Living LIVE 09.28.09: Issue No.40 - Ion Assault, Warriors Street Brawl, Zombie Apocalypse, More

Posted by Trace Aber on 09.28.2009

Full reviews of Ion Assault, Warriors Street Brawl, Zombie Apocalypse, Criminals Under Arrest, Mole Game, VectorForce, and Tartaros. Seriously, there's something for everyone in here.



Seeing as how nobody voted last week and the only comment left was about me turning my back on the Xbox and how I was a Sony fanboy, I am going to assume that nobody really cares about the format of the column. While hurtful, I'll just pretend it's because everybody loves what I write, no matter what. So, for the fortieth edition of Living LIVE, we're taking a new direction by having the entire column dedicated to reviews of both Arcade and Indie games released in the last week. So, let's get started, shall we?

I'm Trace Aber and this is Living LIVE.

Xbox LIVE saw the release of three arcade games this week and gives enough variety to please everyone. We have The Warriors Street Brawl, Zombie Apocalypse, and Ion Assault. From brawling to zombies to ions, this looks like a solid week for the arcade on paper, but how do things really play out?

The Warriors Street Brawl (800MP)
I have seen mixed reviews on Warriors: Street Brawl, which always piques my interest in a game. Some have given it high scores, even going as far as to call it a "blast" while others have given it amazingly low scores (one user rated it as 1/10) and called it a terrible experience. While I'm not on either extreme, I must admit the game is largely disappointing. As a warning though, I've only seen the movie once and even then I wasn't entirely into it (more of a background movie), so I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the game, though I have heard that, for the most part, you can clearly identify what part of the movie the game is placing you in. Seeing as how I only played the demo and saw one part, I don't particularly remember it and can't say whether or not it works.

What I can say, however, is that Street Brawl is very similar to Watchmen: The End is Nigh. That is, you get a very basic beat em' up that is neither rewarding nor satisfying. The game's story mode takes you through the same story in the movie as you try to make it back to your safe haven in Coney Island. The cutscenes consist of a collection of stills that look alright but fail to capture your attention. There's no dialogue and the only movement is the camera panning over the picture, making for a rather boring experience. And all of this is before you even start playing.



I played solo, which definitely made things more difficult as with a lot of brawlers. The biggest problem isn't in the difficulty but instead the controls and fluidity of the game. The controls are, at times, unresponsive and frustrating. But, to be honest, I'm not sure if it's really the controls and instead the game is supposed to play extremely slow. In beat 'em ups I like my action to be a little more fast paced but you simply don't get that with Street Brawl. Everything feels like it's moving in slow motion and takes away from the experience as a whole. Sure, you're going up against every enemy from the movie and using weapons such as bats, chains, knives, and pipes, but you're doing it at such a slow speed it doesn't even matter.

None of the enemies in the game have any character to them at all and they all tend to do pretty much the same thing. The only variation I have noticed is either their health or whether or not they have a weapon, which in 2009 isn't acceptable. You have the choice to play as any of the Warrior's (with two of them being unlockable) but I didn't notice too much of a difference between any of them. It's still the same punchy-kicky over and over again with no rhyme or reason.

When in brighter areas of the game everything looks pretty decent and respectable, but you're rarely ever in bright areas. Most of the time (in the demo, anyways) you're always in a dark area and barely able to make out what's going on in the game. There were numerous occasions in which I couldn't tell if I was on the attack or getting my ass kicked - which in a beat 'em up game is pretty damn important. The music sounds like it does in the movie (from what I remember, anyways), but after a few loops of it the music quickly loses its initial charm.

Other features in the game include both local and online multiplayer support and four additional game modes besides Story. In arcade mode you get no second chances and the odds are stacked against you even more - basically a harder story mode. Boss mode has you take on the end of level bosses in arena combat, while versus modes have you duking it out with another warrior. There's also an "Additional Missions" mode, which will probably include the DLC, if any is released.

