BARRIER X

BARRIER X can be a test and improve your reflexes game for all I care. This game composes of speed, and more speed to react and respond to the numerous obstacles and enemies being thrown at you on the endless road. As a 3rd person runner, you are hit with bright and often blinding graphics, and retro arcade audio that's changing as you progress through the levels. Each level has its own theme of colour and gradients, BGM as well as increase in speed difficulty. There's a timer to see how far you progress, and it only requires simple left/right controls and shooting enemies down.
It's such a simple concept, yet difficult to execute especially as you reach towards the last few levels.
I'm not sure why this game is tagged as casual, as it's certainly not for the faint of heart. Though I've (somehow) managed to achieve all the achievements, I doubt I will ever complete the final stage again, as I had back in 2017. BARRIER X is definitely for the more competitive gamers out there.

I played this game back in 2016 (this review is being written in 2025) around the time it came out on mobile. I absolutely loved the game, but I forgot about it after I lost the old phone. Today, due to some stroke of luck and a little help from ChatGPT I was able to find this game again. And even today, the game has no ads, nothing to waste your time, and is still well optimized. Really love the game. I have 1000+ hours on a few games but THIS IS THE FIRST REVIEW I AM WRITING ON STEAM FOR A GAME.

if you want to testing your reflect, just try it
just simple game, avoid that obstacle

Barrier X will have you staring into strobe lights as they light your face and eyes with a boatload of colour, all the while your brain is attempting to comprehend the mechanics of the game as you zip, zap & attack across an inconceivable path.
The steam description does not lie, the game is fast and throws challenging mechanics at you with each new level; for example one stage will introduce near mandatory lanes that punish you if missed while another stage will introduce an AI combatant that you're required to destroy before it kills you. The mechanics can be mastered and beaten but the amount of visual clutter is overwhelming, regardless if you get into a flow state the game is incredibly addicting.
Barrier X is chaotic & not for those prone to sensory overload, It riddles you with effects & distorts time when you’re in a flow state; seconds feel like less and it’s easy to lose a chunk of time trying to improve your records. If you're into high speed endless runners or rhythm games you'll more than likely enjoy Barrier X & its challenges but if you want a chill runner, I don’t think it’s for you.
If you do end up purchasing & playing the title, I recommend your own music playlist over the in-game soundtrack. I found Bury the Light by Casey Edwards & Victor Borba and Cult of Personality by Living Colour fit the gameplay flow perfectly.
Personal note: I was curious to see how I reacted to the stimulation and quick thinking the game oozes, so I recorded a five minute run where I died & beat my record numerous times; It was fascinating watching my pupils dilate, face flash with various colours and my microsecond reaction before starting another run after swift failure.
Barrier X if it meets your criteria is worth $4.50AUD but if you aren't quite sure I recommend picking up the game when it drops to $1.35 during sales.

dodge blocks, but wait only in THIS direction and then you gotta crash into these other ones??

mixed messaging on what im supposed to do guys.. i love this game :3

Reminds me of Race against the Sun. Overall fun little game.

BARRIER X
Has a total of 5 trading cards.