XBLA in Brief examines two unusual Xbox Live Arcade titles this week. First up is Elements of Destruction which has players essentially playing as nature itself, using tornadoes, earthquakes, and lightning to destroy everything in sight. Sea Life Safari on the other hand, is a game about taking pictures of fish. See? Kind of different for XBLA, isn't it? Watch the new episode and decide if either is worth your hardearned MS Points.
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Frozen Codebase's 800 Microsoft point Elements of Destruction is a destruction sim, where your goal is to destroy, blow up and "kablam!" as many things as possible. With two player online and local multiplayer, versus or cooperative and the feeling of having god-like powers, Elements of Destruction may be something to check out.
The other XBLA release this week is Wanako's Sea Life Safari (also 800 MS points) where the goal is to explore the ocean and take pictures of underwater creatures. No joke. Now, we aren't going to pre-judge Sea Life Safari (though we really, really want to), but we have a feeling that a sea creature photography game is a very niche gaming experience. Anyhoo, check out all the new XBLA screenshot goodness in the galleries below.
It's another double dose of games this week for XBLA in Brief. This time, we examine Aces of the Galaxy and Roogoo. Aces of the Galaxy is an on-rails space shooter, whereas Roogoo is a puzzle game. What are the odds that both of them are actually pretty good? Frankly, we think those odds are fairly slim, but we're happy to say that both games manage to impress in their own way. Watch the latest episode and find out if either game is right for you.
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It seems it's been a trend lately for XBLA games to release in pairs and while we were a bit less than thrilled with this week's releases, next week does look better. In addition to Roogoo, June 4 will also see the release of the co-op space shooter Aces of the Galaxy. Little to nothing has been revealed about the game so far but XBLA thankfully gives us trial versions, and the graphics and co-op play give us more than enough reason to give it try. From what we can infer the game could be worth its 800pt price tag, we just wish Artech had gotten more out there about it.
In the latest XBLA in Brief, we check out Assault Heroes 2, the sequel to one of Xbox Live Arcade's best action titles. The sequel takes the foundations of the first game and adds new weapons and vehicles into the mix. The on-foot gameplay has been dramatically improved as well. Check out the video and find out whether or not Assault Heroes 2 belongs in your XBLA library.
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After all the Spring Showcase excitement yesterday, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that it's just another plain ol' Wednesday now. How could you possibly stifle the Wednesday doldrums? Oh that's right, it's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday! That means there's a brand new Xbox Live Arcade game available. To top it all off, it's actually a sequel to one of XBLA's best shooters. Yup, it's Assault Heroes 2. It's like Assault Heroes, except with more weapons, new vehicles, and, of course, more massive destruction. Go grab the trial version and see whether or not massive destruction is your thing (we're betting it is).
Let's just hope they fixed the faulty co-op this time around.
With less than a week to go before Assault Heroes 2 arrives on Xbox Live Arcade (it's scheduled to drop on May 14), Sierra is ramping up the publicity, releasing a new two part trailer featuring some of the game's massive bosses. There seems to be an obsession with throwing mechanized versions of various fauna at players this time around, as the bosses featured in the video are the Mecha Gorilla, Mech Scorpion, Mecha Killer Orca (really?), Mecha Snake, Mecha Quadruped, and Mecha Demolition (guess they ran out of animals with that last one). Suffice it to say that the bosses are appropriately huge and they seem to be capable of dealing death quite adequately. We approve. Find the second trailer after the break.
This week on XBLA in Brief, we check out Lost Cities. For a game about exciting adventures and expeditions, it sure plays an awful lot like solitaire. Competitive solitaire. And guess what: it's actually really, really fun. Who knew? Check out the video above and learn why card and board game fans should definitely try Lost Cities.
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Another Wednesday, another Xbox Live Arcade release. This week brings us Lost Cities, a game that combines all the excitement of archaeology with the thrills of solitaire. No, seriously, it's actually really fun. It's so fun, in fact, that we've been playing the trial version over and over again this morning instead of writing this post. Apart from the archaeology / solitaire thing, the game somewhat defies description. Competitive solitaire, perhaps? Whatever you want to call it, board and card game nuts should definitely give it a go. The complete game is 800 MS bucks if you are so inclined.
Microsoft just announced that the adventure card game Lost Cities will be making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points this Wednesday, April 23rd. Lost Cities is an original card strategy game where players travel through exotic locations to outwit, outlast and outplay (sounds like an episode of Survivor) their opponents to card victory. More information available on Xbox.com and hidden deep within' the screenshots we carefully placed in the gallery below.
Sierra just sent word that they've launched the official Prototype website and hidden among all the flashy flash are new screenshots, videos and prequel bits for you to enjoy. But if you're interested in seeing the exclusive media, you'll have to work for it, because it's locked within the DNA. The DNA menu is a puzzle of sorts where you have to correctly switch DNA pairs to discover special media. For some, it may end up being a little too much work to handle, but for others, any new Prototypemedia or information is worth the effort. Heck, you may even discover that the game's multiplayer and co-op has been re-integrated. Don't hold your breath though.
MyGamercard.net has revealed the achievements for Sierra Online and Wanako's upcoming XBLA shooter Assault Heroes 2. The secret to most of the achievements lies right there in the genre: shooting stuff. The trick is just how you shoot them and who you do it with. The achievements offer a nice mix of single and multiplayer achievements, and it doesn't sound like any of them are too difficult, but it's hard to say before we know how difficult the game is in general. Our favorite achievement is definitely Smoothie Heroes. Not only does the name reference a delicious frozen treat, but the description for obtaining the achievement earns points for creativity: "Co-op Campaign: Kill 100 infantry, one player freezes & the other shatters, on Hard in one session."
Appearing on the "Three Red Lights" podcast, Ross Erickson from Sierra Online gave the IGN Podcast a host of details regarding the company's upcoming games. The biggest of the news is that Assault Heroes 2 is actually completed, and is on the road to an April release. The second-most significant news would also be XBLA related, and regards the near-completion of Lost Cities. Concerning Lost Cities, there is still no word about he price, but the rumblings are that it could hit at 400 points. Among the smaller tidbits of information from the interview, Sierra is looking at giving adventure games a return, they're going to be publishing an award-winning XNA game, and as far as their number show, expansions tend to sell less than 50% of the originals.
Though it's been on the radar before thanks to an early ERSB review, Assault Heroes 2 had never been an official XBLA title; until now. IGN posted a preview and video of the game and it already looks to be improving greatly on the original in a whole host of ways. Wanako Games is bringing us the sequel to the original hit with the community and feedback in mind, implementing changes such as putting more emphasis on co-op and creating more varied three-dimensional levels. The on-foot sections of the game have also been fleshed out, to raise them to the same level of quality as the rest of the game. Though the core gameplay and visual appearance are almost identical, those things weren't exactly broken to begin with, and should remain as engaging as ever when Assault Heroes 2 hits later on this spring.
In a lineup filled with puzzle games, fighters, and retro console and arcade relelases, a turn based strategy game tends to stand out on Xbox Live Arcade. With the genre previously represented solely by Band of Bugs, a new entrant is definitely welcome. Given our time with the trial version of Commanders: Attack of the Genos, we'd say that the welcome is deserved too. Read on to find out whether or not Commanders is worth your time and money.