There has yet to be a solid, original beat 'em up on the arcade and Warriors: Street Brawl does nothing to break that trend. While it does have some moments where you might think you're about to have fun, you'll quickly realize you were had and be disappointed. There's no charm, no connection, and even less fun to be had. Not worth the $10 they're asking for.
Rating: 4.5

Zombie Apocalypse (800MP)
Zombie Apocalypse has had a decent amount of press coverage leading up to its release, but one of the most common comments made about it is that it is eerily similar to Left 4 Dead. And, in a way, it is. You're trapped in a zombie-infested area, chilling with (up to) three of your now close allies, and you're trying to kill the zombies mentioned earlier. Hell, even the characters look alike and have similar backgrounds. But, despite all of that, the games are still pretty different.

While Left 4 Dead was a first-person shooter with heavy teamwork elements, Zombie Apocalypse is a game that allows four players (but will not provide you with computer teammates) and basically doesn't care if you work as a team or not. Sure, it's easier if you work together but it's not essential. And, in addition, the game is an over the top shooter and presents an even more arcade experience. You'll be killing zombies in a variety of places, including an airport and a junkyard, so you better bring your guns with you.

Which is another thing - there are quite a few weapons in this game. In the demo I encountered a grenade launcher, a mini-gun, shotgun and, my personal favorite, the flamethrower. There are more guns to be had in the full game, and did I mention there's a chainsaw you can use? There's certainly a variety of way to kill the oncoming horde, but if you're looking for more creative ways there's also the slew of environmental kills you can accomplish while battling for your life. One level has you sending zombies into a jet engine while others will have them taken out by a car that's being thrown across the level thanks to a giant machine. Simply put - there's always something going on in Zombie Apocalypse.



In the game one of you goals is to save uninfected survivors, which typically are females in a blue suit (perhaps zombies hate businesswomen, I don't know). In order to do this, you must stand next to the survivor until a helicopter can come down and rescue them, which doesn't take too long but when you're going up against the variety of zombies the game sends your way it can get pretty hard. If you don't rescue them they will eventually turn into a zombie and will attack the players, which seems pretty rude if you ask me. Especially considering you're going up against zombies such as the Puker, Dodger, Big Boy, Sheriff, Kamikaze, Queen and my favorite zombie - The Grandma. She has throwing knives lodged in her chest that she pulls out and throws at the player - which has to be the most badass grandmother to have ever lived.

The gameplay is very fluid and fits with the arcade style. The right stick shoots while the left stick moves and the triggers act as your chainsaw. As I mentioned earlier, the chainsaw is a pretty effective weapon when used in large groups. You get two chainsaw "modes," standard and execution. Standard will have you running through zombies and generally damaging them a great deal, but execution is where it's really at. Instead of simply chopping them up, the player takes his sweet ass time and carves something delicate in the zombie's chest. While this does leave you more exposed to other zombies, you do get a sweet execution animation and your multiplayer increases substantially.

Graphically, the game looks pretty good but will not be setting the world on fire anytime soon. Considering the camera view you are given I can't really expect anything better, and they're totally acceptable anyways. The sound is great and everything fits perfectly, and each character has their own set of catch phrases should they win the wave.

Repetitiveness is a potential problem I see with the game considering it has 55 waves. In the demo you experience a handful of the zombies promised throughout the game 55 levels, which makes me believe you're essentially killing the same horde over and over again with no real variation. While it's cool that the Sheriff zombie has a shotgun, I can see it getting pretty old have the 55th time. There are, however, seven variations of gameplay that you can unlock which might extend the replay value of this game a bit. Still, despite its repetitiveness, with a group of friends there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to kill some time with it. Fun, quirky, and unique, Zombie Apocalypse is a treat for both fans of zombies and twin-stick shooters.
Rating: 8.0

Ion Assault (800MP)
I was intrigued at first when I heard about Ion Assault - it seemed like a unique experience that would also be fun. And, to be fair, the concept of the game is pretty unique, though I don't think it's the "true next-gen shoot-em-up experience," as the homepage describes it. The best way I can describe it is a great idea that has boring execution. Then again, maybe I'm not getting it since everybody else seems to be enjoying it.

The main goal pressed upon you in Ion Assault is simply clearing the stage of asteroids and other space-related objects. But instead of being able to shoot whenever you damn well please, you first must collect a group of ions to blast your enemies with. Luckily, the ions are present pretty much everywhere you look at first, but after that you have to chase them down as they are constantly moving with the rest of the stage. You can collect more ions by holding the button down longer, and the big blasts are obviously the most effective ones.

