Xeno Crisis is a 2019 multi-directional arena shooter developed and published by Bitmap Bureau. Created as a love letter to classic arcade shoot-’em-ups like Robotron: 2084, Xeno Crisi released for a litany of systems including the Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch, GameCube, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 4, and (most importantly for this review) the PlayStation Vita. In short, Xeno Crisis is an nightmare-infested bullet-hell that offers a satisfying nostalgic shooter experience with outstanding pixelated visuals and an impressive soundtrack but falls short due to its length and crushing difficulty.
Like most video games from the same genre and time period that Xeno Crisis pulls inspiration from, the story here is sparse. The entire plot centers around a distress signal from the scientific research facility Outpost 88 which has been overrun by some sort of outside invaders. After receiving this distress signal, Commander Darius tasks two space marines, John Marsh and Sarah Ridley, with eradicating the threat and rescuing any survivors. After choosing whether to take on the mission as a one-man killing machine or in tandem with a second player, your marine of choice is airdropped into the first level of the invasion and has to fight for their life.
To survive, the player must guide their marine in and out of enemy-invested rooms, clearing each one of the invaders and saving survivors along the way. While initially equipped with only a standard rifle, a limited supply of grenades, and a close-range melee attack, the player will soon discover a wide array of weaponry scattered throughout each level to utilize - i.e. flamethrowers, homing missiles, lasers, shotguns, etc. Unfortunately, these scavenged weapons are only usable for a short amount of time, but their firepower more than makes up for it. When every room has been cleared, a door to the level boss opens and the ultimate challenge begins. The six bosses in the game each have their own disgusting designs, inspirations, and mechanics that make them fun to destroy and best in combat. Their designs, however, all look to be just pixelated versions of demons from Doom or a straight one-to-one copy of a Lovecraftian monster. It’s not a bad thing, per se, and the pixel work is still outstanding, it’s just a tad disappointing.
The gameplay loop of Xeno Crisis - entering a room, killing anything that moves, grabbing whatever power-ups, ammo, and health you can find, and dashing to the next room to do it all again - is incredibly addicting. This, along with the game’s soundtrack, is what makes it a fantastic game to have on a handheld and why I can’t delete it off my Vita. Rolling credits on the game, however, is no easy task. Xeno Crisis is crushingly difficult, even on the easiest setting. There are of course options to upgrade your character after each successful level, but these incremental health increases or weapon upgrades don’t do much to curve the ever-increasing difficulty. Furthermore, the twin-stick controls the game employs - left joystick controlling character movement, right joystick controlling the direction of weapon fire - is less than ideal on the PlayStation Vita. On a legitimate controller with two full-size joysticks, I’m sure the twin-stick controls and the demanding precision and speed required to survive in Xeno Crisis are far easier than on the tiny nubs available on the Vita. And while the Vita’s joysticks are serviceable and worth putting up with to have this game available on the go, it might leave you with a hand cramp or two.
Overall, Xeno Crisis on the PlayStation Vita is a fantastic port for fans of old-school arcade shooters and those seeking a challenge. While the difficulty and short length do put a damper on the overall experience, it doesn’t take away from the sheer enjoyment of blasting wave after wave of enemies with an ever-increasing arsenal of weaponry. I can say with certainty that I will never go back and put myself through the hell of finishing Xeno Crisis, but I also can’t bring myself to delete the game. It’s an impressively fun pick-up-and-play shooter that functions as a fantastic time-waster where the player can cut their brain off and just pull the trigger until their chosen Marine or the invaders are dead.
In short, if you crave intense twin-stick action on the go and have the reflexes to match, Xeno Crisis offers a rewarding, nostalgic trip down memory lane that deserves its spot in your Vita’s library.
