E3 2010 was last week and I got a chance to try quite a few upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles including DeathSpank, Hard Corps: Uprising, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 and Hydro Thunder Hurricane. I also saw Comic Jumper and Space Invader Infinity Gene in action.
Comic Jumper reminded me of the old TMNT arcade title with its side scrolling beat-em-up action. Twisted Pixel has another hilarious game in the works. The dialog in the portions I saw was really funny and the plot took about the exact opposite direction from what most comic books do. Comic Jumper is expected to have a late summer or early fall release and if the rest of the game is as good as the part I saw it will be an instant hit.
Space Invader Infinity Gene took a pretty big turn from Space Invaders Extreme that released on Xbox Live Arcade about a year ago. SI Extreme used a lot of bright colors and large enemies. SI Infinity Gene starts off with mostly black backgrounds and white ships. The only color in the first few levels I tried were blue lines that crossed the background like lights at a rave. It was almost headache inducing. I found the game play to be much more challenging that I expected for the first levels of the game. For had core Space Invader fans though it is probably a welcome challenge.
After getting just a few minutes with the first two Xbox Live Arcade games I spent some quality time with the other four. I got to play through the first few quests in DeathSpank which is an action role playing game. DeathSpank looked great and was really funny. It is from Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island) so I was expecting a lot of witty humor going in and it did not disappoint. The action was easy to control but still a lot of fun. You can read my full hand on here.
Next up I got to play co-op through a handful of levels in Hard Corps: Uprising. This Contra successor felt exactly like I imagined a modern day Contra would feel. While I’m still not very good at this type of game it was a blast to play co-op. From what I saw the full game is going to be huge and have a lot of re-playability. You can read my full hands on here.
I never expected that the ability to jump would be what gets me into the Bionic Commando series. I found the first Bionic Commando Rearmed too frustrating and I almost skipped over trying the sequel. It was the graphics that first got my attention when I walked past, but after playing through a few levels I was hooked. You can read my full hands on here.
I’m a huge Hydro Thunder fan so I played the sequel at E3 2010 every chance I got. Having tried it Hydro Thunder Hurricane is one of my most anticipated Summer of Arcade releases. It has 4 player split screen play that you can then take on Xbox Live to race against other groups or individuals. Plus, the new dynamic water looks great. You can read my full hands on here.
