Squadron 51

Squadron 51
N/A
Metacritic
94
Steam
70.502
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Release date
21 September 2022
Steam reviews score
Total
94 (136 votes)

UFOs! Aliens! Aircrafts! Resistance! SHOOT 'EM UP! Squadron 51 is a spaceship shooter with 2D gameplay and 3D environment. Enjoy a smart combination of a fast-paced shooting experience and the 1950's sci-fi movies aesthetic, with live-action cutscenes.

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Squadron 51 system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Core i5
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
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Gee_Pike
Gee_Pike

11/10

Lazy Review: The Cuphead of bullet-hell space shooters! “Thunderbirds are GO!” 🤣🏆🔥

Firstly Im equally surprised & thankful that this got made! Though “only” 11 levels, this game delivers the goods. The levels are tough, fun, and interesting. Roguelite elements exist where your point accumulation (at death, or level end) allows for ship upgrades. Checkpoints in levels are fair, you can retry levels at anytime, and there is an infinite lives feature for anyone wanting to just experience the story. The story and cinematic are the best! With the quality and taste of a “Jill-sandwich”…the quality story/acting/effects are above all else FUN! Oh, and couch co-op=🔥

For an old-timey reminder that challenge brings rewards and entertainment is sometimes best as good-ole-simple-fun…get your hands on this gem!

Cherrymocha
Cherrymocha

It is a nice little shooting game with an awesome art style.
Level design and boss design are nice.
Cut scene and voice over are nice.
I wish it could have more weapons and upgrades.

Recommend especially on sale.

Dave Voyles
Dave Voyles

I absolutely LOVED this game. Beat it in 1 sitting.

It's a throwback to the sci-fi films of the 40s and 50s, and boy does it deliver. Nice FMV sequences between each stage had me sold.

CONS:
- Extremely difficult
(However, there is a mode to enable infinite lives, which I utilized)

PROS:
- Distinct art style
- Surprisingly good FMV scenes
- Ship/powerup customization between stages

HELL ON EARTH
HELL ON EARTH

Wow what can i say, well this is one cool game.
Its like playing a movie almost, and its a arcade style shoot em up, with cup head style graphics but in black and white.
This game for sure has not had the attention like cup head has, but it should do as its awsome.But guess its not had the games media attention so much.
Its not stupidly hard but very tricky to get through the levels, and found myself hitting the back grounds in the game thinking i could go straight through it.But the best way to tell is just shoot at it, and if it hits some thing you need to avoid it.
This game is a case of practice until you finally get past certain tough spots, but when you do its very rewarding to be honest.But you get upgrades for dying to help you which is a good balance, and you can even turn on in the settings unlimited lives which is cool like the old arcade games.
What this small development team have done is a amazing first game, and really hope not the last.
Alot of time and effort has been put into this game from the cool effects through to the acting cut scenes which are cheesy but they are like that on purpose to make it look like a B movie.

So hope my thumbs up review helps decide you to buy it.
If i had one request about the game, well hope they make some extra levels to continue the story of the game as a paid dlc which i dont mind at all.

Cheers everyone and please check it out.

Yareyous
Yareyous

All genres encased in this game have been lovingly revived. The classic 40s war flick presentation was beautifully done. At one point, I even showed it to my dad (an avid watcher of these types of films) and he was impressed. Additionally, the near dead genre of the side scrolling shoot them up was lovingly revived. While challenging, I found the game do-able. In particular the upgrade system felt really rewarding and proved a great incentive to go for the extra kills. Additionally, the developers did an excellent job of using every color available to them... that is black and white. At time I found it difficult to discern from background and foreground, but for the most part enemy attacks and my own attacks were easily readable. The only weaknesses stem from the time it took me to beat it. I would love to see what other types of movie genres would make great games in the future and I hope this team continues to do exciting stuff like this!

Pixelwikinger
Pixelwikinger

Squad 51 is the best SHMUP I've ever played. It has all the nostalgia of a 2D side scrolling shoot 'em up, but vombines it with awesome playability, smooth controls, and excellent graphics, together with a decent upgrade system that motivates from the firt points scored. Another high quality of the game is it's fresh retro look on black and white b-movies. The video sequences are executed formidably, and the overall look is simply great. With Squad 51, everything fits together. Coming to replayability, I found myself playing earlier levels to get better scores. What could be more prove for the overall quality. Hoping for an addon or a sequel! Full recommendation.

GallantPiggy
GallantPiggy

Great game ! I really have nothing bad to say about it. I don't know a lot about Shoot'em up games so I can't really compare but it's just really fun to play, really well done. Beautiful art direction and consistency between the FMV and the gameplay art.

