Paul Stephen-Davis had an amazing run of video games between 2014-18.
An indie developer out of the UK, that fellow put out banger after banger. It is truly impressive what he accomplished during that time period. I own almost all of his works, and Super Trench Attack was my first foray into his creations.
What makes Paul Stephen-Davis so good is that, at his best, he merges British humour with Japanese-style aesthetics. Specifically, with Super Trench Attack, we have something akin to Shock Troopers and Metal Slug – if those games were programmed by Monty Python.
It is fast and intense gameplay that’s often quite challenging. But sometimes, when I’m in the middle of a battle, I nearly keel over with laughter as I take some poor schmuck by surprise as he’s relieving himself.
The graphics have that late 90s pixel art look that would have been on PlayStation or Saturn consoles. I’m specifically talking about the 2D art as this game eschews all polygons and sticks to sprites.
In terms of sound, it works so well. Musically, it’s got a military marching band thing going on, but I find it catchy as hell. The sound effects have that arcade quality to them, and they really enhance everything.
When I first bought this eight years ago, not very many people had heard about this game. I’d still say too few people have tried it. Yet, of the people who’ve tried it, almost all of them love it. Everyone says the same thing: it is incredibly fun for something so cheap.
Unfortunately, Paul Stephen-Davis’ company, Retro Army, went under and he no longer does solo development. I wish he’d make a return, but I understand that the video game industry is a hard grind. The man probably wants to make a paycheque, and I understand completely where he’s coming from.
But just in case Paul is reading this, I hope you understand that you have fans. I’m one of them. I’ve built incredible memories with your games. And not just me, my family loves them too.
@atomicpoet
It would be great if you could also share some gameplay so we don't need to open youtube or piped to find this gorgeous game. Thanks for sharing your experience and information.
