Developed by Games Distillery
Published by Microsoft Games Studio
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (5/2010)/PC (5/2011)
Backward compatible with Xbox One
Aqua: Naval Warfare is another one of those twin-stick shooters that came out in the wake after Geometry Wars' massive success. While it's definitely not as polished as its inspiration, Aqua can still be a fun time if you're in the mood for some twin-stick action. The game takes a more conventional approach, with stages laid out in a linear fashion and a story unraveling between and during stages. I found the story completely uninteresting and honestly can't even recall enough about it to even summarize it, but it's there for those who enjoy that in a shooter. Basically, you just need to know a bunch of ships are attacking and you need to blow them up.
Along the way you'll be able to upgrade your ship's firepower and attributes in addition to gaining a squadron that fights alongside you. Due to you commandeering a water vessel rather than a space ship you typically get in these titles, you're range of motion is hampered a bit and making sudden and precise dodging can be a little more difficult than it needs to be. Other than that issue, the controls work rather well. The music and sound production is there, and gets the job done well enough but nothing really particularly stands out in that department. Graphically the game looks pretty good with a mostly steady frame-rate and cool looking water effects. There were a few instances when the FPS would stutter, but backing out and restarting the game resolved the issue and it didn't happen again.
Aqua does support some multiplayer action but I was never able to find a soul online in my time with the game so I'm unable to really comment on how good or bad that feature was. After you complete the campaign there is also a skirmish mode where you survive as many waves of oncoming enemies as possible. The game will likely give you around 5-10 hours of twin-stick shooting goodness before you've cleared the campaign and likely tired of trying to finish the incredibly difficult skirmish mode. If you're okay with the short run-time of the game and enjoy a decent twin-stick shooter, I'd say give it a go!
Final Verdict: Aqua: Naval Warfare comes recommended to anybody who's played all the other twin-stick shooters and still craves more. If you simply just enjoy blowing up stuff you may dig this title as well.
Related Links:
Buy Aqua - Xbox Marketplace
Games Distillery - Official Site
Aqua - Metacritic
Aqua - GameFAQs
Aqua Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Aqua - True Achievements
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