Swarm Arena

Swarm Arena
N/A
Metacritic
76
Steam
50.25
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$1.99
Release date
19 August 2010
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
76 (52 votes)

Take control of a virtual organism in this unique indie arcade title, while unlocking Steam Achievements and climbing the leaderboards!

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Swarm Arena system requirements

  • OS: Windows® XP / Vista™ / Windows® 7
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz processor
  • Memory: 1 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 256MB video memory, Pixelshader 2.0
  • DirectX®: 9.0c
  • Hard Drive: 200 MB
  • Sound: DirectX compatible Sound Card
  • Other Requirements:

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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DNB
DNB

Tell you what, I had this game on Demo originally and I played it and played it and played it, that I decided to buy the full product. I really liked the concept, the minimalist simplicity, and the explosive glow-y looking graphics, but after I installed it, I reached about level three in 90 minutes, and then I kept getting snipped by the AI, and I haven't made any progress in the last twelve years. Huge disappointment - I only wish the AI could have been a little more in favour of the player, as they paid for the game, after all.

Kalle
Kalle

The most beautiful CRAP game in my library.
My goodness. I rarely recommend against games, but this one, bought like a decade ago or so, is one of them:

While the graphics are nice and music and sound make for a great arcade vibe, the gameplay is just awful:
The (lack of) control you have over your swarm makes it pretty much random whether you score 100.000 points or 1 million. Due to the very same lack of control it's also not much fun playing against one another. It reminds me of the early Playstation Tekken or other fighting games, where one skilled player plays against someone who randomly pushes all buttons on the controller and the latter wins.

Xuis
Xuis

Do not be fooled by the steam store page, this game has fully implemented online play through the steam system. I bought it for it's gameplay, and still enjoy it for that and it's well done online laddering.

Not only are the controls solidly simple, but they also allow for quite a few physics based trickes to be pulled off. This results in gameplay that rarely gets dull and allows the player's playstyle to clearly show in multiplayer matches.

RED-FROG
RED-FROG

I've had so much fun with this one!

I love to watch the physics go crazy but in a controlled way.
One very good indie game and absolutely worth the price.

At first I missed the point of the game until I learned how it's played.

Try out the demo!

Kissaki
Kissaki

Just 4 move keys and 2 action keys for everything. Still really neat.
Nice gameplay, visuals and music!

RolanDecoy
RolanDecoy

Nice remake of the old fluid games. Has some extra features I never saw in those though, like upgradable power-ups.

They say the AI adapts to you play-style, but I haven't seen that in practice yet...but that may just be me...

Great game if you don't know what to do for the next 15 minutes.

<M.o.K>Samurai Jack-ing Off
<M.o.K>S…

A unique physics-based game wherein you control a swarm of semi-independent particles. Your powerup determines how they behave. You simply battle your swarms against the enemy and deplete theirs to destroy the enemy.

A blast to play, & certainly very hard to master. Also, gorgeous representation.

timɘ_bendeя
timɘ_bendeя

A Geometry Wars clone with 'multiplayer' elements. Instead of gaining weapon powerups you search for drone powerups that can attack your opponent('s shield). It's very simple, and not really deep. But somewhat fun if you have a couple of minutes to spare.

[Rating: 65/100]

TelekiNess
TelekiNess

Interesting and new gameplay here; it's different in a good way. Just give the demo a try; it's a neat little game. Cheap, too.

Xaras
Xaras

Really good game, graphics are simple but very cool. Gameplay is fast and furious. Original concept, shame that not many people online to play against.

[HTD] ORBITPATROL
[HTD] ORBITPATROL

You basically play a little comet which is able to manipulate drones. Either you attack with them or defend yourself vs enemy drones.

Once you found out how it works this is pretty fun and really addictive for a indie game.

One interesting part of the game is that there is an KI which learns from you. The aim is to train the KI to beat the enemy KI on maximum difficulty. Which gets rewarded with an achievment aswell...Wasnt able to do it, but I wish you luck.

Jill of Trades
Jill of Trades

A nice arcade style game for casual players or hardcore ones. Basically, the tiny droids revolve around you that attack and protect you from opposing droids. A pretty good game that anyone can play and play against for a couple of bucks!

yhumi
yhumi

This game is absolutely fantastic. After a while of searching for a multiplayer, fast-paced action game for a great price I came to this gem. The gameplay is fast but responsive and skillful, there isn't a moment where you feel cheated by the controls. There's not a flaw in this game and you could easily kill hours playing this. Would recommend.

It's also a perfect price to gift a friend after you learn the skills then kick their butt.. until they get better than you xD

Tourmi
Tourmi

Great game, and the Pandora AI is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. Totally recomended to everyone who likes to have a challenge.

Aussiedroid
Aussiedroid

60 / 100

Swarm Arena is a great concept for a simple 1-on-1 battle arena game that is rather unique. You control a swarm of flying pixel thingies that when in range of your ship can be used defensively or offensively. Defense, forces the swarm to hold its position, providing you with some cover against incoming attacks, where Offensive has a number of modes (shoot, circle) used to push your swarm out to attack your opponent. The first person to hit the other ship wins.