I highly recommend it !

Danleco
Danleco

Its good. Low budget, 50's sci-fi movie wrapped around a shmup with decent gameplay. The black and white look and feel takes a minute to get used to, but works out fine. The last couple levels can get rough, but you have so many upgrades by then, its a breeze.

PapaBangBang
PapaBangBang

This game puts a big stupid grin on my face.
I love SHMUPS, but I'm not that good at them. I die a lot in this game, but, I die with a big stupid grin on my face. It's easier than most SHMUPS with the unlockable powerups and checkpoints. You also don't have to start the whole game over each time you play, you can start from any level you've unlocked.
I've played this on PC and the Steam Deck, it runs great on both and I'm proficient at dying on both as well. This game should have no problem getting Deck Verified.
Buy the game, play the crap out of it, and leave a review. Encourage more of this.

Vasher
Vasher

Loved every second of this game, the theme, cut scenes, everything. One of my new favourites. It is on the short side 3 hrs (normal for a Shmup), I say this because I just want more. I'll be keeping and eye on Loomiarts very excited to see more from this developer. If you like Shmups or don't and just like the aesthetics I highly recommend.

Corp
Corp

A cool game with some really interesting visuals and graphics. Looks like an old black and white film. A little comedy mixed in by the real actors, gives a wholesome feeling throughout the campaign. The cut scenes are fun to watch and game play is entertaining. Worth at least a play through but perfecting the game is tough. Try and get it on sale if you can wait.

Tim
Tim

Didn't like it. The trailer did a better job evoking B-movies than the cutscenes. In particular, the English dub felt very modern. I was expecting Mid-Atlantic accents, mugging, unexpectedly conservative and jingoistic ejaculations from the characters, and so on. But aside from the filming style, I didn't get a strong B-movie vibe.

The gameplay is interesting but frustrating. There are a couple stages where you play this MASSIVE ship with a similarly large hitbox, and it's novel considering every other shooter is trying to be a bullet hell. Then you switch to one of the smaller planes and it's like, "Oh yeah, I'm playing a so-so shooter without a strong gameplay gimmick."

The upgrades system really grated on me. One upgrade grants rechargable lives... that take most of an entire stage without taking hits to earn... unless you eventually earn a combination of upgrades to speed up the process. One grants you a fire from behind sub-weapon on a cool-down... Even though it's not always relevant to the stage & takes up one of your two sub-weapon slots. I wish it had more universally applicable core moveset & left life acquisition to a score mechanic instead.

bertstruiksma
bertstruiksma

The bad 50s B movie aesthetic is pleasing but fairly shallow and not nearly as funny as, say, Destroy All Humans! What I ultimately got playing this, was a "let's do a tribute to those silly 50s movies with a strong female character this time and make a game out of it as well" vibe. And they KINDA were unable to make a game on par with the visuals. The basic shoot 'em up action is just that and it can feel quite boring to play at times with the predictable enemy patterns and longish spots with nothing to shoot, often with LOTS of radio buddy plot explanation/setup instead.

It can be hard to judge what is lethal to touch, as there are almost always a lot of missiles, debris, explosions etc. on screen and everything is in B&W (obviously!). Some of the set piece (boss) animations can be stuttery and occasionally very jarring, allowing for a moment of loss of control as an animation jerks along and the frame-rate goes down hard for a moment (as well as control over the game, which may cost you a life).

Fairly short experience, with a real difficulty spike only towards the end with a very drawn out final boss fight.

Hopefully the developers can make a more polished and fleshed out game next time with hopefully the same level of presentation, slightly more seamlessly integrated and less talking more varied game play.

In short: don't get your hopes up too high... it's OK enough and if you love the look of the game, you may be more forgiving but seriously (and for an obvious, I feel, comparison): don't expect anything near Cuphead's level of polish or fun. And there's no shame in that, as Cuphead is an amazing standout achievement. And this, I feel, is just not and I was a little surprised that so many of the reviews here seem to offer nothing but praise and little criticism, which I feel needs some balancing.

DuJo Senoj
DuJo Senoj

As a fan of classic shoot em ups like R-Type and 1942, plus a 50s Sci-Fi nerd, this was a must buy. I wasnt disappointed. Yes the story is short but the cut scenes and style are so authentic. Theres replay value in the Resistance mode. At £15, its a great wee buy

APeacefulWarrior
APeacefulWarrior

This one doesn't even need an extensive review. If you're looking at the screenshots and thinking this might be a game you'll enjoy, it *IS* a game you'll enjoy. The recreation of old optical VFX is practically perfect, and it's completely credible as a fun shmup as well. I especially love how it warns players of incoming offscreen ships by marking them with "cigarette burns." Such a nice touch.

