M.A.C.E. (XBLIG, 2013)

M.A.C.E.
Developed by EntwicklerX
Released for XBLIG (10/2013)
Also Released on Amiga/Android/iOS/PC/Xbox One

M.A.C.E. is a top-down vertical shmup and here I will give you some quick impressions after playing the trial for the game. M.A.C.E. boasts about having 3D support, but I lack a 3D television so am unable to vouch for how well that feature works. Initially I was very impressed with M.A.C.E. as it has a very slick graphic presentation. The artwork all looks very good although the game suffers from some pretty generic/uninteresting enemy design despite the art being solid. The multi-layered backdrops look very nice as they scroll by. Graphically, for an XBLIG the game looks great overall.

One thing about M.A.C.E. that just felt a bit off to me was the pacing of the gameplay. Your initial firepower is very weak and will take several shots to blow anything up. For a shmup, the game feels quite slow and the first stage I was able to play in the trial seemed to outstay its welcome just throwing the same enemies at you and while this could be argued is the same with every shmup a good enemy variety and placement will keep your stages interesting throughout, regardless of how long they are. I definitely appreciate what the developers were trying to do with this title, but the title misses the mark by a bit. After noticing that this was also released on the Amiga I get the impression the developers were going for more of a Euro shmup feel so if that's your thing you might enjoy this one.

Final Verdict: There are several other shmups even on the 360's indie marketplace that I would deem more worthy of your time than this M.A.C.E. It looks very nice though and fans of Euro shooters will get more mileage out of this one than I did.

Related Links:
M.A.C.E. - GameFAQs

Platformance: Castle Pain (XBLIG, 2010)

Platformance: Castle Pain
Developed by Magiko Gaming
Released for XBLIG (7/2010)
Also Released on Windows Mobile & PC

Platformance: Castle Pain is a 2D platformer title very much in the same vein as Super Meat Boy, meaning you will bear witness to your character dying a multitude of times while navigating precarious platforms in an effort to save the princess. The game features an 8-bit pixel graphic style which looks quite nice. The game takes place on one large screen and you can zoom all the way out to see the entire board using the X button. You are given three varying degrees of difficulty with the abundance of traps increasing on the harder difficulties. The controls are quite responsive which is very important when navigating some of the tougher layouts. There are checkpoints laid about the map, allowing your character to quickly respawn without losing too much progress, which helps prevent the experience from becoming too frustrating. While the game only features one stage, the three difficulty levels give you a reason to come back to it multiple times. The game features local leaderboards to keep track of your best times and at one point also featured online leaderboards which appear to be defunct at this time. While some would certainly complain about only having the one stage, for its initial $1 asking price I'd say Platformance: Castle Pain is worth checking out for those who enjoy a tough 2D challenge.

Final Verdict: Platformance: Castle Pain is a solid but short 2D platformer with a high level of challenge. If you enjoy tough 2D platformers it's worth a look.

Related Links:
Platformance: Castle Pain - GameFAQs
Magiko Gaming News Channel - WordPress

Vorpal (XBLIG, 2010)

Vorpal
Developed by Abraham Morales
Released for XBLIG (12/2010)

Vorpal is a vertical top-down bullet hell shmup released on the XBLIG marketplace in 2010. The following is a quick look at the trial version. In the trial, you are given access to the story mode. You will immediately notice there is a giant crop on either side of the screen in order to simulate the old-school arcade vertical monitors. Unfortunately there is no option to rotate the image to take up more screen real estate. Upon starting story mode, there are six pilots to choose from, though you can only select one of them in the trial mode. Rather than your traditional stages in these types of games where the screen slowly scrolls, Vorpal is presented as a one-on-one battle. These are akin to your boss battles in shmups and these will be some long, grueling battles.

The graphics in Vorpal are very basic and everything shares the black, white and red color palette. The ship designs aren't bad, but they have no animation as they move about. If you need bright colorful graphics in your games, then Vorpal is probably not going to cut it for you. It works well enough for what the title is doing and the portraits of the characters at the select screen are very nice. The soundtrack features techno-style music that is standard in shmups and it complements the action well. The enemy bullets are big and stand out, which is important when there are so many of them coming at you!

