the plug-in and how to install it?
*glares at BuenoCabra*
This is like Second Person Shooter, a game-art piece by Julian Oliver made in 2005.
So, no, not entirely original, but it's not impossible to think of.
A tip for the Numbers boss:
Shooting a missile at Panel 3 will lower his health by 3 instead of 1. That's the only reason I was able to beat him.
Doesn't work :(
[You need the Unity plug-in. -Jay]
Update