This Means Warp | Xbox Review

The right balance of fun, challenge, graphics, and style will commonly get a big cheer from me. Throw in the fact that it’s a roguelite and you have my attention! This Means Warp brings all this and more to the table. It is super easy to jump in and play a run or two for 30 minutes or hang out and spend a good part of your afternoon improving and making it further and further. A simple concept that still requires attention and good decision making, This Means Warp has replayability and hours of fun. Let’s jump in!

Story 

On board a spacecraft, we learn that the Norg have blown up a planet. Their mothership must be destroyed or there is danger to the galaxy. The game opens with Captain Krik (get it?) rallying the crew members to prepare for battle. Some of the other crewmembers are named Spork, Aloha, and Beans. I’m already chuckling. If you’re not chuckling, then I guess you’re not a fan of Star Trek. Well, Beans is a doofus and manages to blow a hole in the hull of the ship killing every crewmember except for you. 

When the game opens, you have an option to choose one out of four characters. Bob, who is rather Mario-esque in his average stats: Good at all things but currently great at none. Pants is an alligator who is better at repairing but allows more damage taken. Nobnob is a bird-like character who is good with damage but slow with repair. Finally, Xin who is also good at repairing, decent with damage, but slow to move around the spaceship. In single-player mode, you can select one of these characters. As the game progresses, you are able to add members of the crew to your spaceship where they will be AI controlled, but you can direct them if you have your own priorities such as “Repair the attack weapon before repairing the hull” and things like that. In multiplayer mode, each player can select their character and, as a group, the team will attack, repair, and upgrade the equipment together! Multiplayer is where this game truly shines, but single-player is also a blast! When I play board games, my preference is to work together as a group towards a common enemy instead of against each other. Therefore, I love This Means Warp already.

Now it’s on to the game where you must defeat the enemy spacecraft and all of the zone bosses before ultimately making it to the Norg mothership to win the game!

Controls and Gameplay

The game is simple, you progress through a map and conduct one-on-one battles with the Norg ships. This Means Warp warms you up with a couple of simple battles. I even was able to get to the first boss on my initial run. However, I could not keep up with their attacks and ultimately lost. This is where the roguelite aspect comes into play.

Once your ship is destroyed, you go back to the beginning. Since you destroyed a few ships in your initial run, you have some money to spend on upgrades: Better guns, stronger hull, faster recharge of weapons, etc. You can even purchase robots to do some tasks for you! During the run, after defeating an enemy ship, you get some minor upgrades which can enable your spaceship to take more damage or give a minor power upgrade to your weapons. 

This Means Warp makes the game easy to learn, a blast to play, exciting to lose and improve, all while still being just challenging enough to make me say, “Oh! I was so close!” but I have no desire to fling my controller against a wall in frustration. I know that, with some small upgrades, I can make it farther next time.

Regardless of the character that you choose, the main gameplay is to attack the enemy ship, recharge your weapon between attacks, and repair any damage taken from enemy attacks. Too much damage, your ship explodes and you start over. Obviously, you must destroy the enemy aircraft before they destroy you. In between battles, you are given an opportunity to repair your ship.

I will make one recommendation. When the doors on your ship get damaged by enemy attacks, you might say to yourself, “That doesn’t matter, it’s just a door!” No, keep your eye on your health meter. If enough doors get damaged, your ship will still explode when the meter hits zero.

Not the Greatest with Handheld, but Terrifically Well Made

I played This Means Warp on my Switch. I started in handheld mode which was adequate and fun, but there was too much going on to fit into the little screen. I prefer docking my switch (or recommend playing on the console/PC) much higher so that you can enjoy the improved controls and be more entertained by the nuance, whimsy, and joy of running around the spaceship. I say “improved controls” because with the additional screen real estate, you’re able to be more precise with your movements. I found myself feeling clumsy, running into walls instead of through doorways or not quite standing in the right spot to repair/attack. These issues disappeared immediately once I docked my Switch.

The graphics themselves appear to be cel-shaded. Crisp outlines of every aspect of the screen also give it a comic-book feel, each room of the spaceship resembling a panel on a comic page. The view is top down at approximately 85% giving This Means Warp a board game feel. Moving around the ship reminded me of moving along the board of Clue going from room to room. Thankfully, no dice are required. Just run!

Controls are quite simple. On the Switch, the control stick moves your character around the ship while holding down that same stick will give your character a short burst of speed which comes in handy especially during the boss battles. One button picks up an object and will also place that object where it belongs. This includes picking up a power unit, running to the weapon, and placing the power unit inside the weapon so that you can attack. That same “action” button is also used for repairs. Quite simple and easy to learn. I would imagine that even very young children would be able to pick this game up quickly and have fun.

Finally, the sound is quite good but pretty standard fare for a game set in outer space. I will say that the bass is perfectly used. The music, during gameplay, keeps you motivated almost like you’re in a lo-fi club. But, the sound effects are where it shines! For instance, when your ship takes damage and is in danger, the bass is perfectly used to create a thump-thump heartbeat giving the player a sense of urgency to Repair The Ship! As the ship takes more damage, the heartbeat speeds up. The blips and poofs that you would expect to hear on a spaceship are here as well. 

The in-battle music is more urgent and exciting while the in-between battles music is energetic, but noticeably more gentle. It’s a great time and keeps the game exciting as the player progresses.

Final Verdict

So much fun! The roguelite elements do not become tedious or frustrating. I learned immediately where I made a mistake or what I could purchase for an upgrade to get me through the current level. 

If you’re a fan of roguelites, highly recommended. If you’re a fan of multiplayer couch co-op, incredibly highly recommended! If you only have 30 minutes before you need to go do a life requirement chore, highly recommended since the runs don’t take that long. 

What a charming game that provided hours of joy! This Means Warp has been out for a while, so you might even be able to find it on sale. At full price, it’s highly recommended. On sale, we’re approaching no-brainer decision territory. Please buy this game. I promise you will enjoy it.

To hear more discussion about This Means Warp, be sure to listen to the December 6th, 2023 episode of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:28:02 time stamp.

This review is based on an Xbox copy of This Means Warp provided by Jagex Games Studio for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.