Play as one of two battle harden marines that are taking on an alien invasion in this arena top down twin stick shooter. Xeno Crisis is a local co-op old school shooter that is a mixture of Contra and the arena style shooter like Super Smash TV.
General Gameplay
You take on as the role of one of two different marines to take on an alien invasion. Going from areas defeating enemies, picking up dog tags, more power weapons, and ammo and ending each level with a boss battle. Between each level you use the dog tags picked up from defeated enemies to upgrade your character from more health, ammo, and other upgrades that will help you in later levels. The Game Visuals are drawn in the 16-bit style of pixels to give it a retro feel of the classic shooter from that era (Xeno Crisis is a remake of the Sega Dreamcast shooter). The graphics are quite easy to see on the screen and you can see what an enemy to other background items and characters is. The colors are bright and vivid on the screen and bring the game to life. The bosses are in detain enemies as well where they all are different from each of the seven areas that you will play through. The game does not offer a colorblind mode, however there is none needed as the graphics and colors are easy to see. In our playtesting, outside of some pixelated blood, there was nothing offensive of the Xeno Crisis graphics. Audio in Xeno Crisis is also done in a 16-bit style of midi music and style. The game has a great soundtrack of midi style music, and as you would expect from a shooter to hear gunfire, alien grunts, explosions as well as the very hyped up arena announcer. The game audio matches the style of shooter and fits well into the game. The game is presented in 5.1 surround sound as well 2.0 stereo and either sound setting is fine to play the game in. The game story is told in a text format between levels, but there are some spoken character and announcer dialog throughout the game. In our play testing, we did not hear anything that would be offensive and fine for all ages over the age of 10 to play. Controls in Xeno Crisis is designed to fit into its design of a twin stick shooter. The left thumb stick controls your character and the right on is for weapons fire. There is a button for grenades, and for a roll to get away from fire. Also, other button settings for melee and to drop weapons. The controller setting are very user and easy to pick up and play the game without trouble. With the game being a shooter it is very important for the controller settings to be very fast and responsive and Xeno Crisis does a great job of making sure that all inputs are matched with the characters actions. In our play testing, we did not run into any issues with the game controller settings and found the controller settings to be very user friendly for all gamers. As the game is a shooter, there is no need for a special controller to be used for the game.
“A great co-op shooter that captures the true run and gun feel of 90’s styles of shooter. A great balance shooter that should not be missed by any shooter fans out there. Xeno Crisis is a must have game for your gaming library!”
Family Friendly
With most shooters in the market, they have the same formula where you start a level, run and gun, fight a boss and rinse and repeat the process. Now this may not be a game for all but where Xeno Crisis gets this right of how they made this gaming style work and work well! Xeno Crisis is not a hard shooter but challenging enough for anyone to pick up and play. The action on the screen is easy to follow and know where you are always. The game does not overload you with it flooding you with enemies, bullets, and other distractions, but makes it a simple enough solution for you to follow in the game. The FM chiptune soundtrack created by Savaged Regime (that was originally created for the YM2612) fits perfectly in the game and is a true joy to hear in the game. The soundtrack alone hearing in the game is worth picking up. The graphics are also done by the legendary pixel artist Henk Nieborg, and graphic style stays true to the 90’s style of pixelated games that makes this game come to life. Xeno Crisis offers a normal mode for gamers that are new to twin stick shooters, and an more harder mode for those looking for a challenge. The normal mode is a great balance of a challenge and does not overpower those gamers looking for a challenge but not over frustration. The harder mode is more reserved for more hardcore shooter fans and will find more than a challenge in this mode. As the game spans seven levels, you are limited to continues when you lose. The game is not punishing where you have to restart the level, but it will take several games to get more used to the gaming style. You have health points that keep you alive through each level, and they can be refilled by defeating enemies, but do keep in mind that once you run out of health it could mean losing the level. One of the interesting aspects of the game is that your primary weapon has limited ammo. Now you can pick up ammo refills during the game and upgrade in between levels to carry more ammo, but this is something to keep in mind when playing as you can run out of ammo during an firefight and have to scramble to get more. You have a limited number of grenades that you can carry and at times these can be a lifesaver to clear out a group of enemies, or to weaken a boss during a boss battle. Also, in the game as you progress in the levels, you can choose which direction to go to next, so after clearing an room, you are given an choice to choose which room to go to next. This gives a risk-vs-rewards feel to either go into another room to either get more dog tags that are needed to upgrade in between levels or to just make a faster run to get to the boss. There are some rooms where you must rescue humans that are stuck in the level, they provide points towards your score and are there as an added incentive to do better at the game. Each room also has a chance to pick up a more powerful weapon to use for a limited time. The have either a limited ammo count or a timer where you have that time to use that special weapon. This also can be a lifesaver in rooms where enemies take a lot of damage to defeat or you are being rushed by multiple enemies. Boss battles are not to easy or challenging but fun as you must study their patterns and figure out what is the best way to defeat them. The story is told in between levels with pictures and text to show what is going on and what to expect in the next level. Each area in the game has its own unique look, feel, music, and enemies to fight, this is important as it keep the gaming fresh from level and fun as you are not fighting the same class of enemies level to level. One of the great features of the game is the local co-op feature that allows another gamer to play alongside. This makes Xeno Crisis a lot of fun as two players can play at the same time, and feels like the old school shooters like Contra and other co-op games where we feel is the most fun when you are playing with another player. Xeno Crisis is a fun game that is even more fun when playing with another, but for those that are solo players, you will still have fun with this game. Xeno Crisis offers a lot of gaming as it has three different modes of gaming once you beat the game, this adds more replay value to the game. The only complaint that we have of this game is the limited amount of continues you have as well limited ammo, but these small complaints do not affect gameplay at all. If you or anyone in your gaming family are shooter fans, or fans of games like Contra, Super Smash TV or even twin stick shooters, then we highly recommend picking up this great game. In our special needs game testing, outside of the animated pixelated violence (which is kept to a minimum) we did not run into any issues with the game visuals, audio, or even controls. The game is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Xeno Crisis is a well-balanced shooter that is fun to play solo or with a friend on local co-op. With lots of levels, enemies, and great boss battles, this is game that is a must have for your digital library!
NOTE: At the time of this review, it is available for free for any Xbox One Game Pass subscribers to download and play for free.
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