Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
Review
A Rocketman RPG? What will they think of next?
by Vyle
reviewed on X360
Such a crowd!
The Xbox 360 is known for having more than its fair share of first person shooters but its little brother, Xbox Live Arcade, has its own infestation – the twin stick shooter. From Smash TV to Geometry Wars the games are coming thick and fast, and Capcom has decided to grab a slice of the pizza with Rocketmen: Axis of Evil.
In such a crowded scene, every game needs a unique hook to stand out from the competition. Rocketmen: Axis of Evil’s main difference is that it isn’t primarily a score attack game, but instead incorporates some RPG elements. Rather than face off against ever increasing waves of foes to see how long you last, the game places you in linear levels and tasks you with getting to the end. The game even grants you infinite lives, and thanks to this, anybody with enough persistence could keep re-spawning until the final enemy drops. Seeing the ending takes no real skill. On the other hand, later levels throw such huge waves of tank-like enemies at the player. Anybody who has avoided utilising the RPG elements will be cursed with a protracted and tedious battle.
These RPG elements play out by rewarding you with experience points and different forms of loot upon defeating enemies. Another way of earning experience is activating certain objects in levels and all of the above can be exchanged for upgrades in between levels. The penalty for dying during a level is a 10% deduction of that stage’s XP. So while failure won’t stop you progressing through levels, it will hurt the speed at which your character develops. Thankfully, the upgrades are relatively cheap, and noticeably effective; revisiting a level with a bit more health and a stronger shotgun makes things a lot quicker.
In addition to the very rewarding RPG elements, the game features a medal system. This system counts the time taken to complete the level, the number of certain enemies killed and a varying third objective. With so much to do, completionists will surely give a level a relatively painless second go, especially since each medal will give the player a large XP bonus to spend on upgrades.
The grand scheme
The character development is perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the game. It gives you a true feeling of progress as well as goals to set yourself. For example, entering a multiplayer game and seeing that your partner is noticeably weaker, gives a sense of achievement, while having a monstrously powerful partner sporting the ‘Wicked Armor’ gives you something to aim for.
The game offers a rudimentary character creation tool that allows you to choose gender, name, planet of origin, character class and the color of your suit, skin and hair. Only ‘planet’ and ‘class’ make any difference to the gameplay, effectively setting your base stats but in the grand scheme of the things, it makes little difference to anything other than the character model.
6.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
