Strania: The Stella Machine XBLA (G.Rev).

[CMcK]

Not a game about Belgian lager but a new shooter from G.Rev.
This is a game inspired by Treasure with your mecha having a choice of three weapons at a time. You can equip a selection of two at a time one on each arm and you have the choice of using a sword for close range attacks ala RSG.
Weapons are equipped to the side of the mecha you collect the power up on displacing the weapon you currently hold on that side.
I like the pace of this game it feels like a sort of bullet hell lite with more emphasis on the strategy side than just throwing a load of bullets at you.
The bumf on XBLA talks about this game being 80's style and retro visuals. Yeah ok. Only if you had a time machine and transported an HD Dreamcast back to the 80's. Quite a good looking game if a little on the dark side.
Sound effects are quite beefy and the music that I have heard so far is ok.
I can see this becoming a firm favourite of mine already.

[Skull Commander]

I had a little shot on the trial and wasn't very impressed. It didn't feel right, and I'm not too sure why. Something about it felt a little clunky and it put me off big style.

[rmoxon]

Had a few goes and I think its good.

The thing that holds it back from being really good though is the weapon system, its not the idea of it, as its quite a good idea, I just dont think its been implemented that well. You can only replace the weapon you are holding in whichever arm you touch the pickup with, this doesnt sound like a big deal as you can switch weapons to different arms pretty easily, but the trouble is that the powerups often travel down the screen relaly quickly and as a result the mechanics feel kinda clumsy causing you to usualy end up replacing the weapon you wanted to keep.

Besides that one negative it is a very enjoyable game, but its a pretty big negative really when you consider that this is a shooter and you often end up losing weapons by accident. Its also worth pointing out that a few of the weapons arent great, the bombs that shoot out of the rear of your ship for instance seem useless as I have played the first 4 levels and nothing has actualy come from behind me yet.

[Super Grover]

Is this available in PAL land or across the pond?

[rmoxon]

Its on the UK marketplace.

[Vince]

I'm really liking this, its quite refreshing after the recent glut of Cave games, and it has that typical GRev style, funky music, fast paced etc. I do agree that the weapons can feel a bit clunky though but its good fun and well worth a download.

[kingmobster]

I'm not too impressed, but had a pretty good time with it this last hour. As rmoxon said, the weapon system is great in theory, but isn't very well implemented. I also have problems in the heat of the action understanding what I will collide with and what is just eye candy. The bullets stand out from the background ok, but when the enemies start shooting lasers at you or targeting you with bombs things get very messy.

The help & options screen mentions an upcoming DLC pack with six (!) new levels. In my book that is more or less a new game. Would be interesting to see which price point they choose for that.

[Jay]

I really like it. The only problem I have with weapons is accidentally picking up weapons I don't want. Especially annoying in the heat of a boss battle to find I've suddenly picked up a sword.

[Super Monkey Balls]

As a big Grev fan I'm enjoying this a lot. I like it's retro style, amazing soundtrack and it's simple yet addictive gameplay. Graphically it does the job, the way the action zooms and rotates through a massive mech war is great. CMcK is right about it being a tad dark. After some fiddling I find Brightness +2 and Contrast -2 is more where it should be.

The game isn't perfect unfortunately, as mentioned previously it throws far too many weapons at you making keeping the right ones (an essential gameplay element) frustrating. Also, learning the levels is as important for avoiding silly collisions as it is for learning attack patterns. These niggles haven't put me off however. Playing 1 credit over and over is lots of fun.

[Julio III]

I'm not liking this. I like the way it looks like a Naomi/Dreamcast game and there are some bits which remind me of their previous games but I'm not really getting it. I think its mainly the weapon system. I didn't realise until reading this thread that it depends which side of the power-up you go into. I also downloaded Infinity Danger tonight which cost me 10 times less and I'm enjoying far more. Hopefully I'll come to this - there are too many shooters on the Xbox right now...

[Yakumo]

As many have said, the weapon system is a bit of a pain at times but the more i play it the better it becomes. While no Under Defeat or Border Down it's still an enjoyable shooter. However I feel that once the new 5bp shooter is released (reminds me of Batsugun) I don't think this will be getting much play time. Still, the price is right and the extra 6 levels planed should be good.

[Super Grover]

How will the extra levels be implemented, eg, sometype of branching system, at the end of the last level, or choose at the menu screen?

[Super Monkey Balls]

You play as a baddie mech. Whole new game on the menu basically.

[CMcK]

there are too many shooters on the Xbox right now...

Not possible. You can never have too many shooters.

[Super Monkey Balls]

Side VOWER DLC is out (400MSP) and it's great. You play from the enemy point of view, starting on stage 6 and fighting the good guys. Vower re-uses level assets but this is not as lame as it sounds, it's very cool to see familiar locations and ships from a new perspective and if anything, Vower is more epic and cinematic than Strania. You can now level up the red weapons instead of blue which is a neat idea and the game is noticeably tougher. Buy it!