What makes Schildmaid MX stand out is immediately obvious; your goal isn’t to avoid bullets but to fly into them! The core hook revolves around the idea that your ship is powered up by enemy projectiles. The more projectiles you suck up, the stronger you become, and the more enemies you kill, the longer this enhanced mode lasts. Once it runs out, you become vulnerable to everything until a cooldown brings you back to your original state. This mechanic results inthrilling pacing that forces offense or defense upon you based on the current situation. In some cases, it can be best to intentionally leave enemies alive so that they fuel your strength, but you also have to watch that your shield doesn’t run out at the worst time possible. To ensure you don’t get complacent, laser beams and homing missiles can never be absorbed, instead requiring you to use a barrel roll or dodge the old-fashioned way to get them off your back.
Schildmaid MX goes out of its way to provide an onramp to anyone not familiar with the genre. The tutorial is mandatory and you’re pointed towards “Jaeger Mode” once you’re ready to play for real. Jaeger Mode is essentially an easy mode meant to get you used to the game before you try the other modes. As you play, you earn achievements for doing things like scoring high or absorbing lots of bullets, which also earn you in-game points used to buy the other modes. Schildmaid MX is a generous game, offering a harder mode called “Krieger Mode” as well as the endless “Chimera Mode” and a challenging Caravan-style stage. Krieger Mode offers more stages and bosses not present in Jaeger Mode and Chimera Mode has an exclusive ship to help you combat the mode’s high difficulty.
While the game offers plenty for you to do, its presentation can make things feel repetitive. The entire game is set to a space backdrop with the occasional large ship or meteor field, so levels tend to blend together. The amount of enemies on offer is also quite small, so it doesn’t take too long to see repeat formations and adapt to your foes. Boss fights are thankfully more interesting, especially one against a massive battleship that you have to fly inside and find weak spots to destroy. The soundtrack is a highlight of the experience and was composed by Ed Tremblay of Studio Mudprints, a YouTube channel dedicated to covering shoot-em-ups of all kinds. Ed Tremblay was also credited as a tester on Hazelnut Hex.
Schildmaid MX is a game that finds a genuinely compelling way to shake up the fundamentals of the genre. The way you have to rewire your brain to think about enemy bullets as something desirable makes the game feel fresh even after sustained play. It’s also a game that welcomes all comers and wants them to keep coming back, making it a strong debut for HitP Studio and an easy one to recommend.
