About

COVID Combat is an arcade style shoot ’em-up video game made in Unity game engine and is developed by Michael Nguyen. During the preparation phase, the project was going to be a COVID spread simulation running on Unity engine, which turned out to be too complex. The idea was then changed to be a combat flight simulator game similar to the vein of the Ace Combat video game series by Namco Bandai. During the development phase, the task of building a flight sim game became too difficult and time consuming and it does not meet the minimal viable product (MVP) criteria. So the idea was changed from a flight sim game to an arcade shoot ’em up game.

The game’s art aesthetic is done in the 8-bit pixel art style which was common in many video games made in the 1980s and 1990s. Even most modern video games today such as Stardew Valley uses this art style due to it’s uniqueness and simplicity, especially when developing games with Unity engine. All assets are made in Photoshop with a mix of premade assets obtained from the Internet.

The game takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic and the player is a flying syringe who must battle COVID-19 using the vaccine in the form of projectiles.

Story

On December 31, 2019, a new type of virus known as the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has emerged from Wuhan, China from bats and spread across the world by 2020. At that time, people were little aware of this new virus as they are busy celebrating the new decade. That is until March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. To keep the virus from spreading, millions of people worldwide had to be put under lockdown at their homes. Everyone are required to wear masks everywhere they go, wash their hands, and stand six feet apart from each other. Many businesses and schools went virtual at the comfort of home instead of physical. Restaurants had to do outdoor dining and take-out and less dine-in. Theme parks such as Disneyland were closed down and events such as concerts and conventions had to cancel or postpone during the pandemic. By December 2020, the vaccine against COVID-19 was created to combat against the virus, but people want to find a fast and easy way to distribute it. Scientist have built a flying syringe equipped with the vaccine that can travel around the world to shoot all strands of COVID-19, including the Delta variant. Now it’s up to the player to save the world by defeating COVID once and for all and return the world to normal life.

Player Syringe

The game’s protagonist and player avatar. The player takes the role of the syringe who must shoot the coronavirus with the vaccine. In future updates, the avatar can be changed to have different color schemes, skins, and even appearances besides a syringe such as an aircraft.

COVID Enemies

COVID-19 is the game’s main antagonist. It is responsible for the millions of deaths worldwide as well as the main cause of the pandemic. The player’s goal of the game is to defeat COVID to earn points as well as complete the levels and the game. Each virus varies by appearances and they give out different number of points when defeated. Currently there are three types of COVID enemies; red, green, and delta. More enemy types will come in future versions of the game.

Red COVID

Red COVID are the basic enemy type in COVID Combat. They do not attack the player and can be destroyed with one shot. Worth 100 points.

Green COVID

Green COVID can shoot projectiles at the player. Worth 200 points.

COVID Bullets

Projectiles fired from Green COVID. They cannot be destroyed but can be avoided. If hit, the player will lose a life.

Delta COVID

Delta COVID are larger and slightly more advanced than the red and green COVID and can take more damage. It is recommended that the player collects more power-ups to inflict more damage to these viruses. As of the current version of the game, the damage system has not yet been implemented and can take one shot to defeat. Worth 300 points.

Power-ups

Power-ups are collectable items that the player can pick up to increase the damage inflicted to the enemy. They are based on the different COVID vaccine brands such as Pfizer and Moderna.

Pfizer bullets

Standard projectiles that does decent damage to enemies.

Moderna spread bullets

Spread projectiles that can attack multiple enemies and do moderate damage.

Johnson & Johnson wide bullets

Wide projectiles that can sweep through multiple enemies in one line. The projectiles get wider when more of this power-up is collected. Does high damage.

AstraZeneca homing missiles

Homing missiles that automatically flies to enemy targets. Does moderate to high damage.

Coming soon in future versions of the game

Sputnik V rockets

Rocket launchers that acts as secondary weapons and are equipped along with the player’s main weapons. Named after the Sputnik V vaccine.

Face mask shields

The player collects these to form a temporary shield that will protect the player from oncoming attacks as well as collision but will diminish after taking too many hits.

Health pickup

Pickup items that can regenerate the player’s health when collected.

Wingman

Extra ally that can follow the player and add additional firepower.

Collectable stars

Bonus pickup items that appear after destroying destructible objects or enemies and can be collected to earn extra points.

Characters (not yet implemented into the game)

Mask Man

A superhero who wears a mask, cape, and skintight suit. He is also tasked with battling COVID-19 along with the player.

Mr. Vax

A friend and sidekick of Mask Man. He is one of the scientists and engineers who built the flying syringe along with the vaccine power-ups and other gadgets to battle COVID. He and Mask Man work together with the player to fight COVID-19.

Dr. Sars

An evil scientist and the antagonist of COVID Combat. He is the archenemy of Mask Man and Mr. Vax and is responsible for causing the virus to spread. He has other people who work for him who will also act as boss enemies.