Gravity Core is an attempt to mix old school arcade sensibilities into a new product. For the most part, the game tries to recapture classic momentum-based gameplay found in games like
Asteroids or
Lunar Lander, while mixing it with elements of a shooter, such as
Defender. The idea is a solid one in concept, though it clings too heavily to the arcade mentality that most games have tried to break away from in the last few years.
In Gravity Core, you control a small, one-man fighter and are tasked with trying to rescue stranded miners from a series of inter-connected caves on the surface of various planets. The trick is that your ship is constantly moving and the only way to maneuver it around is by using forward and retro (backwards) thrusters. Once your ship gets moving it is hard to stop, mainly because of forces like inertia that, even with a recent tweak, still make your ship feel slippery. This causes unnecessary frustration, which doesn't take too long to set in. As a result, the game isn't much fun - even with the recent patch.
As you complete missions, you'll earn credits which can be used to purchase upgrades for your ship. The actual upgrades are a mixed bag; some are incredibly useful, while others aren't worth installing at all.
In addition to a lengthy single-player game, Gravity Core also includes a competitive multiplayer mode via LAN. Playing over a wireless network, the game was next to unplayable thanks to a massive amount of lag. Things were much better over a wired network, at least as far as lag is concerned. Multiplayer gameplay faces the same issues as single-player - the controls and mechanics are clumsy. Rather than being a battle to ten kills, like it is supposed to be, it became a game of who would be the last to crash into a wall.
