Much like previous installments in the
Darius series,
G-Darius is a horizontally
scrolling shooter. While the game uses three-dimensional polygonal graphics, the gameplay is
two-dimensional. The player controls a spaceship named the Silver Hawk and must battle enemies and avoid obstacles throughout the game's stages (referred to as "zones" in the game). The ship is armed with forward-firing missiles, small aerial bombs, and a protective force field. These can be upgraded by
power-ups, in the form of large orbs, that are dropped by specially-colored enemies when they are destroyed. When the player reaches the end of a zone, a
boss appears, which must be defeated to proceed. Once the boss of a zone is destroyed, the player is given a choice of which zone to play next via a
branching path. Each enemy contains a unique enhancement; some will act as extra turrets and others will act as shields. Additionally, the player can detonate their captured enemy as a bomb. The captured enemy will continue to follow the player until either they are destroyed after taking enough damage, the player's ship is destroyed or the player 'absorbs' them to utilize a special ability. ==Plot==