Vorpal is a very tough game and will take a high level of patience and persistence to proceed past even the first boss. You do have a button to slow your ship down for precision maneuvering and there is a meter you can build up to gain a temporary firepower boost. There will also occasionally be some fodder enemies that when blasted drop power-ups which will be absolutely necessary for your survival. There's also an interesting feature where the game has a bar at the bottom of the screen indicating where the boss is, making lining up your shots while dodging bullets a bit more manageable. I thought Vorpal was a pretty good shooter, despite the fact that it handed my ass to me several times. It's definitely one I'm considering purchasing the full game as it's only $1 (at the time of this writing still available). It's also worth noting that the full version also contains a versus mode where you can select your opponent to practice against.

Final Verdict: If your favorite part of shmups are the boss battles and you enjoy boss rush modes then Vorpal will deliver what you need along with a solid challenge.

Related Links:
Vorpal - GameFAQs
Vorpal Review by CGR Undertow - YouTube

Arbor Vitae (XBLIG, 2009)

Arbor Vitae
Developed by Erpberger
Released for XBLIG (8/2009)

Arbor Vitae is definitely an interesting take on the twin-stick shooter formula. The objective in the game is to protect and grow a tree. Your ship looks very much like the triangle from the classic Asteroids game. You have a bunch of computer-controlled versions of your triangle ship that you can command to assist in various ways, all while shooting down oncoming waves of enemy insects. The ally ships can be commanded to water, guard or defend the tree. The opening menu doesn't make the best first impression, but overall I think the game's simple, hand-drawn look suits it quite well and the multi-layered backdrops look very nice. The soundtrack is composed of some pretty decent techno-style music. I've only played the trial at this point, but it was enough to convince me to download the game as it is currently on the marketplace for $1 at the time of this writing. Recommended for the twin-stick shooter enthusiast who wants something a bit different. On a trivia note, if you don't know what Arbor Vitae means it's simply a cypress tree.

Final Verdict: Arbor Vitae throws in some unique elements to differentiate itself from the other twin-stick games on XBLIG. If you love twin-stick shooters give it a go!

Related Links:
Arbor Vitae - GameFAQs

Missile Escape (XBLIG, 2010)

Missile Escape
Developed by Maximinus
Released for XBLIG (3/2010)

Missile Escape is a game where you pilot a jet that is constantly thrusting forwards, viewed from a top-down perspective. The action all takes place within the confines of the screen, so when you fly off one side your ship will emerge from the opposite end (similar to many classic Atari 2600 titles). The gimmick with Missile Escape is that you have no form of attack, your only objective is to simply avoid the homing missiles that will constantly pursue you. When you start out, there will only be one missile and each progressive stage adds another missile into the mix. The game is incredibly simple yet definitely has a very addictive "one-more-go" quality about it and it's good fun even in very short bursts.

In addition to the missions mode, there is also a survival mode. In survival a new missile will be added every couple of seconds you're able to dodge until you inevitably go down in a bang. This mode is definitely a great addition. There are also planes you'll unlock as you play, adding a little replay value if nothing else. The game is well presented overall, with a slick and easy to use menu and simple graphics that are easy on the eyes. There is some generic rock music that fits the game quite well and the sound effects are sparse but get the job done. If you enjoyed the pacifist mode in Geometry Wars 2 I think you'll definitely dig this title. For $1, I'd say Missile Escape is worth a look.

Final Verdict: If you like the idea of flying a jet while avoiding missiles, Missile Escape may just the indie title for you!

Related Links:
Missile Escape - GameFAQs

Party Hard (Xbox One, 2016)

Party Hard

Developed by Pinokl Games

Published by tinyBuild

Released for Xbox One (4/2016)

Also on Android/IOS/Linux/Mac/PC/PS4

Party Hard is another one of those "8-bit" pixel-styled games. I would compare the graphics to something like Retro City Rampage. They look nice and despite being simple they boast quite a bit of detail. The music all sounds like its straight out of the '80's, so depending on your taste this could be either a good or a bad thing. The premise of the game is that your character is tired and can't get any sleep due to the partying neighbors. The insomnia drives our character insane because your objective on each stage is to eliminate each and every person, all the while trying to avoid anybody witnessing the act taking place. It's definitely a pretty sadistic premise, not all that different from the original Postal game on PC, but it's hard to be offended by the simple pixelized representation of these heinous acts.

