Title: Ion Assault
Publisher/Developer: Black Inc. / Coreplay
Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 09/23/2009
Number of players: 1-2 co-op, 2-4 multiplayer locally/online
Ion Assault, for the Xbox Live Arcade, brings gamers a classic, arcade-like experience that mixes the old school Asteroids with the newer Geometry Wars. But with all the games coming out for the XBLA, can it stand out?
You man a spaceship and your goal is to destroy large meteors or chunks of metal. Larger ones are broken up into smaller ones, and then smaller ones simply evaporate. The process is complicated by the fact that various enemies show up to thwart your attempts, however, you can get some power-ups to help you out. Some of these power-ups are automatically initiated when you pick them up, like the time freeze, but others are used when you want, like the enemy seeker, which is very useful in taking out pesky foes.
Thus far, the game seems a bit generic, but to make it stand out from the crowd, Ion Assault uses a unique shooting system. Instead of having a standard gun where you can just shoot whenever you like, you must absorb the dust that is scattered throughout the board. The more you absorb, the bigger and stronger your attack will be, as the dust is shot directly at your target, and then rescattered. And it’s more than just breaking apart large blocks of stuff, but there are also boss battles at the end of each sector which are a fresh change of pace.
The single player experience is comprised of four sectors, each of which has 5 zones plus a boss battle. They are all very similar in feel, as they all contain these space boulders that must be destroyed and are enclosed in a square field. However, each sector is a bit larger than the last, and contain more difficult and numerous enemies. The first enemies simply move around the playing field, while others shoot at your, or charge you, or spawn even more enemies to get in your way, and if you get hit once by any enemy, you lose a life.
The game seems a bit difficult at first, but once you figure a few things out, it gets a lot easier. The first thing to tackle is the controls. Moving your ship is easy enough, but I found aiming to be a bit awkward. You use the right thumb-stick, but instead of moving the stick exactly in the direction in which you want to aim, you can only move it left or right, which corresponds with counter-clockwise and clockwise, respectively. There is a large line to show you where you are aiming to help, but it takes a few minutes to get used to. Other things you’ll want to learn are that you can’t be killed by hitting the perimeter or asteroids, although hitting the latter will bounce you out of control for a second; and that you can hold your absorption charge and simply run into most enemies and small pieces to break them up, instead of blastering your charge outward. This can be used when lots of smaller enemies are blitzing your ship, but it’s not wise if you want a high score.
The combo system in the game stays up if you continually destroy objects and absorb the point orbs they drop. However, the important fact to remember is the fact that if you destroy multiple objects in a single blast, then the point orbs will be worth much more, which is why simply holding your charge and running into objects won’t net you a high score on the leaderboards.
Ion Assault also sports a multiplayer mode, both locally and on Live, for up to 4 players. This mode is very different from the single player. Here, each player controls a ship, and has to protect a medium-sized base. Whenever you choose, you can dispatch a group of smaller ships to go attack an opponents’ base. The longer you wait to send out your troops, the more you’ll have. To defend against these little invaders, your controlled ship has a laser gun, however, it overheats very quickly, so you have to be mindful, lest you are overrun and defenseless. There is also a co-op mode, but it puts you through the exact same levels as the single player.
The Review
Storyline:
There doesn’t appear to be a real story behind this game; just some old-school blasting.
Game play:
The unique particle dynamic is an interesting twist and adds a bit of strategy to the game, but aside from that, it is a fairly basic shooter. You are stuck in a square playing field and must destroy a bunch of asteroid chunks while avoiding enemies and keeping up your combo.
Music/Sound:
The music is upbeat and has a fast tempo to give it a frenetic feel, and the sound effects are good. There is a woman who announces things, like “one more object left” or “triple kill”, and those can get a bit repetitive.
Graphics:
The graphics are very fluid and flashy. The design is futuristic and nicely drawn and particle effects are pretty cool.
The Good:
Unique take on the arcade shooter with very nice graphics and interesting enemies.
The Bad:
Aiming controls could have been different…
The Ugly:
Sectors are fairly short overall, and while the last one is much more difficult, it is still basically the same as the others.
Overall:
Ion Assault is a decent arcade-style shooter like Asteroids or Geometry Wars, and features a unique particle weapon. The game features 4 sectors to play through, with boss battles, and a multiplayer mode, but the experience is over too soon. While each sector is more difficult than the last, with new and stronger enemies, each sector is pretty much the same. Ion Assault isn’t bad, but there are better games out there.
Final Vote: 3/5
Tags: Black inc, coreplay, Ion Assault, XBOX Live Arcade