This is a real hidden gem and deserves more attention.

As an aside, I'd actually recommend locking the framerate to 30FPS, not 60, and dropping the resolution down to 720p. It doesn't harm the gameplay, but makes it look much more authentic in terms of presentation. This is a rare game that actually benefits from "cinematic" settings, since the aesthetic is so closely tied to old movies.

*************
Edit: After taking about three hours to do the full campaign for the first time, all I can say is that this game is an absolute delight and I had a big goofy grin on my face most of the way.

Alexandre Ramos
Alexandre Ramos

A great sidescrolling shmup, with amazing retro aesthetic, great soundtrack and cheesy b-movies thematic (the monsters in the laters chapters are hilarious). But the FMV cutscenes are just... perfection! You feel like really watching a 50s sci-fi series.

Charlie Bronson
Charlie Bronson

See my review of the demo. Mostly the same. Campaign is only 3 or so hours long, but the production value and devotion to the aesthetic might make up for it. There is "resistance mode" which includes a leader-board and increased difficulty, so basically 5 bucks an hour for good quality entertainment. It was worth it to me to fund such a niche project such as this.

Random Hajile
Random Hajile

Small game - you can finish in under 3hrs. But every minute of its short runtime is a lot of fun :) While it won't subvert your expectations in terms of story or gameplay, its 1950's sci-fi serial aesthetic + set-pieces are impressive, but also show a lot of passion and love for the genre. Its campy and its a good time, and so if you wanna support that creativity and dedication to the craft, I recommend picking it up!

MuTLY
MuTLY

Fun! Difficult! I love it. What a gem, the production and cutscenes are great, the controls are very good. I wasn't expecting this, I'm glad I bought it.

krestofre
krestofre

Solid game play with production values that are so clever it makes me wish I thought of it. If you like horizontal shooters this is an excellent game that nails its tone.

MassiveGoods
MassiveGoods

Squad 51 is a deceptively simple side-scrolling retro-modern SHMUP. Great presentation and production values. The controls are great. There are a lot of unlockable weapons and items you can get throughout the game. It's a challenging. You will die a lot. If you're a fan of UN Squadron and Cuphead, you will love this game. My only complaint is there is no 4k resolution support. The game does upscale nicely though to 4k.

JK
JK

It's sad the story can be beaten in 3 hours, but the amount of care and effort that went into the artstyle, the tone, the silliness with really good gameplay that can make it fairly replayable. If you're a fan of games like 1942 and into sci-fi B Movies from the 50s, this is a must play.

Salt_Sudoku
Salt_Sudoku

tl;dr If you like the settings/theme/presentation (which you probably do) you should probably get this unless you dislike horizontal STGs/SHMUPS or one that is mechanically simple in general.

If you scrolled down this far you're already sold on the presentation/aesthetics/setting so I'll focus on gameplay and content related things.

There are 11 levels which will take you about 90 minutes (this includes like 10 minutes of cutscenes) to clear in one non-death loop through the 11 levels. A good handful of them have end-stage bosses, but some of them end just by reaching the end. Some levels are shorter and longer than others, and there's a 2 level stretch with a level gimmick of a more zoomed in camera/larger ship as a "gimmick" if you consider it that, but everything else is general affair. You get ranked with a score and star rating at the end of each level (there's also 3 "hidden" collectibles per level). There are two modes of play: Normal (Level Select playthrough) and Resistence (Continuous playthrough that gets harder each loop through).

Before each level you get the option of slotting 20 different upgrades into your ship. These affect everything from the size of your ship's hitbox (it's visible in the Equip screen), damage/fire rate, armor (health pool), and how much damage you take from enemy fire and collisions (you can even negate this with 3 upgrade slots to completely nullify all non-head-on collision damage). You unlock new upgrades and upgrade slots by meeting a specific total score amount on the current playthrough through the 11 levels.

Your ship controls are simple and basic STG/Shmup affair. You only have one straight-forward shot type without upgrades, but you can equip up to two different special shot types as upgrades that can be used temporarily when they are charged up by damaging enemies. These include a single high damaging bomb drop, a gattling gun/rapid fire, and a behind the ship fire flamethrower volley. You have an Armor health gauge as well, so you don't technically die in one shot, but it does get cleaved off in huge chunks, so you really only get 2-3 hits total off even the most minor enemy fire. Certain environment collisions and attacks will still one shot you. Scoring is really simple, you just get a simple chaining bonus off continuously killing enemies within a short time as long as you keep the combo up. There are also extra lives/extends that you can score-up to.