Like most video games from the same genre and time period that Xeno Crisis pulls inspiration from, the story here is sparse. The entire plot centers around a distress signal from the scientific research facility Outpost 88 which has been overrun by some sort of outside invaders. After receiving this distress signal, Commander Darius tasks two space marines, John Marsh and Sarah Ridley, with eradicating the threat and rescuing any survivors. After choosing whether to take on the mission as a one-man killing machine or in tandem with a second player, your marine of choice is airdropped into the first level of the invasion and has to fight for their life.
To survive, the player must guide their marine in and out of enemy-invested rooms, clearing each one of the invaders and saving survivors along the way. While initially equipped with only a standard rifle, a limited supply of grenades, and a close-range melee attack, the player will soon discover a wide array of weaponry scattered throughout each level to utilize - i.e. flamethrowers, homing missiles, lasers, shotguns, etc. Unfortunately, these scavenged weapons are only usable for a short amount of time, but their firepower more than makes up for it. When every room has been cleared, a door to the level boss opens and the ultimate challenge begins. The six bosses in the game each have their own disgusting designs, inspirations, and mechanics that make them fun to destroy and best in combat. Their designs, however, all look to be just pixelated versions of demons from Doom or a straight one-to-one copy of a Lovecraftian monster. It’s not a bad thing, per se, and the pixel work is still outstanding, it’s just a tad disappointing.
The gameplay loop of Xeno Crisis - entering a room, killing anything that moves, grabbing whatever power-ups, ammo, and health you can find, and dashing to the next room to do it all again - is incredibly addicting. This, along with the game’s soundtrack, is what makes it a fantastic game to have on a handheld and why I can’t delete it off my Vita. Rolling credits on the game, however, is no easy task. Xeno Crisis is crushingly difficult, even on the easiest setting. There are of course options to upgrade your character after each successful level, but these incremental health increases or weapon upgrades don’t do much to curve the ever-increasing difficulty. Furthermore, the twin-stick controls the game employs - left joystick controlling character movement, right joystick controlling the direction of weapon fire - is less than ideal on the PlayStation Vita. On a legitimate controller with two full-size joysticks, I’m sure the twin-stick controls and the demanding precision and speed required to survive in Xeno Crisis are far easier than on the tiny nubs available on the Vita. And while the Vita’s joysticks are serviceable and worth putting up with to have this game available on the go, it might leave you with a hand cramp or two.
Overall, Xeno Crisis on the PlayStation Vita is a fantastic port for fans of old-school arcade shooters and those seeking a challenge. While the difficulty and short length do put a damper on the overall experience, it doesn’t take away from the sheer enjoyment of blasting wave after wave of enemies with an ever-increasing arsenal of weaponry. I can say with certainty that I will never go back and put myself through the hell of finishing Xeno Crisis, but I also can’t bring myself to delete the game. It’s an impressively fun pick-up-and-play shooter that functions as a fantastic time-waster where the player can cut their brain off and just pull the trigger until their chosen Marine or the invaders are dead.
In short, if you crave intense twin-stick action on the go and have the reflexes to match, Xeno Crisis offers a rewarding, nostalgic trip down memory lane that deserves its spot in your Vita’s library.
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 11: Xeno Crisis & Tanglewood Double Pack
Originally this launched on Game Pass of all places and I played it a little bit there and my original thoughts were a rather basic 'Kinda fun but flawed' and this assessment still stands pretty true.
As a base, its very much a fun arena shooter in the same vein as Smash TV, hoards of enemies, twin stick shooting and some bloody lovely sprite-work all making for a rather frantic time. I mean the music too is absolutely pushing the Mega Drive limitations as far as it can and the breakneck speed that the game kicks into is just so much fun...
...right up until you realise no, this isn't Smash TV and you shouldn't treat it as such because if you do you'll ultimately fall to the issue I had and that's ammo.
I do not understand the reason for having limited ammo in a game like this, its already balls hard enough with a kick to the teeth mentality of both 'get gud' and 'If you use a continue you'll automatically be locked to the bad ending' nonsense that should be wiped off the face off this earth.