In your first couple of missions you are simply facing asteroids and a few moving creatures that you can easily dispose of, but as you progress through the game you begin facing quicker and more difficult enemies. Thankfully, you can get powerups such a gravity boost, shields, and plasma cannon - all which help you out in your quest of space-extermination. All of this is good and well, but there are some things that I can't quite get past.



First off, I am not a fan of the controls at all. In order to aim you have to move the right stick the opposite direction you want to go and I have yet to figure out how to change this. It doesn't make sense to me and it's ultimately frustrating to where you don't even want to play anymore. Luckily, there is a sort of "line of aim" thing to guide you, but it also just helps to point out how terrible you are with aiming. Also, especially in the earlier levels, the action doesn't seem as frantic as it should be. Without powerups, all you have is that beam. When taking on things like asteroids, it kind of sucks when you need three or four full charged-blasts to take it out. It's not fun shooting rocks anymore, and the fact they're so strong is repetitive and boring.

Graphically, there's a lot going on at the screen at once. At times this can be really fun to watch and quite the experience, while other times it's entirely possible that you will lose your ship and die because of it. The game features an advanced particle engine that the game builds itself from, and while it does work pretty well, it can get annoying to. It's just too hard to tell what's going on at times. The music is rock from outer space, so that works for me. There's a voice over for every button you click in the options, however, and that gets old real fast. Another random complaint I have is that in the "How to Play" portion of the options you can't cycle through and read at your own pace. You have to wait for the game to cycle through for you, meaning you're reading "All asteroids and most enemies drop Score Orbs after being destroyed" for ten seconds longer than you planned on. This is very irritating and I don't know why they went with this method.

Overall, Ion Assault is a unique game that I personally didn't enjoy. Fans of Geometry Wars should check this out regardless due to its similar yet different gameplay, and the particle engine is kind of fun to mess around with. But, for me, it's not worthy of a full purchase and something I'll forget about in a day or so.
Rating: 6.5

While you're waiting for the arcade games you want to download, why don't you check out a few of the other columns here on 411Games?

Adam Larck discusses the Top 10 Mario Games in this week's edition of The 10th Hour

Salmela, Robbins, Bruno, Price, and Rodriguez all discuss their top 5 Dreamcast games in this week's 411 Game's Top 5

Rod Oracheski discusses pre-order bonuses and whether or not they're good for gaming in the newest Achievement Unlocked

Vote, Robbins, Garmer, and Oracheski discuss a variety of topics in the latest Four Player Co-Op

Lee Price talks about an old favorite in Dino Crisis in Retronomicon

Harris and Lopez duke it out in this week's Fact or Fiction

While the Arcade got three big games released this week, the Indies games section saw a pretty bland week with little standing out. Let's see a selection of this week's offerings:

VectorForce (80MP)
VectorForce is, apparently, the first game developed at California State University San Bernardino! While the game is a typical and basic vertical scrolling space shooter, it does feature some unique elements that almost save it from being mediocre.

There not's much of a story in VectorForce, but considering all you're doing is shooting objects in space I guess you don't need one nowadays. You have your basic abilities such as the machine gun and missiles and all that jazz, and of course there's always a ridiculous amount of enemies and explosions on the screen. The one thing that does set it apart from other vertical shooters is that you have to collect weapon orbs. These orbs are a variety of colors and your ship can carry two at a time. When you collect two of them, same color or not, you can begin to do combo shots, which is basically combining elements of both colors. This system, while basic, allows for a wide range of weapon types and makes each play through different.



Outside of the guns, however, there aren't any powerups to guide you along your way. This game could have been really fun with some multiplayer elements as well, but those have been left out. Another problem is the game features a scarce 5 levels, but given the 80MP price tag I'll leave that alone. In addition to the regular mode there is a "hard mode" and "challenge mode," though they seem pretty similar all in all.

For 80MP, VectorForce is a decent first outing for California State University and a fun, if shallow, vertical shooter. Despite the lack of powerups, story and replay value, the ability to combine weapons and figure out the different variations of such are worth a go.
Rating: 7.0

Tartaros (240MP)
Man, I was excited when I saw Tartaros. I mean, it was made with 3D, allows you to "obtain arms and items," and you'll be "knocking down a lot of monsters." Actually, all of this sounds pretty weird and like a terrible description to an even worse game. Because, well, that's what it is.

