Reviews

Alpha Squad was released January 12, 2011. It was developed by DragonDivide and retails for 240MSP. A copy of the game was provided by the developer for review purposes.

The Indie Games section of the Xbox dashboard is filled with twin stick shooters. It takes something special to make one of them stand out above the others. Alpha Squad by DragonDivide attempts to differentiate itself with impressive art, beautiful in-game lighting and other gameplay mechanics. But does it succeed in rising above the sea of competition?

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Toy Cars was developed by Eclipse Games and released on February 21, 2011 and costs 80 Microsoft Points.  A copy was provided by the developer for review purposes.

For anyone that has been gaming since the days of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the arcade racing title Micro Machines was a game with tiny cars but with a lot of heart, and now the Xbox Live Indie Channel has been graced with a contemporary nod to that game in the form of Toy Cars.

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Ever got a somewhat back-handed email from a colleague and thought, “I wanna knock that person’s block off”? Well, Stir Fry Games offers a legal alternative. Office Brawlers is a simplistic fighting game where the player takes on colleagues due to simple email misunderstandings. Oh yeah, and players also get to fight Bill Lumberg from Office Space.

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The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile was developed by Ska Studios and will be released on April 6, 2011 for 800 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was an indie success story if ever there was one. The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is the much awaited sequel to that success story and it’s going far beyond the scope of its predecessor. A story mode, 50 levels of arcade- both single player and co-op, and a never-ended Dish Challenge mode for the masochists of the world that want to fight endless waves of baddies. Standard beat ’em up modes, but the variety of enemies, the two unique characters with their unique weapons and coherent story makes The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile into a fantastic experience. Read More

Small Arms was developed by Gastronaut Studios and released  by Microsoft Game Studios on November 22, 2006. It’s available on the XBLA Marketplace for 400MSP.

When the XBLA service was first introduced to me I felt like there wasn’t enough substance to keep me interested. Geometry Wars was there day one which was fantastic, but other than that most of the games really didn’t look too original or polished. Then I heard about Small Arms. It was released exactly a year after the release of the Xbox 360 and I was very excited to get my hands on it. Despite drawing from experiences like Super Smash Brothers on the various Nintendo consoles, the Small Arms formula feels unique and interesting which, when accompanied by the odd looking cyborg critters you get to play as, gave the game a strong sense of originality which the platform needed at the time. Read More

The Sugar Killerz was developed by Fun Hazard and released on March 8, 2011 and costs 400 Microsoft Points. A copy was provided by the developer for review purposes.

It seems the twin-stick shooter is back and The Sugar Killerz is the most recent iteration of this recently rejuvenated genre. Playing as one of four gun-toting killerz out for some sweet justice, players shoot away calorie-heavy hooligans pouring onto the screen.

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The 90’s were an amazing time for arcade games.  So many 2.5D beat em’ ups were released during that time — Final Fight, X-Men, The Simpsons, and and two installments from our half-shelled heroes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Games like these defined the genre and made way for modern beat em’ ups like Castle Crashers.  When word was first leaked that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time was being remade in HD over at Ubisoft Singapore the teens of the 1990’s squealed like a teenage girl.  But so many games from yesteryear feel dated when dusted off and fired up.  Could Ubisoft’s HD remake, subtitled with Re-Shelled, stand the test of time?  Find out after the jump.

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Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot was developed by Vatra Games and published by Konami. It was released on March 30, 2011 and retails for 800 Microsoft Points. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

It’s becoming more and more common for publishers to revisit their IPs of yesteryear, either giving them a new coat of paint or taking the franchise to new and exciting places. Bionic Commando Rearmed is a great example of bringing fresh looks to a classic. Rush’n Attack: Ex-Patriot aims to take the franchise elsewhere. Set 15 years after the Cold War between the United States and Russia, the game follows Sid Marrow and his team, sent to rescue an operative kept as a prisoner of war since the Cold War.

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Strania – The Stella Machina was developed and published by G.rev. It was released on March 30th, 2011 for 800MS points.

Strania is a vertical shmup where you control a mech trying to reach Vower, a distant star in the universe. The story is as generic as they come, but who cares? It’s a shmup. You shoot things and avoid crazy bullet patterns. The story is so irrelevant to this game that it is hidden in the 5^th and 6^th pages of text of the “How to Play” section in the Options menu. The true beauty in any shmup is the unique features that set it apart from the many shmups available on the Marketplace. Strania is neither a superior or a below average shooter. There is some potential shown with it’s unique features but there are also a few issues making it a tough recommendation for most gamers. Read More

Swarm was developed by Hothead Games and published by Ignition Entertainment. It was released March 23, 2011 for 1200MSP. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Swarm is a 2.5D side scrolling platformer in which you control a group 50 small, blue, clueless creatures. The goal of the game is to collect DNA for the “Momma” of the alien swarmites throughout twelve levels while making sure at least one of said swarmites stays alive. The game is not about story; it is about points. Swarm proves to be a fun and engaging gameplay experience once you get used to a few minor drawbacks.
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