Making it so every shot sort of counts just causes the occasional moment where the pace just drops dead as you desperately try and get another ammo box. Pacing is also a problem in some of the later levels as it tries to mix it up with slower spawning enemies but it doesnt quite work and comes off as dull in comparison to earlier stages.
Its still a very fun game and while really difficult, it absolutely is worth storming through despite some severe pacing difficulties.
I'll assume this is the Mega Drive version on Evercade.
Originally this launched on Game Pass of all places and I played it a little bit there and my original thoughts were a rather basic 'Kinda fun but flawed' and this assessment still stands pretty true.
As a base, its very much a fun arena shooter in the same vein as Smash TV, hoards of enemies, twin stick shooting and some bloody lovely sprite-work all making for a rather frantic time. I mean the music too is absolutely pushing the Mega Drive limitations as far as it can and the breakneck speed that the game kicks into is just so much fun...
...right up until you realise no, this isn't Smash TV and you shouldn't treat it as such because if you do you'll ultimately fall to the issue I had and that's ammo.
I do not understand the reason for having limited ammo in a game like this, its already balls hard enough with a kick to the teeth mentality of both 'get gud' and 'If you use a continue you'll automatically be locked to the bad ending' nonsense that should be wiped off the face off this earth.
Making it so every shot sort of counts just causes the occasional moment where the pace just drops dead as you desperately try and get another ammo box. Pacing is also a problem in some of the later levels as it tries to mix it up with slower spawning enemies but it doesnt quite work and comes off as dull in comparison to earlier stages.
Its still a very fun game and while really difficult, it absolutely is worth storming through despite some severe pacing difficulties.
I'll assume this is the Mega Drive version on Evercade.
Art is great. Core gameplay is very fun. Unfortunately, melee attack is clunky and the character has inertia when moving. The flow overall is not good and there’s no level select. Sure, there are cheats but that’s a hassle. It's cool that this is a Mega Drive game, but if they tightened up gameplay, added features to make a more modernized version that could be really great.
Stage 3 completely breaks the pacing in a game where you are going to play it multiple times with enemies that go underground and you just have to wait (these enemies are repeated in stage 5). Some enemies that fall from the sky felt a little bit unfair, where you basically dont have enough time to avoid.
Other than that, it is very good. Dont understand some of the complaints about the rogue like elements. I think they match well with what the game is doing.
Other than that, it is very good. Dont understand some of the complaints about the rogue like elements. I think they match well with what the game is doing.
No sabía si me había parecido bueno, o muy bueno.
Al final me he decantado por la siguiente lógica: Si me encontrase una maquina arcade de Xeno Crisis por la calle mientras doy una vuelta con los amigos, ¿pararía a echarme una partida? Mi respuesta es sí.
Pone a prueba tu habilidad, reflejos e incluso tu paciencia hasta los limites, ya que no tiene selector de niveles y si te quedas sin vidas te tocará hacerlo todo desde el principio. Como los arcade de toda la vida vaya.
No creí que vería un arcade nuevo que me gustase a día de hoy, me alegra ver que haya cosas que siguen haciéndose.
Al final me he decantado por la siguiente lógica: Si me encontrase una maquina arcade de Xeno Crisis por la calle mientras doy una vuelta con los amigos, ¿pararía a echarme una partida? Mi respuesta es sí.
Pone a prueba tu habilidad, reflejos e incluso tu paciencia hasta los limites, ya que no tiene selector de niveles y si te quedas sin vidas te tocará hacerlo todo desde el principio. Como los arcade de toda la vida vaya.
No creí que vería un arcade nuevo que me gustase a día de hoy, me alegra ver que haya cosas que siguen haciéndose.
Com gameplay frenético e inspirado em jogos antigos, emula tal e qual os percalços e virtudes deles, como uma dificuldade insanamente alta. Achei bem executado como jogo, porém não me cativou muito a proposta.
If you would indulge me a moment of self promotion, I made a video with some thoughts tangentially related to this game instead of a written review.
