Xeno Crisis (MD, 2018)
Graphics-8 Sound-9 Control-7 Challenge-8.5* Story-6
Level Design-7* Frustration-9* Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Easy, 1-player
+
Fast paced and intense Smash TV style gameplay
Some fun weapons (rocket launcher, laser, rebound/ricochet beam, mini-gun, grenades)
2-player co-op
Character advancement/building in-between levels (buy upgrades with dog tags collected in the levels, upgradeable health/gun and grenade ammo/gun power/grenade power/movement speed+gas cloud protection)
Some interesting enemies (strafing and shooting enemies as well as enemies that move to the side slightly when hit, the alien enemies that only shoot if attacked with a gun, soldiers with shields that you have to roll into to remove it or use a grenade on to kill),
Impressive OST (contemporary metal styles)
Some large and detailed sprites
Basic ranking system (seems pretty harsh - not taking any damage during a boss fight can still result in a D on Easy?, doesn't tell you how to improve)
Difficulty options (only easy and hard though and easy is still quite hard)
Strafing - can't strafe while not shooting though
Several voice samples and they sound good
Some exploding barrels/containers
Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown
Some good bosses
Pretty nice cutscenes in-between levels (artwork stills and text, tongue in cheek story)
Good art direction+use of color and great animation overall
Unlockable boss rush and infinite modes via codes
Three endings (have to 1CC hard mode for the best one and 1CC Easy for the normal one)
+/-
Can't save health power ups for later use
Timed special weapons (see Fantasy Zone - can't buy one and manually activate it to use when you really need it here though)
Rescue mission/collectathon (have to rescue everyone and sometimes collect key cards to open the door to the boss in a level though there aren't that many in any single level)
The dodge move is canceled if you diagonally roll into a wall or other object
Can't jump or block
Randomly generated level layouts and power up drops to an extent (minor variations between sessions)
Only one bomb (grenade) weapon - several different ones in the Fantasy Zone games
No smart bombs - can upgrade the grenades twice but the fully upgraded blast isn't very big
Somewhat maze-like levels
Enemies tend not to get knocked back or slowed down when shot
Invincibility time during roll moves
Limited ammo for the default gun - ammo automatically spawns as you're about to run out but you'll generally have to dodge some enemies to get to it
No level timers
A couple of movement speed upgrades but no in-game speed adjustment (Thunder Force series)
Enemy drops disappear after 7-8 seconds
No alternate paths through levels - rather you can go into some optional rooms at times and then go back to the main path
No boss in level 3
Some gore
Can't push exploding barrels/containers
-
Can't use any continues or you won't get to fight the final boss even on Easy - triggers the bad ending without warning (wtf?, can't use cheats to get to it either)
Some control/interface issues (can't dodge while holding down the fire button and have to press either dodge or fire to cancel a dodge move (it's pretty long), aiming right after dodging is a bit weird - seems like there's a small delay, no full control config (can't map A to fire in 3-button mode for example), no weapon inventory, no HUD means you can't see how many grenades or HP you have left at all times which is bad in an action game - it's shown only when using a grenade (unless you're carrying a special weapon in which case it's not) and when taking damage or entering a room for HP, the knife is not reliable (sometimes looks like you hit an enemy but then it didn't register, other times you hit 3-4 in one slash) and can't be used manually - automatically triggers when near enough and the rate of fire is slow, six button controller could've been used better by having one button cycle in one aim direction and another the other - as it is you can only rotate it in 8 steps in one direction by pressing the grenade attack button while firing - also weird since it makes aiming grenade attacks harder)
Some weapons kinda suck (charge beam - can't shoot until it's fully charged, the shotgun isn't quite powerful enough considering the slow rate of fire which can throw off your timing as well)
Some overly spongy bosses and you rarely get to use the timed special weapons on them
Trial & error (sometimes enemies will start entering from the door you entered within seconds of entering a room, can't use the knife on certain enemies - final level turrets+bosses+lab zombies while they're lying down (can hit the small worms so it's not low targets), some enemies spawn too quickly from above or below, boss patterns)
No hidden rooms?
