In an extremely cluttered XBox Live Arcade list, it takes something extra special to catch the attention of gamers. It almost has to be something that you can pick up and play within minutes and not have to think to hard about what the game embodies. Is it fun? Is it worth the cash? Don;t be fooled, not all the games out there are good. In fact, I'd say a good 50-60% of the games offered on Live are mediocre at best. However, in the past few months we have seen a steady increase in quality Arcade games being offered. Recently, we've been treated to games such as Gunstar Heroes, Altered Beast and even Sonic 3. Yet, there has been one title that has eluded many gamers out there...the undeniably fun Rocket Riot! In a marketplace riddles with the "same old same old" Rocket Riot stands out as one hell of a good change up.
The concept of RR (created by Coin-Op Interactive and developed by Codeglue) is simplistic, frantic, destructive and extremely over the top. The easiest way for me to describe the game in a somewhat coherent way is to actually cut and paste the caption from Codeglue website:"Rocket Riot is an action-packed side-view shooter featuring a bazooka-wielding jet pack soldier. With a highly stylized 8-bit era feel, players blast their way through the environment against enemies or multiplayer foes online. Navigating through a completely destructible environment, players can uncover special power ups or even burrow into different areas of the map."
Boasting an astounding 80 levels, A fully featured multiplayer Riot with 4 multiplayer modes against up to 8 players on Xbox Live or up to 4 players on a single screen as well as teamed based CTF. Needles to say there's a lot to do and take advantage of in this game.From a graphical standpoint, Rocket Riot isn't necessarily going to rock your face off. As described above, it's pretty much a 2D scrolling shooter with blocked in parameters (i.e. single screen levels). The game almost has an 80's aesthetic to it (intentional of course) and is always poking fun of it's own simplistic structure. Blocks look 'blocky' characters look like they were pulled from a Doctor Mario clone gone wrong and the music is straight out of the 1980's era 8-bit soundtrack module. Yet, somehow all the nostalgic nuances seem to grab you by the throat and force you to have a good time!
Game play is where Rocket Riot truly shines. Its fast paced, run and gun action that is delivered in short burst, meaning the levels are short and normally only take about four to five minutes to beat. Each level has a different objective and range from obscure killing spree goals to scoring field goals with footballs. Odd? Yup. Fun? Absolutely!
Even though the mini games can get repetitive on occasion, the developers do a fantastic job of rewarding you. While playing through the campaign you will notice that your constantly unlocking new characters (there's tons to unlock), new colors, weapons and even avatars. All in all, the Codeglue does a great job in keeping you coming back for more. Rumored DLC is actually on the horizon as well which will include new maps, weapons and playable characters.
One last thing I would like to hit on is the sound effects. I'm a huge stickler for SFX and when a game doesn't deliver I make sure to write about it. I'm happy to say that Rocket Riot is...average. I will give credit to the soundtrack, however, simply due t the fact tat ts right out of an 80's NERDS movie complete with synchronizes and "robot-beeps." The actually sound FX are something to be desired though. The explosions sound weak and the bazooka's your equipped with don't really feel powerful at all. I like my gins to have some "umph" to them if you know what I mean.
For 800 points, Rocket Riot is a great pick up. The game lasts, for what seems like forever, the gameplay is solid, multiplayer adds a big bonus to the entire game and where else can you pick a banana pirate (yes, an actual banana with pirate attire) as your main character? Count me in!
Graphics: 7
Gameplay: 8
Replayability: 8
SFX: 6
Fun Factor: 8
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Overall: 7.0
Game play is where Rocket Riot truly shines. Its fast paced, run and gun action that is delivered in short burst, meaning the levels are short and normally only take about four to five minutes to beat. Each level has a different objective and range from obscure killing spree goals to scoring field goals with footballs. Odd? Yup. Fun? Absolutely!Even though the mini games can get repetitive on occasion, the developers do a fantastic job of rewarding you. While playing through the campaign you will notice that your constantly unlocking new characters (there's tons to unlock), new colors, weapons and even avatars. All in all, the Codeglue does a great job in keeping you coming back for more. Rumored DLC is actually on the horizon as well which will include new maps, weapons and playable characters.
One last thing I would like to hit on is the sound effects. I'm a huge stickler for SFX and when a game doesn't deliver I make sure to write about it. I'm happy to say that Rocket Riot is...average. I will give credit to the soundtrack, however, simply due t the fact tat ts right out of an 80's NERDS movie complete with synchronizes and "robot-beeps." The actually sound FX are something to be desired though. The explosions sound weak and the bazooka's your equipped with don't really feel powerful at all. I like my gins to have some "umph" to them if you know what I mean.For 800 points, Rocket Riot is a great pick up. The game lasts, for what seems like forever, the gameplay is solid, multiplayer adds a big bonus to the entire game and where else can you pick a banana pirate (yes, an actual banana with pirate attire) as your main character? Count me in!
Graphics: 7
Gameplay: 8
Replayability: 8
SFX: 6
Fun Factor: 8
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Overall: 7.0
-GAME HARD-
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