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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Shooter Developer: Carbonated Games Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios |
“Aegis Wing” is an example of the classic shooter with a bit of a twist. Earth is now uninhabitable and the human race is attempting to re-establish itself on Europa. Unfortunately the evil Araxians have other plans, and
their plans involve wiping out the human race by shooting thousands of little red pellets and lasers at them. Players are put to the task of stopping their evil doers and their pellets and lasers with a prototype star fighter
created with stolen Araxian technology.
After going through the first menus where players choose single player or multiplayer mode, a difficulty level and their ships color, they are thrown right into the battlefield. The controls of the game are simple. Players
will use the left stick or the D-pad to move around the level, fire the primary laser with the right trigger or A button and use their secondary weapon with the B button or left trigger. The simplified controls lay the
groundwork for some solid game play. Wave after wave of Araxian ships attack players attempting to annihilate them. The play field is also filled with mines that are not able to be destroyed by the standard weapon.
This makes moving around a little more complex as players take on the aliens. Some cool super weapons have been included to spice up the game a little bit. The Hades Beam is the typical forward firing super laser,
there is also the Arcus Missiles that are heat seeking missiles, the Lambda Shield deflects enemy bullets back at them and the Gordon Burst is an EMP blast that absorbs enemy shots and disables their ships.
While single player mode is fun, multiplayer is where the game really shines. The greatest feature of multiplayer is ship linking. The ship link feature of the game fairly easy, by pressing the X button near another player’
s ship will link them together. One player assumes the role of the pilot and up to three others that are linked on will then become a turret that can fire 360 degrees. Each ship has a life meter, and linking increases the
damage players can take as well as making super weapons much more powerful. The major sacrifice of linking the ships is that players slow down, and in this game speed is absolutely critical to staying alive in the
game. This definitely adds a huge issue to the game play and requires a totally different strategy to succeed.
When it comes to the visuals of “Aegis Wing,” players will notice that they are quite well done. While the ship models aren’t anything that is innovative, but they are rendered well and there are some great effects when
using weapons like the Gordon Burst. One very nice feature is the in game becoming translucent when players fly behind them so they can still see their ship. The backgrounds are very busy and colorful and players
will find themselves losing more than a few lives when they get distracted noticing the small details as they scroll by. Huge pieces of space debris fly past them in the foreground and background and the maps scrolling
axis will periodically change to throw players off track and add to the sense of chaos. The only real complaint is that players would think that flying into debris would destroy their ship and accidently flying into enemy
ships or space mines. The amount of on screen enemies and shots can get very high without any apparent slow down. This is one game that should have probably been fitted with an epilepsy warning.
The sound effects are exactly what one would expect from a standard space shooter, from the sounds of the small lasers leaving the ship to the speaker blasting explosions of the final bosses. While the sound effects
were exactly what one would expect from a game of this type, it is the music that really stands out. It is a very intense soundtrack that really pulls players into the game. It works very well in this game and adds to the
intensity and insanity that players are already surrounded by with the game by itself. Any less of a soundtrack in the game would have brought down the overall quality of the game. It is nice to see something new in the
final product.
With only six different levels to fight through, the game itself is pretty short, but anything aside from the normal difficulty is a bit of a challenge for any player. There are many more Araxians on Insane mode, and players
don’t get nearly as many lives as on a lower setting. After beating the game on Insane players are able to unlock a feature to select any of the six stages. There are also twelve challenging, but not completely
impossible Achievements to unlock which will take players back a few times for those points that every is always chasing after.
Single player mode is fun, but players will find themselves going back to multiplayer over and over again because it is so much more fun to play with a friend and see how long they are able to last as a team. The added
levels of cooperation are what really make this game worth checking out. “Aegis Wing” is a good effort towards an exceptional game. It is an excellent diversion when players are looking for something simple and fun to
play with friends for an hour or two. Many players should check out this game because of the low price but the high level of fun that it offers.
their plans involve wiping out the human race by shooting thousands of little red pellets and lasers at them. Players are put to the task of stopping their evil doers and their pellets and lasers with a prototype star fighter
created with stolen Araxian technology.
After going through the first menus where players choose single player or multiplayer mode, a difficulty level and their ships color, they are thrown right into the battlefield. The controls of the game are simple. Players
will use the left stick or the D-pad to move around the level, fire the primary laser with the right trigger or A button and use their secondary weapon with the B button or left trigger. The simplified controls lay the
groundwork for some solid game play. Wave after wave of Araxian ships attack players attempting to annihilate them. The play field is also filled with mines that are not able to be destroyed by the standard weapon.
This makes moving around a little more complex as players take on the aliens. Some cool super weapons have been included to spice up the game a little bit. The Hades Beam is the typical forward firing super laser,
there is also the Arcus Missiles that are heat seeking missiles, the Lambda Shield deflects enemy bullets back at them and the Gordon Burst is an EMP blast that absorbs enemy shots and disables their ships.
While single player mode is fun, multiplayer is where the game really shines. The greatest feature of multiplayer is ship linking. The ship link feature of the game fairly easy, by pressing the X button near another player’
s ship will link them together. One player assumes the role of the pilot and up to three others that are linked on will then become a turret that can fire 360 degrees. Each ship has a life meter, and linking increases the
damage players can take as well as making super weapons much more powerful. The major sacrifice of linking the ships is that players slow down, and in this game speed is absolutely critical to staying alive in the
game. This definitely adds a huge issue to the game play and requires a totally different strategy to succeed.
When it comes to the visuals of “Aegis Wing,” players will notice that they are quite well done. While the ship models aren’t anything that is innovative, but they are rendered well and there are some great effects when
using weapons like the Gordon Burst. One very nice feature is the in game becoming translucent when players fly behind them so they can still see their ship. The backgrounds are very busy and colorful and players
will find themselves losing more than a few lives when they get distracted noticing the small details as they scroll by. Huge pieces of space debris fly past them in the foreground and background and the maps scrolling
axis will periodically change to throw players off track and add to the sense of chaos. The only real complaint is that players would think that flying into debris would destroy their ship and accidently flying into enemy
ships or space mines. The amount of on screen enemies and shots can get very high without any apparent slow down. This is one game that should have probably been fitted with an epilepsy warning.
The sound effects are exactly what one would expect from a standard space shooter, from the sounds of the small lasers leaving the ship to the speaker blasting explosions of the final bosses. While the sound effects
were exactly what one would expect from a game of this type, it is the music that really stands out. It is a very intense soundtrack that really pulls players into the game. It works very well in this game and adds to the
intensity and insanity that players are already surrounded by with the game by itself. Any less of a soundtrack in the game would have brought down the overall quality of the game. It is nice to see something new in the
final product.
With only six different levels to fight through, the game itself is pretty short, but anything aside from the normal difficulty is a bit of a challenge for any player. There are many more Araxians on Insane mode, and players
don’t get nearly as many lives as on a lower setting. After beating the game on Insane players are able to unlock a feature to select any of the six stages. There are also twelve challenging, but not completely
impossible Achievements to unlock which will take players back a few times for those points that every is always chasing after.
Single player mode is fun, but players will find themselves going back to multiplayer over and over again because it is so much more fun to play with a friend and see how long they are able to last as a team. The added
levels of cooperation are what really make this game worth checking out. “Aegis Wing” is a good effort towards an exceptional game. It is an excellent diversion when players are looking for something simple and fun to
play with friends for an hour or two. Many players should check out this game because of the low price but the high level of fun that it offers.
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