"Xenoraid"
Xenoraid has had me glued to my Xbox One for hours the last couple of days. This month has me excited for the future of space shooters this generation, in the Marketplaces of Xbox And Sony. This game and "Blue Rider" were both near perfect examples of Nostalgic type games getting a very current polish to them. Two very well developed retro arcade feeling games, with tons of very current feeling traits blended into them.
Xenoraid's story feels a little generic, and out of place. Almost feels not needed, and shadowed by everything else this title does flawlessly. You control four ships, and you take on fleets of enemies, and asteroids. You don't control them all at once, you call on them as needed. let's say one of your ship takes to much damage you call another in. Your ship overheats during a hectic firefight, you call another one in. The concept really makes for a fluid space battle, that is non stop action. It also leads to some very dramatic ones as well, when you have one last fighter left alive, and your battling the last few enemies still coming for you. Xenoraid is a blast from start to finish. It is a challenge at times, but never exhausting to where you want to throw in the towel.
Each ship has different type weapons, and each are upgradeable. You get credits as you play, and you can buy multiple different upgrades that make your adventure easier. You have to think though, do i want this upgrade or do I want to repair my ship from the damage it took last battle. The items do not carry over to your next play through so this will probably lead to some experimenting in which is the best route to take when upgrading your ships. Also learning to swap between ships also will be very important. You swap between them with the four buttons on the right of the controller. A,B,X, and Y. You can see on the right of the screen which button, is for which ship, as well as the ships health.
Xenoraid is sort of like Galaga to the point that you just don't spam the fire button, and take out a screen filled group of enemies. It is more of a timing thing, which is good because firing repeatedly leads to overheating your ships weapons. It is more about waiting for the ship to come into your line of fire, and landing a perfect timed shot. Also about using Asteroids for cover when vast amounts of bullets fill the screen. It is very unique, and a ton of fun.
It isn't very long, it really depends on your skill though. I could see the games 25 or so levels taking from 6 to 10 hours, but even after that your going to jump into the survival mode, or grab a buddy and play some Coop. The Coop is couch only, which is kind of a downer.But it is understandable though for a indie arcade title considering the costs to make it online multiplayer. Maybe if you buy it, and others do so as well we will have a Aegis Wings type experience again on Xbox Marketplace. Anyone remember that amazing multiplayer space shooter on the 360?
The music is futuristic, and fitting. I just love the Theme to this game wish I had it as a ringtone. I wish they would have included the songs in the extras section. I have actually been watching the credits , and jamming the song as I have typed this out. Congrats 10tons you have made a masterpiece, And congrats Jonathan Geer damn epic tuneage. The controls are smooth. The backgrounds are bright and colorful. It is everything your looking for in this genre of games, and if you give it a try I think you will feel the same about it.
Pros: Beautiful backgrounds, and futuristic sounds
Spot on smooth feeling controls.
Music is amazing.
Nonstop action
Coop and Survival add ton replay value
Fluid controls
Cons: Mediocre Story, but cool designed characters.
Overall: Perfect 10 almost went 9.9 because of the story didn't really excite me, but the game is just to perfect to not give a perfect score. To fans of nostalgic and retro space shooters, this is the game you have been waiting for.

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