You are a new recruit sent to battle the alien menace. Over 50 campaign levels, and endless random levels, your goal is simple: kill the enemies and survive. Magnetar is challenging. To get to the higher levels, you'll have to use your wits, reflexes, and all the resources at your disposal. Use asteroids and planetoids for defensive cover, and collect power-ups to improve weapons, heal, and gain shields, guided missiles and other bonuses. Recruit allies who you can summon to help out in a tight spot. Allies can accompany you through several games and can be upgraded in the Alliance HQ with better ships and improved combat skills. Every enemy ship you destroy spills credits which you can collect to spend in the Alliance HQ or in the Shipyard to buy new ships or upgrade your ship's capabilities. You can focus on score, or you can simply aim to max out your ship and get to the highest possible level.

Magnetar's gameplay is different than most 2D shooters. Everything in Magnetar obeys physical laws close to the real world, including gravitation from asteroids, planetoids and hazardous passing red dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes (OK, not that close to the real world!). Bullets and fragments of destroyed spacecraft swirl in the gravitational field. Enemies and allies are equipped with sophisticated AI algorithms for attack, defense, and avoiding hazards. They'll even try to dodge your bullets if they can.

Over the course of your Magnetar career, you'll upgrade your ship from the humble Cyclops to the elite Retaliator, while tackling more than thirty different types of alien spacecraft with varying attacks, strengths and weaknesses including various bosses and mini-bosses. It's the oldest genre in the book, but we think you'll like this new take.