Each stage features a different party for you to crash, ranging from rooftops, casinos, party bus and college campus among others. The entire stage is visible at any time, making for a busy screen that at times can be tough to track your character among everything going on. You do have a dance button that helps if you get lost as it will highlight your character while also annoying anybody near you. There are several objects laid out on most of the stages that your character can interact with. You can set traps, such as an exploding gumball machine or bear trap, that will activate once your prey walks on them but they are all in designated spots (would have been fun to place your own traps!). There will also be certain areas you can use to dispose of bodies, like garbage bins and ice chests (nice Psycho reference) which definitely help in keeping the heat off you.

The face-to-face killing is done by simply hitting X and your character will do a quick stab animation, there will be no firearms used in Party Hard. If there is anybody standing nearby looking in your direction that witnesses you do this they will immediately dart for the nearest phone and call the police (the game takes place in the '80's so no cell phones). NPC's will also contact the police if they find a dead body lying around, which is why it's always a good idea to hide the bodies on stages that allow it. If the police know you're the killer, they'll head straight for you and unless you're able to lure them into a trap you will inevitably get arrested and have to restart the level. You can't use your stab kill on police officers, but if you do manage to kill one with a trap than the feds can show up. They are like the police but a bit more relentless in pursuing you but can still be killed with traps.  Some stages also feature security guards that work pretty much the same way as the police except you can sneak up behind them and stab them.

That's basically the game, kill everybody while avoiding the police. You are able to unlock some extra characters that are fun to mess around with, including a psycho wielding a chainsaw and a ninja. The game is fun, but the simple concept doesn't really have any variation throughout the game. It's just pretty much the same thing with different stage layouts. I enjoyed it enough to play it through to the end and definitely appreciated the various themes differing the levels from one another. There are some bugs you can exploit in your favor, including manipulating the cops walking path and avoiding arrest quite easily on several of the stages. A special mention goes out to the achievement "Clubber" which is easily among the worst I've ever encountered, requiring you to boot-up and play the game 100 times. That's just stupid and should have just been to restart stages 100 times or something. If the premise sounds fun and you don't mind the retro-styled graphics, I'd say give this one a go.

Final Verdict: If a game with nice pixel-art where your aim is to just simply kill everything sounds like a good time to you, Party Hard might be right up your alley.

Related Links:
Buy Party Hard - Microsoft Store
Party Hard - GameFAQs
Pinokl Games - Official Site
tinyBuild - Official Site

Abaddon (XBLIG, 2010)

Abaddon
Developed by Caedicus
Released for XBLIG (1/2010)

Abaddon is a space-shooter released exclusively to XBLIG back in 2010. This will just be some quick impressions as I didn't play the game long enough to do a full-fledged review, plus I've only sampled the trial version. If you've ever needed a game to provide you with a great example of why old-school shoot-'em-up games tend to have you firing in one direction, this is a good one. In Abaddon you have enemies coming in from all sides and you must navigate with your left stick and fire with the right trigger. This game-play style would definitely have benefited from a twin-stick shooter control scheme. It becomes pretty much impossible not to take damage when you have to aim your ship at the enemy to shoot them like this. Which is a shame because I found quite a bit to like about Abaddon. It's got a pretty slick presentation, nice menu interface and the graphics aren't too bad. I just could not find any kind of rhythm to the game-play to make me want to keep trying to get better at it, which is usually how these types of games sink their claws into me. I definitely saw some potential in this title, but it just didn't have the stuff to keep me interested. If you're into shmups, you may want to give it a glance and see if it's something you'd like. The game had a sequel release September 2010 titled Abaddon: Retribution. Both Abaddon titles have not been ported to anything outside of XBLIG at the time of this writing.

Final Verdict: Abaddon is one of those indie titles I'd say is a miss, as while is a decent effort there were far superior shooters available on XBLIG.

Related Links:
Abaddon - GameFAQs

Ace Gals Tennis (XBLIG, 2010)

Ace Gals Tennis
Developed by Haruneko
Released for XBLIG (4/2010)

I've enjoyed the majority of tennis video games I've played over the years, so to me it was a no-brainer to at least give Ace Gals Tennis a shot. In this review I'll only be looking at the trial version of the game, which used to be available on the indie games marketplace for $2.99. The game tries to lure you in with what is intended to be some moderately sexy artwork on the title screen. It's a bit of a let-down that the in-game characters just look like your average Xbox Live avatars rather than resembling the character select screen artwork.