Ok not many people use inline links on backloggd so I'm putting the actual link in here anyway https://youtu.be/t3gKKCRfjgk
Also, here's some bonus content:
Firstly, the nature of the spoilers relates to one of the endings, and some tiny tricks that might make the game easier to start with. However, I tried to avoid spoiling anything that would lessen your first-time experience (you'll notice that there's no footage of any bosses or cutscenes).
Secondly, the developers responded to the video on Twitter with "Thank you, that was an excellent analysis which we'll take on board for XC2 if and when it happens! :) You're right that we could have done more to differentiate the two players, but we wanted to hold a few things back. I think we'd handle the ending differently next time too! ;)". I think they got a lot of the same complaints, so I apologize for piling on, but I would love to see a refined XC2.
Thirdly, I didn't really review the game as much as I just talked about it, but I want to note that Xeno Crisis really is a fun game that I do recommend. At the time of writing, it's available on Game Pass, which is where I discovered it, and that's probably the best way to get your value. I may like the game, but I am value conscious, and I don't think anyone other than retro-enthusiasts would get $20 out of it.
And some bonus trivia:
That "ok maybe I am" at the start that lasts for .5 seconds took a ton of time to implement, since black screens and white text cause compression to go nuts. I kept getting artifacts and weirdness, so it's actually just 1% opacity B-roll footage rolling in the background, which seemed to fix the problem.
You may also wonder if I played through Mega Man 3 for Mega-Man-3 seconds of footage, and the answer is yes.
Finally, the cut between Mega Man 3's end-stage fadout and the cheat menu is my favorite in the video, smooth as butter.
If you watched the video and read all this you're a saint, thank you thank you. Oh also just because I know you're a saint at this point, user LukeGirard also posted a video of his own today, so check that out too: A Positive Perspective on Sonic CD
Ok not many people use inline links on backloggd so I'm putting the actual link in here anyway https://youtu.be/t3gKKCRfjgk
Also, here's some bonus content:
Firstly, the nature of the spoilers relates to one of the endings, and some tiny tricks that might make the game easier to start with. However, I tried to avoid spoiling anything that would lessen your first-time experience (you'll notice that there's no footage of any bosses or cutscenes).
Secondly, the developers responded to the video on Twitter with "Thank you, that was an excellent analysis which we'll take on board for XC2 if and when it happens! :) You're right that we could have done more to differentiate the two players, but we wanted to hold a few things back. I think we'd handle the ending differently next time too! ;)". I think they got a lot of the same complaints, so I apologize for piling on, but I would love to see a refined XC2.
Thirdly, I didn't really review the game as much as I just talked about it, but I want to note that Xeno Crisis really is a fun game that I do recommend. At the time of writing, it's available on Game Pass, which is where I discovered it, and that's probably the best way to get your value. I may like the game, but I am value conscious, and I don't think anyone other than retro-enthusiasts would get $20 out of it.
And some bonus trivia:
That "ok maybe I am" at the start that lasts for .5 seconds took a ton of time to implement, since black screens and white text cause compression to go nuts. I kept getting artifacts and weirdness, so it's actually just 1% opacity B-roll footage rolling in the background, which seemed to fix the problem.
You may also wonder if I played through Mega Man 3 for Mega-Man-3 seconds of footage, and the answer is yes.
Finally, the cut between Mega Man 3's end-stage fadout and the cheat menu is my favorite in the video, smooth as butter.
If you watched the video and read all this you're a saint, thank you thank you. Oh also just because I know you're a saint at this point, user LukeGirard also posted a video of his own today, so check that out too: A Positive Perspective on Sonic CD
Pew, pew, pew?!
It didn't take me long to realize I suck at these top-down shooters so I dumped it. It's probably decent but I'll never live long enough to find out.
Very entertaining overhead shooter. Brutally difficult though. Furthest I managed so far was level 6 and then I fucking crashed. I managed to get back there but not as far through the level.