The biggest issue I have is the lack of control you feel over your swarm. Despite any tactics you may try, such as seeing an opening to quickly attack your foe, your swarm doesn't move in to attack as you may expect making your chance to hit seem very random. Wrongly timed attacks can result in almost instant loss of your entire swarm leaving you very frustrated and likely to loose the round.

There are only a few different game modes to play, and with the age of this title now there is no-one playing online anymore. Unless you have friends who want to play you are stuck with the AI or score challenge modes. Talking AI, this has to be a strong point of the game. AI is tough (very tough!) and smart which is rare to find in a Triple-A title let alone a small indie game, but again due to the poor control system over your swarm this ultimately turns to frustration and not a legitimate challenge. This had great potential but simply doesn't pull it off!

This may keep you entertained for an hour or two, but would be unlikely to get much more out of it. I would only recommend grabbing this if you find it on a 75-90% off sale.

If you enjoyed reading this review, please follow True Blue Reviews for more recommendations!

KingMiNiMoo
KingMiNiMoo

I like the game... but the multiplier is so laggy please if anyone has a fix or can help please let me know.

Ritzgit
Ritzgit

The entire allure of this game is in the high score chasing. It is very difficult to go after achievements with this game as the online multiplayer is effectively dead.

Not all is bad though. As far as the actual game is concerned, it is quite fun if a bit simple. It was well worth the 80 cents I paid for it.

I recommend it so long as the game is on sale for less than a dollar.

Bobbins
Bobbins

It's a game about hitting things with particles. That's your one sentence elevator pitch right there. YOU HIT THINGS WITH PARTICLES.

And it works. To a point.

It's a really weird game because when it works, when your play and the game come together and you're spinning around this arena with your swarm of particles (hence "Swarm Arena") smacking the hell out of whatever comes your way, it feels tremendous. The way the music kinda syncs up with your actions and it feels like you're performing some sort of ballet of particle death and that, honestly, is really, really something.

But then you start to lose and a lose state in the game isn't quick and clean, it's the slow removal of your abililty to play the game as your swarm gets wittled down and wittled down. It's not quite a walk of shame a la Ridiculous Fishing, it's more that it seems like no-one could work out how to do this cleanly and fairly and just sort of went "that'll do". It wouldn't be such a big sin if it didn't drag the game out and into a state where it's just not, briefly, enjoyable to play. It's like your overriding memory of the last round isn't the bit where you're swooping round smacking everything with your particle army, it's the bit where you're trapsing around trying to keep these two particles going to get a few extra points. It doesn't even feel like clinging on desperately, just sort of "oh. well."

Nevermind though because Swarm Arena is worth it for the moments where you are THE PARTICLE KING and no-one wants to stop THE PARTICLE KING because THE PARTICLE KING has ALL the particles and he'll particle up your face. Or something like that.

Look, it's good except for the endgame bit, OK?

ArkanumKT-TTV
ArkanumKT-TTV

An indie game that was clearly rushed out, or just plain had poor development. Combats feel arbitrary. The specific abilities that you're supposed to have simply don't work well.

KingdomGnark
KingdomGnark

Video Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JzJbLSx-rA

Ratings-
Overall: 8
Gameplay: 9
Addictiveness: 8
Graphics: 8
Audio: 7

You play as an orb that has to collect particles to use as both offense and defense. The standard swarm mode is awesome, but even better is the PVP and the sandbox. Fight other people locally or online, fight a bot 1v1, work your way through infinite waves, or just play with the beautiful particle effects and physics.

DrStephenFalken
DrStephenFalken

In my opinion this game is a little hidden gem. Not many people play it anymore and its a shame.
Nice clean graphics, simple controls and an interesting "teach your A.I." mode.
From time to time it goes on sale for less than 1e/1$, buy it, you wont regret it ;)

henry700
henry700

Outstanding game. I have even nostalgia from it, i used to train with Pandora a lot when my internet was down. It's one of those "easy to learn, hard to master" games but instead of frustrating when you lose, you just feel challenged until you finally overcome the obstacle in question. I bought the game years after this, because when i had initially played it i couldn't even make Steam deposits. This game deserves its value and so much more.

Mygaffer
Mygaffer

Very simple game. Seems to consist of mostly score attack, you control an orb that can move around a sqaure playing field, you can influence the colored dots that rotate around your orb but the control is impercise by design. Frankly I do not care for it but it could be a short diversion for the right person who wants a chill out zen type game to play in short bursts.

XJ9
XJ9

I remember playing this game like 10 years ago, it was colorful and funny as heck + it had great visuals for what it is.

IDK maybe i had not that much games to play, or i am just too old for that kind of games, but i dont feel it as enjoyable as it used to be. Maybe it's just no my cup of tea.

It's still a good game tho

+Cheap
+Steam achievements
+PvP and PvE
+Colorful arcade with physics involved.
-No cards

Trenchburner
Trenchburner

Somewhat decent. Okay for a little time waster on your laptop or something but don't expect anything amazing.

VK_Lethal
VK_Lethal

Someone please explain me, what the heck am I supposed to do in this game.

Stonerp561
Stonerp561

once you understand,,, A MASTAPEICEEE