12 years ago
XBLA Fans: PAX East Preview Hub
Believe it or not my favorite part about video games isn’t the games themselves but the way they bring people together. Arguably no show demonstrates this bond better than PAX. Thousands of likeminded individuals flooded Boston this past Easter weekend. It didn’t matter where you worked or what you did or what you had to do when you hit the ground again on Monday; for one glorious weekend everyone was an equal: a gamer. It didn’t matter if your weapon was a die, a mouse, a controller or one’s own body. Everyone at this show had a passion for games.
A few of us from XBLA Fans made the trip and had the honor of mingling and checking out some of the upcoming XBLA titles for 2012 and beyond. We were able to hear developers in their element talking to fans about their projects. It was an amazing experience. Our own Andrew Crews has already elaborated on this issue, but in the end you remember the little things. That being said, there were some amazing games. Check out our full breakdown below!
12 years ago
PAX East: Majestic-12 preview
Majestic-12 is a 3D side-scrolling shooter being developed by Exis and is being published by Reverb. The story of the game begins with you controlling your choice of one of five characters and setting out on a mission waging war against the aliens that have ambushed the defenses at Area 51 and captured the rest of your comrades.
The game features a very colorful bullet hell that takes a ride through eight stages broken up in to sixteen missions. Each stage will feature two bosses one at the end of each internal mission. Six of these stages are 3D side-scrolling action packed environments filled with many upgrades and power-ups for your characters. The other two stages are 2D shoot-em-up levels that feature a style similar to the one Sine Mora offers. The screens aren’t overwhelmed with loads of enemies and bullets but instead focuses more on precise and strategic placement of each shot fired. The 3D levels however feature a bit more of wide bullet patterns that require more precise maneuvering. It’s quite a nice blend of styles and it really helps keep the game fresh as it goes. Read More
12 years ago
Reverb publishing Majestic-12 on XBLA
Exis Interactive has entered into a publishing deal with Reverb to bring its side-scrolling action title, Majestic-12, to “digital platforms” on Xbox 360 and PC. The co-op shooter will be on display throughout PAX East in Boston from April 6—8. Ted Lange, executive producer of Reverb Publishing, described Majestic-12 as a retro game “in the vein of old-school shooters like Contra.” Exis previously did some work on F.E.A.R. 3 and XCOM.
The game is a classic story of a friendship gone awry: man and alien were once the best of buds, but no longer. Mankind, being the slimy backstabbing race it is, decided they’d had enough of that whole buddy-buddy routine and cooked up some diabolical plot or another to cross the aliens. Trouble is, the aliens found out; and they’re not exactly taking it in stride. Players will be thrown into bullet hell scenarios that Reverb seems to be attempting to coin a new term to describe — “core-casual.” It essentially breaks down to the old easy to learn, hard to master approach to gameplay.