Arrow Heads – Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Arrow Heads does one thing and one thing only – but at least it does that one thing very well.

Arrow Heads is a game of simplicity. There is only one weapon. There is only one objective. You control an avian archer, and you fire arrows at bears and other players. Each match takes place on a single-screen arena in one of two game types – 1-4 player co-op against 25 waves of AI enemies, or 2-4 player PvP matches to 10 kills.
…..And that’s about all there is to Arrow Heads.

The good news is that the arrow shooting mechanic behind Arrow Heads is done really well, which is fortunate, because that mechanic responsible for carrying the worth of the game. Drawing back on the string slowly but reliably extends the distance of your shot, which is displayed with a dotted line. After a few seconds at full draw, the line starts to wobble, and eventually the arrow is shot automatically. Shooting is easy to learn and difficult to master. There is no auto-aim here, and target hit boxes are small. Hitting your target takes practice, practice, practice, and a whole bunch of arrows, which are fortunately unlimited. Additionally, before every round, there is a practice arena with targets before every round to pepper with arrows and hone your skills. Playing rounds also earns you currency that can be used to customize your character with different birds, bows, and arrows to distinguish your character from others.
The bad news is there is little else to recommend Arrow Heads. The co-op mode takes place in one of a handful of multi-level arenas. Enemy bears enter the area at the start of each round, and you have three lives to try and make it to the end of 25. If one player loses all their lives, they can be brought back by the remaining players killing all remaining enemies. Once all players are dead in a round, the game is over. There isn’t a lot of staying power behind this mode, and while it’s fun for a while, it won’t hold many player’s interest for more than a few games.

In PvP mode, 2-4 players are dropped into an arena that is far more interactive. While arrows are flying, power-ups drop from the sky (and squishing anyone standing beneath them) granting players tesla coil arrows, fire arrows, bear traps, and more. There are environmental hazards, exploding barrels to shoot, roving mine carts to jump in, and other features unique to each arena to add variety to shooting other players with arrows. When it works, it’s actually pretty fun. 4 players all trying to shoot each other in a volatile arena, grabbing power-ups, shooting rockets, and tripping over bear traps gives a Super Smash Brothers feel to the game.
Unfortunately, for me, it only worked once. Shortly after Arrow Heads’ official release, I found a match with two other players, myself, and my 7-year old sitting on my lap. We played a couple of rounds, the other two players disconnected, and that was the last I’ve seen of any other player on any server. In fact, the reason for the long delay between Arrow Heads’ release and this review is because I didn’t want to submit a review on a game that I don’t feel I’ve had the opportunity to fully experience. Playing online was fun! But now a month has passed and many efforts to join a game has always found 0 players online. Couch co-op is the other method to playing multiplayer. 2-4 players can play on the same screen. One player can use the mouse and keyboard, while the rest use controllers. With Steam supporting Xbox, Playstation, Steam, and 3^rd party controllers, there are many options to allow players to join in. It’s not nearly as simple as it was playing Smash Brothers or Golden Eye on the Nintendo 64 20 years ago, but playing Arrow Heads with your friends next to you is a throwback to the simplified, good ol’ days of gaming.
Sadly, that’s all there is to Arrow Heads. There is no real staying power here. The shooting mechanic is excellent, which makes the game challenging, and playing with or against your friends is a momentary thrill, but once that’s over, there’s little left to do but move on to more complete games. A working multiplayer system might have kept Arrow Heads interesting for a while longer, but that is disappointingly not the case. Pick up Arrow Heads if you have a few interested friends or family members you can play with and the controllers to play on. Otherwise, the single player just won’t hold your attention for very long.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][review_summary positives=”Shooting is easy to learn but difficult to master.
Friendly, fun graphic style.
Couch co-op and versus is fast and fun.” negatives=”Only two game modes that wear out quickly.
Impossible to find online opponents.
Single player has no staying power.”][/review_summary][/vc_column][/vc_row]