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Omega Five
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Developed by Natsume and published by Hudson Soft, Omega Five is a 2.5D side-scrolling shoot 'em up (aka 'shmup') available on XBLA for 800 MS points or $10 USD.

This game was first released on January 9, 2008, so yeah this review is two years late. There's a ton of games on XBLA, even in just the shooter genre, so I wanted to get the word out about this great game.

The first thing you'll notice about Omega Five is the graphics. While many shmups have you steering a tiny vehicle sprite through repetitive backgrounds and against generic enemies, Omega Five's graphics are fully 3D, rendered natively in 720p, scale up flawlessly to 1080p, and use large, original characters. Everything in the game is sharp, bright and colourful without looking cartoony. Many reviewers praise it as one of the best-looking games on XBLA and I definitely agree.

Special high-end effects are mainly limited to the bloom lighting on lasers and some "hot" elements, and this works in the game's favor as anything more would create distractions from the frenetic action.

If you're unfamiliar with side-scrolling shoot 'em ups, gameplay consists of steering your character and shooting at enemies as you dodge them and their projectiles. Omega Five has 4 stages, each with a boss fight at the end. In Arcade mode, you attack the stages in order; in Challenge mode, you can select a specific stage in order to get the highest score possible or practice enemy patterns. After completing stages, you can open up Arcade++ and Challenge++ modes which only give you 1 hit before dying but increase the possible points multiplier from 10x to 30x at max.

You begin with only a few credits (continues) and the game may seem brutally difficult, but the longer you play, the more credits you unlock until after a few hours, you will open up Free Play mode which gives you unlimited credits (but your score resets every time you continue).

There are 2 selectable characters to begin with, and 2 more that unlock after completing the game with each. Every character has 3 different weapon types, and you can attain up to Level 3 upgrades through the course of the game if you grab the corresponding pickup which typically increases firing rate, damage and spread pattern. Each character also has a "variable weapon" mode activated with the Right Trigger. This differs for every character and sometimes with what weapon they are using, but usually allows them to hit more targets at once for reduced damage.

Once you have picked up enough pink triangles, you get a "burst" ability that is a high-damage, screen-clearing bomb activated with the Left Trigger. You can hold up to 3 of these at a time, and if you don't use them they will rotate around you acting as a potential shield against enemy projectiles and even damaging enemies within melee range. Every character also has the ability to mitigate incoming damage with the Right Bumper, but at the cost of some life (usually half of the damage that would have been taken). This is especially handy in the ++ modes.

Omega Five can seem very difficult at first; this is definitely not the type of game you'll blow through in one sitting the first time you play it. As with many other shmups, strategizing your weapon pickups and learning enemy patterns can be as important as reflex skills. There is sometimes a lot happening on the screen, and until you get used to prioritizing what to deal with first and what to look out for, it can be overwhelming. Don't throw in the towel too early--the more you play the better you'll get, and as you get more credits and then the Free Play mode, even ham-fisted newbies will be able to complete the game.

Another option that unlocks after playing awhile is Retro Mode which applies a 16-bit filter to the graphics and even changes the soundtrack to the bloops and bleeps of old-school shooters.

Omega Five has local 2-player co-op and supports Leaderboards, even allowing you to download other people's replays.

I give Omega Five a very solid 9/10 and recommend everyone download the trial and give it a whirl, whether you're a shmup fan or not. Try the different characters and experiment with the different weapon types!

You can download the trial version of Omega Five here.
Re: Omega Five
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I didn't want the review itself to be too long so here's the rest of the information & unlockables:

Achievements:
There are 4 Achievements for completing each of the 4 levels, and then 4 Achievements for completing the game with each character using no continues. The misc Achievements are for not swinging Sensei's sword for 30 seconds, anchoring Ruby's special weapon for 10+ seconds, repelling 20+ projectiles with Tempest's shield, and maintainng the max bonus multiplier for 30 seconds. All of these can be done in Stage 1, PM me or post here if you need help.

Extra Credits:
5 credits - Play for 60 minutes total
8 credits - play for 180 minutes total
Free play - play for 300 minutes total.

Characters:
R.A.D. - Beat the game in arcade mode using Ruby
Sensei - Beat the game in arcade mode using Tempest

Modes:
Challenge mode - beat the respective level in arcade mode
Arcade++ - Beat the game once
Challenge++ - Beat the game once
Retro Mode - Beat Arcade mode with Sensei

Other:
Female AI Voice - Beat Arcade mode using R.A.D.

