Side-scrolling shooters that are worth your time are somewhat difficult to come by in this day in age, considering that most shooters are full 3D or are in first person view, such as Ace Combat. However, Hudson Soft and Natsume teamed up to deliver a very good arcade title that is not only beautiful, but fun to play.
Omega Five is one of the most beautiful games available for download on XBLA today. The graphics are very clean and will immediately grab your attention upon starting your first stage. Enemies are not only coming from the side, but they also come out of the background to attack you as well. They will only harm you upon reaching the same level that you are at, so you have to wait for them to do so before attacking them.
When you start the game, you will pick from one of two characters that are available. Beating the game and logging in multiple hours will unlock characters and increase the amount of credits that you can use to continue if you die. To give you an idea of the difficulty of this game, you only get one life. You have a shield that protects you so you can take several hits, but if you die, you will burn a credit and lose your entire score up to that point.
Probably the biggest aspect of the game that I like is the style of shooting that Omega Five uses. Instead of wildly hitting a button, you control the character with the left analog stick and shoot with the right analog stick. This style allows you to shoot in a 360 (no pun intended) degree manner. Your standard weapon can be changed into three different types with three different levels. After the primary weapon, each character has a unique weapon that can be used, such as an anchor that can attach itself to an enemy and drain its life. Also, every character can collect power along the way to unleash an attack that will wipe the screen clear of enemies.
While the game itself is beautiful, there are a couple of flaws that somewhat bother me. My main gripe is that there seems to be no storyline at all. Even if it's a shooter, there has to be some type of story behind every game, unless you're dealing with a puzzle game. Characters don't have an explanation to why they are fighting these enemies at all, which detracts from the overall game itself. Also, there is no online play, just a local co-op play, which is a disappointment.
Overall, the game is enjoyable and is worth the ten dollars to download it. The graphics will certainly bring your 360 to life and the action that the game gives you will challenge your shooter skills. Give this one a shot.
Overall Score: 7.9 of 10.0
Omega Five is one of the most beautiful games available for download on XBLA today. The graphics are very clean and will immediately grab your attention upon starting your first stage. Enemies are not only coming from the side, but they also come out of the background to attack you as well. They will only harm you upon reaching the same level that you are at, so you have to wait for them to do so before attacking them.
When you start the game, you will pick from one of two characters that are available. Beating the game and logging in multiple hours will unlock characters and increase the amount of credits that you can use to continue if you die. To give you an idea of the difficulty of this game, you only get one life. You have a shield that protects you so you can take several hits, but if you die, you will burn a credit and lose your entire score up to that point.
Probably the biggest aspect of the game that I like is the style of shooting that Omega Five uses. Instead of wildly hitting a button, you control the character with the left analog stick and shoot with the right analog stick. This style allows you to shoot in a 360 (no pun intended) degree manner. Your standard weapon can be changed into three different types with three different levels. After the primary weapon, each character has a unique weapon that can be used, such as an anchor that can attach itself to an enemy and drain its life. Also, every character can collect power along the way to unleash an attack that will wipe the screen clear of enemies.
While the game itself is beautiful, there are a couple of flaws that somewhat bother me. My main gripe is that there seems to be no storyline at all. Even if it's a shooter, there has to be some type of story behind every game, unless you're dealing with a puzzle game. Characters don't have an explanation to why they are fighting these enemies at all, which detracts from the overall game itself. Also, there is no online play, just a local co-op play, which is a disappointment.
Overall, the game is enjoyable and is worth the ten dollars to download it. The graphics will certainly bring your 360 to life and the action that the game gives you will challenge your shooter skills. Give this one a shot.
Overall Score: 7.9 of 10.0