Easy mode is not easy. But if its going for the 16bit era style, I suppose its pretty spot on. It would be good if you could carry over the power ups you gain after each play through. I might have the slimmest of hopes of beating the game then. But I'm still a big fan. It's compulsive pick up and play action, where a quick go can end up being 2 hours before you know it.
It has a great pixel art style and a really fun music score. One I'll keep coming back to for a quick thrill here and there.
Easy mode is not easy. But if its going for the 16bit era style, I suppose its pretty spot on. It would be good if you could carry over the power ups you gain after each play through. I might have the slimmest of hopes of beating the game then. But I'm still a big fan. It's compulsive pick up and play action, where a quick go can end up being 2 hours before you know it.
It has a great pixel art style and a really fun music score. One I'll keep coming back to for a quick thrill here and there.
Few games have left me as strong a first impression as Xeno Crisis. In it's opening, and it's first few levels, there's just so much it absolutely nails. There's a very distinct vibe - probably deliberate - of this being an Aliens tie-in game for the mega drive lost to time. It's kind of awesome - the core gameplay of just blasting aliens in this twin stick shooter has a fantastic feel - animations are great, the muzzle flare is about the player character, spent shells and alien corpses literring the rooms. It's essentially smash TV, but grimey and alien.
And the soundtrack that accompanies it is so damn good. The YM2612 soundchip of the Mega Drive is partially notable for being able to produce a kind of synth that for lack of a better word is a bit "grimy", with strong bass and a bit of reverb (i am not good with music). If you've played something like MUSHA Aleste or especially Thunder Force IV - and Savaged Regime, the composer here, captures that synth and uses it to incredible effect. It works so well, and if nothing else, i heavily encourage checking out this game's soundtrack. The music, never, ever lets the side down.
Which unfortunately, I can't say for the gameplay. It's still good overall, don't get me wrong, but the cracks begin to show when the honeymoon period ends. Which is probably going to be at stage 3, which is awful. It's stupidly overlong with enemies that take an age to spawn, and it doesn't even have a boss. It's a weird drop in intensity which lets some of the frustrating features of Xeno Crisis set in - the pointless ammo system, the waiting for enemy spawns, the slight bit of inertia that your character has preventing accurate movement, the random map generation and upgrade system that feel rather pointless.
But the biggest issue of all is that the game is interminably long. 45 Minutes is short by most standards but for the lightning paced gameplay this is going for it's way over the mark. By the end of stage 4, the game feels ready to wrap itself up in the next stage.... but then stage 5 is another insane filler chapter and there's two stages after it! Maybe the sheer awesome catharsis of the game wears off a bit early for me, but I bet it would wear off for anyone by the time it decides to end, especially as the formula ane enemy variety never really gets interesting enough to make up for it.
But don't get me wrong, Xeno Crisis is quite good. If it could pace itself better and carry its remarkable opening feeling for it's entire runtime, it would be one of the best Mega Drive games. And it's soundtrack is outright amazing. And maybe the sad thing is that the game could be too, if it just knew when to stop.
And the soundtrack that accompanies it is so damn good. The YM2612 soundchip of the Mega Drive is partially notable for being able to produce a kind of synth that for lack of a better word is a bit "grimy", with strong bass and a bit of reverb (i am not good with music). If you've played something like MUSHA Aleste or especially Thunder Force IV - and Savaged Regime, the composer here, captures that synth and uses it to incredible effect. It works so well, and if nothing else, i heavily encourage checking out this game's soundtrack. The music, never, ever lets the side down.
Which unfortunately, I can't say for the gameplay. It's still good overall, don't get me wrong, but the cracks begin to show when the honeymoon period ends. Which is probably going to be at stage 3, which is awful. It's stupidly overlong with enemies that take an age to spawn, and it doesn't even have a boss. It's a weird drop in intensity which lets some of the frustrating features of Xeno Crisis set in - the pointless ammo system, the waiting for enemy spawns, the slight bit of inertia that your character has preventing accurate movement, the random map generation and upgrade system that feel rather pointless.