Character weapons & effects:

Ruby:
A - Rapid-fire laser; upgrades increase rate of fire & spread
B - Beam laser; upgrades increase damage, number of beams and add reflective properties
C - Electric beam; upgrades increase damage and adds short-range collateral damage
Special weapon: a satellite that can absorb enemy projectiles; RT will send it out to hook on to an enemy, doing damage over time & focusing Ruby's attacks

Tempest:
A - Lava cannon; upgrades increase damage & length; RT adds lock-on
B - Acid sprayer; upgrades increase damage & rate of fire; RT toggles spray pattern
C - Mercury gun; upgrades increase damage over time & size; RT fires 4 seeking projectiles
Special weapon: a shield that slows enemy projectiles as they get close; stop firing momentarily by flicking the Right Analog Stick and it will fire the enemy projectiles back the way they came

Sensei:
A - Katana & "hadouken" fireballs; upgrades increase damage & rate of fire
B - Katana & shuriken; upgrades increase rate of fire & spread
C - Katana & kunai throwing knives; upgrades increase damage & spread
Special weapon: Sensei's katana can cut through walls and destroy basic enemy projectiles & missiles;
pressing the Right Analog towards enemies causes him to do a medium-range, high damage slash;
holding the Right Analog towards enemies causes him to do short-range, high damage slashes;
rotating the Right Analog causes him to do a 360 attack that hits multiple times;
pressing RT launches Rikimaru (his dog) at enemies and if he connects, Sensei will fire the current projectile type at locked-on targets

R.A.D.:
Same weapon types as Ruby.
Special weapon: R.A.D. has a satellite that works similarly to Ruby's except she can still aim independently when it is attached to an enemy.
Note: R.A.D. moves much faster than Ruby but aims slower; it is best to attack enemies by focusing your weapons and moving laterally.

Lastly, here are some tips for people just starting off:

1. No matter what character you're using, you start Stage 1 with A type weapon at level 1. You will quickly come to 3 pickups arranged vertically, each containing a weapon upgrade. They are A, B and C from top to bottom. Since you already have A 1, grab the A pickup first to get A 2, and then grab the C pickup to switch to C 2. The reason is because soon you will come to another pickup near the ground that will have a C upgrade, getting you to weapon Level 3 as soon as possible.

2. When in doubt, use the B type weapons. For Ruby, it is a good combination of focused damage and spread, and at level 3 it will reflect off walls giving you awesome attack vectors. For Tempest, it does really good collateral damage and its alternate firing mode will help you take care of large numbers of weak enemies at a time.

3. If you KNOW you're about to get hit, use your 'dimensional field' ability (Right Bumper). Yes it costs health, but it's less than taking the hit.

4. Save up the pink chips and don't use the LT bomb unless you absolutely have to. It's far more valuable to have the pink orbs rotating around you as potential shields.

5. If you're fighting a big enemy, or one that's stationary or doesn't move much, get right up in its face. Your rotating pink chip orbs will damage the enemy as they glance off it, increasing your overall damage output. This is especially useful during boss fights except Stage 2's.

6. Try fighting the Stage 1 boss, 'Vampire', from the inside! When the word "DANGER" starts flashing, position yourself in the middle of the screen. Vampire will form around you, and you can blast away at its vulnerable parts. You will have to move around with it to avoid taking damage, but it's better than having to dodge all the crap from outside and wait for it to run patterns. Note that the characters' hit boxes aren't the full size of the model, so you can cheat this a little bit, especially with Tempest as his hit box only extends from about the bottom of his neck to his crotch area.

7. Experiment with the Right Trigger abilities of each character. They will help immensely.
Re: Omega Five
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That is top notch writing there man. I
might actul consider this game cuz of you :p
Re: Omega Five
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Damn that game looks sick, I can't believe I haven't heard or seen it before. I'll probably pick this up soon. Nice review, Meta.

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Re: Omega Five
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Good review Meta, I actually own this game, got it when it 1st came out and it is a very good game. Reminds me of Forgotten Worlds by Capcom, but with crisp high rez graphics. I LOVE shmups and this is one of the better ones on XBLA.
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