Tartaros is a rarity on the Indie games service, a first person shooter. I think I've only played one or two other FPS, and, like Tartaros, they've been bad. First off, let's get what Tartaros does right out of the way. It presents things in first person mode, an obviously important first step. It gives you guns, ammo and health pick-ups, all staples in the first person genre. Let's see, there's mazes and enemies you have to fight, each with their own gameplay for killing you. So, thus far, sounds like we got everything needed to make a FPS, well, except a story but we'll look over that.

See, you get a gun and you even get ammo to pick up, but at the same time you can't actually see anything you shoot. You also can't hear it, because I guess it's better that way. So, you're just kind of assuming you're aim is right and you're killing shit. Speaking of things you can't see or hear, you can also die without realizing it before it's too late. The enemies will walk up to you, you'll be shooting them (maybe), and then you're dead. Your character makes no effort to let you know he's getting his ass handed to him.



Another problem is that the guns all have the same skin, just different shapes and designs. The enemies don't even die right in this game - they just fall over. I guess that's what they meant when they said "knocking down a lot of enemies." Most of the time it looks as though you're tripping them with your gun and they've just face planted. I really can't describe how unfortunate the whole game is.

If you're five years old and never played another video game in your life, you might be impressed by Tartaros. But, assuming you're not, this game is pretty God-awful. The only saving grace of the game is the graphics, but even they're pretty bad. There's just so little here to enjoy it's amazing it was even submitted to the section.
Rating: 2.0



Mole Game (80MP)
There's not a whole lot to Mole Game - it's a virtual reimagining of Whack a Mole. The left stick moves the left hammer and the right stick moves the right one - that's about all there is to it. You're given three separate levels to choose from (Simple, Tricky, Extreme), and you try to beat the high score. While not the most exciting experience on Indie Games, it did get kind of tricky and I was surprised at that fact. I'm not really sure who would be willing to buy a virtual Whack a Mole game, but this is probably as good as you're going to get.
Rating: 5.0

Criminals Under Arrest
The once peaceful place where kids could play free are now overrun by thugs and gangs. Sure, you can close your eyes and pretend everything's fine - but, damnit, it's not. How can you just sit there and let the world go to waste…oh, because you'd rather let Agent John Adams do all the dirty work. Well, probably for the best because despite the totally awesome and absolute title, Criminals Under Arrest is pretty horrible.

Another beat 'em up, the action is slow and plodding as you attempt to rid the city of crime and corruption. You have a kick and punch button, and despite there being a "throw" button, it seemingly refused to work in the demo. You can do bigger moves such as the uppercut, but it's not like pressing punch four times is hard. It's 50% of your attack arsenal.

One of the features is that you're able to start the game from any level you like, including the last boss. While you couldn't do this in the trial version (for obvious reasons), I'm not sure how I feel about this idea. On one hand, it's cool to know that you can pick up from anywhere in the game and move on from there. But, on the other hand, there's not much incentive to play and if the game teaches you new things along the way (like most good games) won't you kind of be lost? Unless nothing in the game changes, then ignore this.

I don't have a lot to say about Criminals Under Arrest except that there's little to do. You can punch and kick and move around - and you'll be tired of the enemies after the first level. Heavy recommendation to avoid.
Rating: 4.5

Review Round Up
The Warriors: Street Brawl: 4.5 [Skip]
Zombie Apocalypse 8.0 [Buy]
Ion Assault: 6.5 [Try]
VectorForce: 7.0 [Try]
Tartaros: 2.0 [Skip]
Mole Game: 5.0 [Skip]
Criminals Under Arrest: 4.5 [Skip]

Not the best week for Xbox LIVE, but Zombie apocalypse and VectorForce find themselves on the top of the pack this week. Check back next week as I review the newest arcade and indie games and let you know what's worth buying, trying, and skipping. Also, don't forget to bookmark 411Mania! And a note to all of the Indie Game developers out there - if you have an upcoming title that's going to be released soon drop me a line at [e-mail] and let me know. I'll write a full review of your game to be posted on 411Mania.com, which is a great way to get your game promoted!

Screenshots
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