There's no shortage of dual-stick shooters on XBLA, and one of the latest of
these games is Ion Assault. Ion Assault attempts to differentiate itself from
the crowd by integrating some Asteroids style gameplay and Geometry Wars style
particle effects into the game. Throw in a unique weapon system and you've got a
game that's at least a bit different than most of the others in this crowded
genre, but the important question is whether or not 'different' is fun in this
case. Let's find out...
The levels in Ion Assault place you in small arenas where asteroids float
around waiting for you to break them into successfully smaller chunks, but the
first time you play the game you'll notice something different. Unlike most
dual-stick shooters, the right stick is only used to aim your weapon; it won't
fire automatically. You use the left trigger to fire, but even pulling the
trigger won't guarantee that you'll get a shot off. That's because Ion Assault's
weapons need to be charged before they're fired, and it's up to you to do the
charging. Space in Ion Assault is not a vacuum, but is filled with tiny
particles. As you move your ship through these particles it will suck them up
just like a vacuum cleaner and use their energy to power the weapon. Suck up
just a few particles and you'll fire a relatively weak shot. Collect a lot of
particles in your holds and you'll be able to release a supercharged blast.
Because of this you won't be able to just float in one spot, spinning and
shooting. You must constantly be on the move, seeking new pockets of particles
while avoiding collisions with the asteroids or the numerous enemies that game
throws your way.
The difficulty in Ion Assault ramps up pretty quickly, as each successive
level adds more enemies into the mix. Pretty soon you'll see how particle happy
the game really is. Between the asteroid chunks, space particles, and enemy
ships and their weapons' fire, the screen can get quite cluttered and it can be
difficult keeping track of it all. It's pretty to watch, but also pretty hard to
steer a ship through all of the chaos.
The game consists of four five-stage levels, each of which ends in a boss
fight. The boss fights are a bit disappointing in terms of challenge considering
what it takes to reach them, but if you're just a casual gamer you'll have
trouble reaching most of them in the first place. Ion Assault can be fun for
fans of the genre, especially if they're looking for something a little
different. For everyone else it's probably too different and too difficult to be
of much interest.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
72%.