The gameplay for Ace Gals Tennis is a bit different than your average tennis game in that you don't control your movement. The game will automatically guide you to where you need to be, so you just have to focus on timing the return. I couldn't quite get the hang of the super shot, but there is a way to time a quick return that will likely score. The lack of direct control really didn't appeal to me and as a result I found myself really struggling to even complete a set. If you've ever played tennis on Wii Sports, it's a bit like that but without the innovative motion control stuff. As far as game modes go, there is a quick match and career mode, so if you do happen to enjoy the gameplay then there is a little bit to delve into. I didn't find Ace Gals Tennis horrible by any means as the game does feature a nice overall presentation, but I do prefer a bit more control in my tennis games. Those who like their tennis games as simple as possible might get some enjoyment out if this game, but I think most would rather plan any of the Virtua Tennis or Top Spin titles.

Final Verdict: Ace Gals Tennis just simply can't compete with the retail tennis titles that came out on the same system. I'd recommend any of the Top Spin or Virtua Tennis titles for your tennis fix over this, but if you find those titles too complicated this one may be worth a look.

Related Links:
Ace Gals Tennis - GameFAQs
Haurneko - Official Site

Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Conspiracy (Xbox 360, 2008)

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy
Developed by High Moon Studios
Published by Sierra Entertainment
Released for Xbox 360 (6/3/2008)
Also on PS3

Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Conspiracy is an admirable effort to create an experience with a mixture of hand-to-hand and gunfighting combat styles. There are also some chase sequences sprinkled in for good measure. The main protagonist is, of course, Jason Bourne, though he shares no likeness to Matt Damon so I guess we're to assume this is based on the novels. I enjoyed the first two films, but I lost interest in the many sequels and haven't felt compelled to watch them at any point. I like the concept for a game though; who doesn't want to play as a highly-skilled and trained killer? So, let's dive into the Bourne Conspiracy and see what's in store.

Graphically, the game looks pretty nice for a title released in 2008. The character models and environments sport some nice detail. The sound design is all above average, nothing stood out as bad nor exceptional. The story is there, but I'm afraid I'm unable to recall any of it as I just couldn't find myself interested enough to pay attention during the cut-scenes. That's not to say that it's bad or anything, just that I didn't care about them and was playing the game purely for the action.

When it comes to the gameplay, Bourne tries to blend hand-to-hand with gunfighting and you'll be going back and forth between the two very frequently. We'll start off with the melee combat. When you get within a couple feet of an enemy you'll engage the hand-to-hand system and the screen pans back to give you a view of both fighters. It somewhat resembles the Fight Night games in some respects but is nowhere near as deep. You have two buttons to attack with and a block button. Fights can be easily won by just mashing the two buttons back and forth. The game does have some simple combos you can do to increase your damage, but I never found myself caring to learn them when you can just mash the buttons and win all the same. As you inflict damage on your enemies you build up a bar that can store up to three meters. You can activate these at any time for an instant takedown. Some of these takedowns are pretty brutal and Bourne will utilize the enviornment when there is something within reach, which is definitely a nice touch.

The gunplay feels a tad loose compared to many other games involving shooting from a third-person perspective, but it works okay due to computer opponents being a bit on the dumb side. You'll want to go for headshots as often as possible, as enemies can eat up quite a few bullets, especially on the hard difficulty. There are several types of guns you can pick up from dead enemies, mostly just the standard fare type of stuff you'll see in these types of games. The shotgun is definitely fun to blast foes with in this game as they tend to launch back like in old action flicks. I appreciate how many of the objects around will take damage during the firefights. The takedown meter works with firearms in addition to melee and will auto-fire a shot guaranteed to kill an enemy, consuming a bar per kill and allowing up to three to be stored. So you can hold on to three bars for tough situations and do a nice triple-takedown. It's an interesting mechanic and I'm sure it was pretty impressive in this pre-Arkham Asylum era of 3D fighting.

