Clean Asia is a quirky indie shmup (shoot ‘em ups for those not in the know) by Cactus, an indie game developer from Sweden. This game has been out for a while and it is generally well regarded, so if you play indie games, you may have already played it. Nevertheless, this game still deserves a review, for being so awesome.

In the game, you can either play as Macky I. Dole or Micky R. Dole, two pilots who must clean Asia from the eyes of mankind, who have taken over China, New Korea, and Thailand. The story doesn’t really matter, or even make any sense; what it comes down to is you have 2 different ships, and 3 levels to play. Unlike most games, where having different ships means you can either fire a spread of bullets or a laser beam the ships in Clean Asia actually have very different abilities and play styles.

The first ship, “attractor”, is the more unique of the two, and my personal favorite. You have to dash at your enemies to gain debris, which you can then fling back at them using your attractor. This requires a rather aggressive playing style- you will need to go right up to the front of your enemies and dash at them, otherwise you will be sans debris, your ammo source.

The other ship is the “reflector”. It plays more like a normal ship, but with a few key differences. Yet again, debris is important, but in a different way; with this ship, they power you up. You have three attacks; a normal shot, a charge shot, and an uber powerful super shot which uses up all of your debris. You also have the reflector that is the ship’s namesake, which protects you while rapidly eating up your debris. This ship requires a good balance between becoming all powerful and protecting yourself, and I often find myself trying to keep the shield off for just a tiny bit longer, only to die.

Up to now, I have not mentioned the level design, which plays a big part in the game. New Korea and Thailand are similar, with you facing one or two big enemies at a time, almost all of which could be considered bosses. China however is very different. This is more of a bullet hell type level, with stuff flying all around. To balance out the difficulty, China has five buckets behind you that are your only source of debris in the level. This gives you the added task of protecting your buckets from any harm that may befall them, for without them your ship will be quite weak.

Overall, Clean Asia is a very fun game, but like most shmups, it has a very punishing difficulty level. Fortunately, the variety and uniqueness of the gameplay somewhat makes up for this, but when played in long periods, frustration will ensue. It is a fun game, and great when you want to pass the time, but it is not at the level of a commercial game. This doesn’t matter much because it isn’t a commercial game, and while it may not be worth that much money it is definitely worth your time.

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