Some backtracking - seems pointless at times and the special weapon timer still counts down (some detours into dead ends don't seem worth it)
Nothing to spend upgrade points on for the final level besides elixirs which you don't want to use anyway - the skill tree could've let you become overpowered in a single skill if you saved up like 40+ points or they could've let you buy grenades at that point (there's also no point to points still dropping in the final level)
Boss death animations are a bit meh - just grenade explosions and then the screen freezes as the rank is displayed
A bit repetitive (repeated enemies, no scrolling rooms, no vehicle or turret segments, no protection or escort segments, can't open up new paths with the grenades, no mini-bosses)
The homing beam and spread attack special weapons feel a bit weak
The flamethrower is too rare in some sessions and doesn't set enemies on fire (potentially causing chain reactions)
Grenades are barely worth saving for bosses later on
Level Design-7* Frustration-9* Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Easy, 1-player
+
Fast paced and intense Smash TV style gameplay
Some fun weapons (rocket launcher, laser, rebound/ricochet beam, mini-gun, grenades)
2-player co-op
Character advancement/building in-between levels (buy upgrades with dog tags collected in the levels, upgradeable health/gun and grenade ammo/gun power/grenade power/movement speed+gas cloud protection)
Some interesting enemies (strafing and shooting enemies as well as enemies that move to the side slightly when hit, the alien enemies that only shoot if attacked with a gun, soldiers with shields that you have to roll into to remove it or use a grenade on to kill),
Impressive OST (contemporary metal styles)
Some large and detailed sprites
Basic ranking system (seems pretty harsh - not taking any damage during a boss fight can still result in a D on Easy?, doesn't tell you how to improve)
Difficulty options (only easy and hard though and easy is still quite hard)
Strafing - can't strafe while not shooting though
Several voice samples and they sound good
Some exploding barrels/containers
Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown
Some good bosses
Pretty nice cutscenes in-between levels (artwork stills and text, tongue in cheek story)
Good art direction+use of color and great animation overall
Unlockable boss rush and infinite modes via codes
Three endings (have to 1CC hard mode for the best one and 1CC Easy for the normal one)
+/-
Can't save health power ups for later use
Timed special weapons (see Fantasy Zone - can't buy one and manually activate it to use when you really need it here though)
Rescue mission/collectathon (have to rescue everyone and sometimes collect key cards to open the door to the boss in a level though there aren't that many in any single level)
The dodge move is canceled if you diagonally roll into a wall or other object
Can't jump or block
Randomly generated level layouts and power up drops to an extent (minor variations between sessions)
Only one bomb (grenade) weapon - several different ones in the Fantasy Zone games
No smart bombs - can upgrade the grenades twice but the fully upgraded blast isn't very big
Somewhat maze-like levels
Enemies tend not to get knocked back or slowed down when shot
Invincibility time during roll moves
Limited ammo for the default gun - ammo automatically spawns as you're about to run out but you'll generally have to dodge some enemies to get to it
No level timers
A couple of movement speed upgrades but no in-game speed adjustment (Thunder Force series)
Enemy drops disappear after 7-8 seconds
No alternate paths through levels - rather you can go into some optional rooms at times and then go back to the main path
No boss in level 3
Some gore
Can't push exploding barrels/containers
-
Can't use any continues or you won't get to fight the final boss even on Easy - triggers the bad ending without warning (wtf?, can't use cheats to get to it either)
Some control/interface issues (can't dodge while holding down the fire button and have to press either dodge or fire to cancel a dodge move (it's pretty long), aiming right after dodging is a bit weird - seems like there's a small delay, no full control config (can't map A to fire in 3-button mode for example), no weapon inventory, no HUD means you can't see how many grenades or HP you have left at all times which is bad in an action game - it's shown only when using a grenade (unless you're carrying a special weapon in which case it's not) and when taking damage or entering a room for HP, the knife is not reliable (sometimes looks like you hit an enemy but then it didn't register, other times you hit 3-4 in one slash) and can't be used manually - automatically triggers when near enough and the rate of fire is slow, six button controller could've been used better by having one button cycle in one aim direction and another the other - as it is you can only rotate it in 8 steps in one direction by pressing the grenade attack button while firing - also weird since it makes aiming grenade attacks harder)
Some weapons kinda suck (charge beam - can't shoot until it's fully charged, the shotgun isn't quite powerful enough considering the slow rate of fire which can throw off your timing as well)
Some overly spongy bosses and you rarely get to use the timed special weapons on them
Trial & error (sometimes enemies will start entering from the door you entered within seconds of entering a room, can't use the knife on certain enemies - final level turrets+bosses+lab zombies while they're lying down (can hit the small worms so it's not low targets), some enemies spawn too quickly from above or below, boss patterns)
No hidden rooms?
Some backtracking - seems pointless at times and the special weapon timer still counts down (some detours into dead ends don't seem worth it)
Nothing to spend upgrade points on for the final level besides elixirs which you don't want to use anyway - the skill tree could've let you become overpowered in a single skill if you saved up like 40+ points or they could've let you buy grenades at that point (there's also no point to points still dropping in the final level)
Boss death animations are a bit meh - just grenade explosions and then the screen freezes as the rank is displayed
A bit repetitive (repeated enemies, no scrolling rooms, no vehicle or turret segments, no protection or escort segments, can't open up new paths with the grenades, no mini-bosses)
The homing beam and spread attack special weapons feel a bit weak
The flamethrower is too rare in some sessions and doesn't set enemies on fire (potentially causing chain reactions)
Grenades are barely worth saving for bosses later on