High Moon Studios attempted to combine these two styles together, so if in the middle of a firefight you run up on one of your enemies you will enter hand-to-hand mode. This makes for some funny moments watching Bourne go fisticuffs with someone while several enemies are still firing at him. On hard mode this will get you killed though and all of a sudden humor gives way to frustration. It was definitely ambitious but in the end it doesn't really work very well. There's not much flow to the action and on the hard difficulty enemies seem to take forever to die. The melee is definitely unique, but ultimately is just not as fun as other similar titles. I almost forgot to mention, they also included a stage where you get to drive around a bit. This was a welcome deviation and wish it would have been more than one stage! If you've already played through the similar in concept but superior in design 007: Blood Stone (though to be fair, Blood Stone came out a whole two years after this game) and need more third-person shooter action, you could do worse than Bourne Conspiracy.

Final Verdict: The Bourne Conspiracy was rather decent back in 2008, but it is definitely showing its age. If you love third-person action games you may be able to overlook some of its issues and still have a good time with this one.

Purchase Links:
Buy Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - eBay

Related Links:
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - GameFAQs
High Moon Studios - Official Site 
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - Metacritic
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - GameFAQs
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - True Achievements
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements

Doom II (XBLA, 2010)

Doom II
Developed by iD Software
Ported by Nerve Software
Published by Bethesda Softworks
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (5/2010)
Also on PC/Mac/GBA

Doom II, released on PC in 1994, was the much anticipated follow up to the best-seller originally released just a year before. At first glance, the game looks basically unchanged and in many respects it is very similar to its predecessor, but further inspection will reveal a very different style of level design and some nasty new monsters to kill.

Doom II ditches the episode format of the first game, rather just running the player straight through thirty consecutive maps (plus two hidden maps). One positive aspect to this is that when playing on the harder difficulties you won't have to start over with only a pistol after every episode. The first part of the episode will have you battling the demons on Earth, with the later levels taking you deeper into the depths of hell. The city environments definitely show their age and many times are a bit abstract, but for the most part the level design is solid and is much more wide open than the original title. There were a few maps I got completely stuck on, forcing me to resort to the internet for maps in order to figure out where I was supposed to go. I don't recall ever having to do this on the original Doom except to find secrets, which is the one reason I prefer the level design in the original game. That's not to say Doom II has bad level design at all as there are definitely some solid maps to be played in this title.

In addition to the 32-level main campaign, Doom II includes a new 9-level episode "No Rest for the Living" that was created exclusively for this version. New Doom maps are definitely a welcome addition however the quality of the map design is not quite up to par with the original Id Software maps. They are still fun to blast through but on the harder difficulties ammo and health become scarce effectively sky-rocketing the difficulty. You can tell they took advantage of the new hardware and really packed these levels full of monsters. As stated previously, these levels are definitely fun just not quite as good as the originals.

The new weapon, the super shotgun, is a superb addition to an already incredible arsenal. You'll need to use this weapon frequently too, because the new enemies are far more brutal and deadly than any you've encountered in the previous game. They all fit in well with the original cast and will make it hard to go back to the first title after you've experienced the ferocity of these new enemies. The original crew were pushovers compared to these guys! The final boss encounter is very original and tough as nails.

Deathmatch and co-op modes are present as they were in the first game, allowing for up to four players to join up online or locally via split-screen. There are also leaderboards featuring replay clips. There are some avatar awards you can unlock through playing the game which is always a nice little feature. Overall, Doom II is an excellent sequel to the classic franchise and definitely delivered in giving the players more of the same but on a larger scale with the difficulty raised up quite a bit. Like the original Doom, Doom II was removed from XBLA once the Xbox One received a port of the game in July 2019.

Final Verdict: Doom II still holds up well in modern times and is still a great shooter. Those new to the series should start with the original before playing the sequel.

Related Links:
Buy Doom II - Microsoft Store
Doom XBLA Review - Xbox Overview
Doom II - GameFAQs
Doom II Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Doom II - True Achievements

radiangames JoyJoy (XBLIG, 2010)

radiangames JoyJoy
Developed by Radiangames
Released for Xbox Live Indie Games (5/2010)
Also on iOS/Ouya