Difficulty isn't anything special for a Normal mode clear, if you can make it through even a few stages in a CAVE game you should be fine here. Outside of a few bosses in the latter half of the game, there aren't any hard patterns, so it will be mostly score routing and basic level memorization. You can even enable Infinite Lives in the options menu and there's a generous checkpoint system so you can even credit feed to your heart's content. Dynamic difficulty and looped rank increases take effect in the Resistence mode which gets a lot more challenging so you'll probably spend most of the time in that mode after you're first normal mode clear. Resistence mode is the "Standard" mode and the only one that supports leaderboards, since Normal is essentially a level select unlock and practice mode. Also to note, that on restart you even get that option to auto-skip cutscenes as well as skip/disable any event related NPC dialogue that has already been played in the current run up to that point for your sanity.

Other general things:
- Any enemy that comes on screen is indicated with a small circular blip for a small moment before it spawns to avoid cases of being sniped by a spawning enemy on the left/right side
- There's maybe 2 or 3 "GOTCHA" moments total throughout the entire playthrough that may catch you off guard if you're sleeping, but nothing major
- The game only supports up to 1080p native resolution, but the game's art style and presentation doesn't make this a huge issue when upscaling to higher resolutions
- The game has a 30 or 60FPS cap
- You can select either the original Portuguese audio or an English dub
- There's a few accessibility options like permanent auto fire (you don't even have to hold the button to continuously fire), visibility adjustments, and subtitles

ByDo-CoRe
ByDo-CoRe

Incredible challenging Shoot Em Up, Awesome graphics, Love the black & white 50's movie theme, Amazing cut scenes, Great music, Smooth controls.
Highly recommended buy this game you will not be disappointed.
Excellent work guys, Love your game...Both Thumbs UP!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhwHJ7dFp58

V I D A L
V I D A L

Absolutely stunning and incredible production value with very well made live action cutscenes and fitting music.

Ge0force
Ge0force

Great shoot'em up based on the science fiction movies of the 50's. The devs really nailed the classic movie vibe with their FMV story campaign, including hilarious overacting and visible strings on the space ships. But the gameplay is great as well: there's lots of variaton in the level design and plenty of different enemies and bosses. By increasing your total score in the story campaign, you unlock new perks and subweapons which can be applied to your ship between every level.

The game gives you a decent challenge, but is definitely a lot more accessible than other games in the genre. You get visible warning where enemies are about to appear on your screen, and the bullets don't move very fast making them easy to avoid after some practice. Last but not least the game is a visual masterpiece, with excellent 3D graphics and realistic looking models and backgrounds. Very recommended!

JOHNNY GUEGGU
JOHNNY GUEGGU

💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛

This game has no "Art-Style". You can play a noir movie here, from the golden age of cinema. It's THAT good!

The game is hard for me, bullets everywhere, but I love it simply because of it's unique, impressive looks.

Every once in a while there comes a game that brings something completely new - this is one of those gems.

I wish there were more games in this particular style. Keep them coming! 👍🏻

The only thing I dislike about the game, and this is only my personal preference: It's very World-War-2-ish.
It makes sense for the scenario, but I sometimes can't really appreciate the visuals, because there's always 20 things going on on the screen.

Imagine this art-style on a 20s noir Jump & Run: Trenchcoat, Hat and Tommy Gun, cleaning out Sin City... *hint hint at the Devs* 😁

💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛💚💛🧡❤🧡💛

OasisAvatar
OasisAvatar

This game is great!! Works perfect on the STEAM DECK! Im generally not a fan of Shoot em ups but i LOVE weird retro scifi. I actually love the live action cut scenes. This game is hard but enjoyable!

Avenged
Avenged

What a beautiful and well crafted game! The seamless transitions from live action video to game play is jaw dropping. Squadron 51 has tight controls, creative combat that doesn't wear out it's welcome. It has just enough challenge to appeal to beginners and experts of horizontal shooters. Honestly, my only grip is that the difficulty is a little unbalanced, with more difficult levels towards the middle and seemed easier toward the end. The story-line is well crafted and campy just like you would expect.

If you have any interest in horizontal shooters, pick this game up right now!

kevbell
kevbell

I'm LOVING this game; it is to 50's sci-fi movies what CUPHEAD is to classic 20's and 30's animation. Its a fun, silly game that doesn't need to take itself too seriously. The ship "power-ups" help level out the difficulty, and the black-and-white movie scenes remind me of Wing Commander in the best way. Really enjoying this game!

Gabriel
Gabriel

Excelente!! Shmup muito competente com visual INCRIVEL e com uma tematica super interessante. Recomendo demais!!