Small Arms  Review - Page 1

- Luke, Staff Writer

Sunday, November 26, 2006

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Title: Small Arms .............................................. System: Xbox Live Arcade .............................................. Genre: Action .............................................. Publisher: N/A .............................................. Developer: Gastronaut Studios .............................................. Release: TBA .............................................. Online: Yes .............................................. ESRB: Rating Pending (RP) .............................................. Small Arms is that type of game that is relatively easy to review. It doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, but for an Xbox Live Arcade title, the game is simply stunning. It doesn’t have the lasting appeal of a full title, but the fact simply is: it doesn’t need too. This is the type of game you can fire up, and within seconds you’re blowing up small animals and miscellaneous creatures for the sheer fun of it. Small Arms successfully pushes the boundaries of what independent developers can do, and Gastronaut Studios has proven that big budgets – and crazy ambiguous marketing campaigns – aren’t needed to make a game fun. Simply put, Small Arms is a blast to play. As said before, when you load up Small Arms, you aren’t going to see a whole lot of variety on the main menu. You can, of course, play story-mode, but it runs just like a general fighting game would: pick a character, and battle it out on several stages before completing the game. Going through once will unlock all the previously unavailable characters, so afterwards, there isn’t really much to entice you back for more. And whilst the game also features a neat Survival Mode, which enables you to battle an onslaught of foes, Small Arms isn’t the type of game that will last you ten or more hours. Having said that, Small Arms is still immensely fun and rewarding. It is so wacky and over-the-top, that it is bound to bring you back for just ‘one more go’. The game truly is the ultimate ten-minute experience title, and in this case, that particular formula works perfectly for the Arcade. Up to four creatures can battle it out across a map, with a whole variety of different weapons and special abilities. Think of it as a mixed hybrid of PowerStone and Super Smash Bros. It is quickly evident that Small Arms is a simple game to get to grips with, but as you make your way around different matches, you’ll find that it has some pretty deep strategy elements to be taken advantage of. Speaking of the levels, they are really well designed and have some really neat touches that help draw the battle together. You’ll traverse anything from rocky waterfalls, to objects in a giant tornado. But everything always sticks to a unique formula. As you move, so does the map around you. Get too far behind, and you’ll be swallowed up and dropped out of the game. Whilst it may seem fairly tedious at first, it actually works extremely well, as you can keep up with the quickly respawning ammunition and health that pops up in different areas. All the maps are perfectly suited to the size of the game as well, being fairly compact, and allows little room for mistakes. I did, however, have some issues with the aiming system at times. Given that this is a 2D perspective, but a 3D game, the 360-degree aiming can become annoying in some of the small maps, especially with a lot of action on-screen. Characters pretty much make Small Arms what it is, and pay great homage to the developers themselves. Each one has been incredibly well thought out, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses (attribute-wise). From a suited pig, to the finest modern warfare soldier, they all paint an illustrious and interesting picture. Default weapons will make your character choice important, as each one will reflect your style of playing. Of course, the main bulk of the gaming in Small Arms is bound to be its multiplayer options, and for an XBLA game, it has some excellent choices. You can choose to play with up to four players on one console, or go across Xbox Live and take the fight to other people online. There isn’t really a lot of depth here, but Small Arms is so damn fun, that you won’t even care. Online is lag free, and playing with some of your friends is the way to go. Considering Small Arms is an XBLA title, not many would expect the graphics to be on par with disc titles…but the graphics are simply stunning. It is easily the best looking game out on the Arcade, and once you download it and play, you can see why. Small Arms features beautifully rendered backgrounds and levels. It also has some spectacular looking character models when viewed up close. Particle effects are also done very well, and explosions from grenades are extremely pretty to watch. The game engine also supports an amazing dynamic range lighting system, which is incorporated to perfection. It is pretty safe to say that it is going to be difficult for any Arcade game to come close, visually, to the standard that Small Arms has set. Small Arms doesn’t just look good either; it sounds incredible. Gunfire explodes through the speakers, and there is some complimentary ambient music in the background that gets you pumped up before a game. Not only that, but the game has a few good one-liners from the characters that add personality when you score that devastating kill. Overall, Small Arms offers something completely different. If you like your games with twenty-hour single-player romps, then Small Arms is definitely not for you. However, if you want bags of fun, combined with doses of unique elements, then the 800 Microsoft Points tag that comes with this game is easily worth the money. The gameplay is fun, the graphics are superb, and online play is seamless with no lag whatsoever. Small Arms is, quite easily, the best XBLA game to date. Pages 1   The Core Score Overall 8.9 Fun 8.8 Gameplay 8.5 Graphics 9.2 Audio 8.9 Replay 7.5     Kid Safe Score      7  Good    Not a whole lot of gore, but there is enough to put some people off purchasing the game. It isn't however, that gory, so you can be sure that the game is suitable to play for most ages.   How we score games