radiangames JoyJoy is a simple twin-stick shooter with a lot of polish and was the first release on XBLIG from developer radiangames. It has a very simplistic graphic style that I find very pleasant, likely due to all the really light pastel colors. This game mixes up the twin-stick formula a bit by having numerous different weapons you can switch between on the fly. You can also find upgrades for your weapons dropped by enemies. You also have a special attack you can charge and unleash. At the main menu you're able to choose from campaign, challenges and modifiers. Campaign mode is what you'd expect, clear levels to advance and see how far you can get. There are checkpoints every couple of waves up until wave 21, so you can come back and start off somewhere near where you left off. Challenge mode is exactly as advertised, containing various challenging scenarios for you to attempt to survive. The modifiers menu has a bunch of cheats you can enable if you don't feel like losing. Like stated previously, radiangames JoyJoy is a very simple twin-stick shooter, but it's very polished and I'd say easily among the better efforts of this genre available on Xbox's Indie Games marketplace.

Final Verdict: Twin-stick shooter fanatics give radiangames JoyJoy a go, you're sure to have a good time with this one.

Related Links:
radiangames JoyJoy - GameFAQs
radiangames JoyJoy - Official radiangames Site

The Wolf Among Us (XBLA, 2014)

The Wolf Among Us
Developed/Published by Telltale Games
Released for XBLA (11/2014)
Also On Android/Mac/PC/PS3/PS4/Vita

The Wolf Among Us is another interactive story from Telltale Games, following up their first two highly successful Walking Dead games. The game is based off the Fables comics, which I had absolutely no knowledge of coming into this game, but I will say that I am definitely interested in checking them out after playing through this title. I've played through at least four other Telltale Games titles prior to this game and never really ran into any serious issues. I say with no exaggeration that I've never had as much trouble trying to play through an Xbox 360 game as I've had with the Wolf Among Us.

I'll start with the glitches I experienced during gameplay. There was a point where everything just kind of stopped in the middle of a fight, the game wasn't frozen but it was as if all the characters just forgot what they were supposed to do next forcing me to restart. I had another instance where the game failed to load the dialogue options, every choice stating "This option is blank," no longer allowing me to proceed. Late in the game the dialogue choices mysteriously were displayed in Spanish while the spoken dialogue was still in English. There is no option to select the language and it did revert back when I got to the next scene but still, very weird. The frame-rate does take some dips pretty much constantly and you'll frequently wonder if the game is frozen while it stops to load, but even worse than all of these issues is the massive annoyance I ran into while trying to start up the second episode.

Every time I'd load it up, it would start to act like it was loading and would then lock my 360 up with a black screen. This was always a hard freeze, meaning you can't access the Xbox guide to properly exit out of the game and are forced to do a system reset. After several attempts and lots of time wasted researching the issue, I found that this among other problems plaguing the game have been complained about on Telltales' support forums pretty much since the game was released. They have no explanation for why these things are happening and only suggest the generic tech support stuff like "clear your system cache" and "delete and re-download the game". I like Telltale Games and all, but man that is some messy programming and just absolutely abysmal after-launch support! Check out the company's terrible BBB rating if you need evidence of this! I wouldn't blame most people for just giving up on it at this point; I really felt as if the game didn't want me to play it!

I eventually found a resolution to the problem which was to re-download the game on my old original 360 as I was playing it on my 360 E (which has never had any issues playing any other games). After booting it up on my old system I was finally able to proceed forth with the game, so beware if you only have a 360 E model stay far away from this title. I'm unable to test it on the S model as I do not own one, but if you've played it on that model let me know if you ran into any problems.

All complaining about technical issues aside, there's a cool story to be enjoyed within Wolf Among Us if you can manage to get past the bugs. The voice-work is superb, the characters and setting are all very interesting. The gameplay offers the player enough choices that they never feel left out of the story as well. Telltale Games have definitely become masters in these interactive-movie style of games, let's just hope that these programming issues involved with this title are not something I come across in their future games. I can't imagine all of the ports have the issues I've experienced in this version. The Wolf Among Us is also available in physical media form with a disc featuring all episodes on it, though I've heard bad things about the disc version as well so I don't think it remedies the game's many issues unfortunately.

Final Verdict: The Wolf Among Us is a cool interactive-movie game with some glaring technical issues. I'd recommend playing it on the Xbox One, though if you must play it on the 360 make certain it's not on a Xbox 360 E console.

Related Links:
Buy The Wolf Among Us (Xbox 360) - Xbox Marketplace
Buy The Wolf Among Us (Xbox One) - Microsoft Store
Telltale Games - Xbox Overview
The Wolf Among Us - GameFAQs
Fables by Vertigo Comics - Official Site
Fables - Wikipedia
Telltale Games - Official Site

Doom (XBLA, 2006)

Doom
Developed by id Software
Ported by Nerve Software
Published by Activision/Bethesda
Released for  Xbox Live Arcade (9/2006)
Also on PC/Jaguar/32X/SNES/PlayStation/3DO/Saturn/GBA/iOS
Backwards Compatible with Xbox One

I'd be shocked if you hadn't at least heard of the Doom games at some point, seeing as if you're reading this you must have at least a passing interest in video games and the game has been ported to what feels like just about everything that can play video games at this point. Doom was one of the biggest gaming hits of the '90's and many would swear that it was one of the greatest games ever made. As a kid growing up back in those days, I saw firsthand the huge impact that this game would leave on video games as a whole. So, after all these years, how does Doom hold up and would somebody that has never played it before enjoy it?

This version of Doom for the Xbox Live Arcade is a very straightforward port of the PC classic, featuring all three original episodes plus the fourth bonus episode that came with Ultimate Doom. The game looks and sounds exactly as it did originally on the PC, with no hiccups in the frame-rate and the classic Doom midi soundtrack. Graphically, as long as you take into account the year the game was released, everything still looks quite good. You can easily identify everything and the enemies still look as hellish as they ever did. The enemy death animations, while there is only one for each enemy, are still satisfyingly brutal. The sound design is excellent as you'll always be able to identify the monsters you're up against by their unique noises. It never fails to make me panic when I hear the sound of flesh tearing as an imp sneaks up behind you. The music design is heavily influenced by heavy-metal/rock groups of the 90's and it fits the satanic theme perfectly.

The control scheme is laid out well enough but trying to switch out weapons in a hurry can be a pain. You have to use the Y and B buttons to slowly scroll through your weapons, where on the PC version you just had to press the corresponding number to bring up the desired weapon. I did notice after I'd already finished the game that they mapped your weapons out to the d-pad. I think we all know how lackluster the 360's default d-pads are but it's better than nothing. Doom's weapon selection is iconic and pretty much set the standard for the genre. The shotgun, mini-gun, rocket launcher and plasma launcher are all great weapons and all serve a purpose in certain scenarios. The chainsaw is still great for those tight corridors and the BFG-9000 is amazing on special occasions, though you can't use it too often as it drains your ammo heavily! Doom really nailed the weapon diversity the first time around and the only weapon you won't care to use is the pistol you start out with.

The level designs are solid in Doom and for the most part still hold up pretty well even today. The progression of difficulty is good as well and the game will get pretty tough towards those final levels. If you want the true Doom experience, make sure to play through the game on the ultra violence setting. This version of Doom also retains the co-op campaign and deathmatch modes from the computer version as well, which is awesome and definitely adds loads of replayability to the title. Local co-op or deathmatch is allowed for 2-4 players. Online play is also still available at the time of this writing as long as you have a subscription to Xbox Live. There are also leaderboards with replay clips so you can check out some of those insane speed runs. This is definitely a welcome feature and I wish it would become more of a standard with these older titles being re-released on newer platforms.

If you've never played a Doom game before, the enjoyment you will get out of it depends on the player. I would imagine to the younger generation, these sprite-based graphics are pretty ugly, but if you don't mind the old graphic style there's still a great experience to be had with the game. I would definitely start with this one over the sequel as I feel the level design is more focused and the difficulty is far more fair in the original.

Doom was de-listed from the Xbox games marketplace for a while presumably due to the fact that publishing rights for iD Software games changed hands from Activision to Bethesda, but the game did return to XBLA under the new publisher. Doom would be de-listed once again from XBLA, this time for good, once the Xbox One port of the game was released in July 2019. Doom can also be obtained in physical media form via the Doom 3 BFG Edition, which also includes Doom II.

Final Verdict: A solid port of the PC classic, Doom is recommended for anybody who likes first-person shooter games. It's always good to learn the roots of the genre and see how we got to where we are today.

Related Links:
Buy Doom - Microsoft Store
Doom - GameFAQs
Doom Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Doom - True Achievements
Digital Foundry Retro: Every Doom Console Port - YouTube