But the biggest issue of all is that the game is interminably long. 45 Minutes is short by most standards but for the lightning paced gameplay this is going for it's way over the mark. By the end of stage 4, the game feels ready to wrap itself up in the next stage.... but then stage 5 is another insane filler chapter and there's two stages after it! Maybe the sheer awesome catharsis of the game wears off a bit early for me, but I bet it would wear off for anyone by the time it decides to end, especially as the formula ane enemy variety never really gets interesting enough to make up for it.
But don't get me wrong, Xeno Crisis is quite good. If it could pace itself better and carry its remarkable opening feeling for it's entire runtime, it would be one of the best Mega Drive games. And it's soundtrack is outright amazing. And maybe the sad thing is that the game could be too, if it just knew when to stop.
You ever play a game that's so close to greatness but just barely misses the mark? That's Xeno Crisis for me - on one hand, it's a fantastic tribute to the Neo Geo in the form of an arcade twin-stick shooter with tight action and gorgeous visuals. On the other hand, it succumbs to popular indie trends that do it no justice, seemingly shoehorning in roguelike elements that are seldom additive to the experience.
If you've played the likes of Smash TV or Robotron 2084, you know exactly what to expect here. Using a variety of guns, grenades and a powerful but risky melee attack, you have to rip and tear your way through seven levels chock full of alien monstrosities. At the macro level, there really isn't much that Xeno Crisis does wrong; some enemies take too many hits and stage 3 just sucks because of its reliance on enemies that burrow underground and waste your time, but otherwise Xeno Crisis is one heck of an adrenaline rush. Your default gun feels amazing and remains effective throughout the entire game, and every melee kill you earn feels sufficiently meaty. The risk/reward balance for using melee attacks is very finely tuned too; melee attacks instantly take out most foes, so if you're willing to risk getting hit, you can immediately take out enemies before they even start moving and shooting. Some levels are so overwhelming with their hordes of foes that this tactic becomes regularly valuable and worth pursuing, encouraging players to get good at dodging and relying on their peripheral vision. Other gun pickups are unfortunately on a timer, leading to situations where you get them with no enemies to use them on, but the majority of them are powerful assets that give you a chance to go hog wild for a bit, empowering the player in times of, well, crisis.
Shooting hordes grants you dog tags that can be used to buy upgrades in between levels. These include the likes of health/speed/attack boosts as well as increased grenade and ammo (yes, ammo, more on that later) capacity. There's even a niche upgrade in the form of the gas mask that protects you from poisonous gas, something's that's only useful in stages 3 and 5 but is extremely so in those two cases. This system provides a small but enjoyable way to give each run a different approach. You can go all in on attack to make the start easier, you can buff speed to make sure your runs go cleanly, or you can save for the gas mask and make your life easier later. You can eventually afford everything if you're thorough enough, but this little bit of decision making turns Xeno Crisis into a game that's more thoughtful than the average game of this ilk.
The game is also a visual treat full of massive bosses that play as well as they look. Each boss has very fair, understandable attack patterns and are reasonable to defeat even with the default gun. Curiously, level 3 doesn't have a boss fight which is a shame considering it's the one in most desperate need of something to break up its monotony.
It's unfortunate that Xeno Crisis wasn't actually a Neo Geo or Mega Drive game released in the appropriate time period, because I probably would have been able to leave it at this and give it 4-5 stars as a classic of its era. But since it was created in the age of modern indies, where so many games need to pull from popular trends to get any kind of attention, Xeno Crisis has ideas that unfortunately do it no favors. Primarily, most aspects of the game are randomized, from parts of the level design to item drops, and that randomless leads to frustration in short order. Games like this are at their best when mastered by a player who knows everything about the game, but with randomness injected, all of the skill in the world can't save you from a streak of bad luck. Everything that drops from enemies is randomized each run. What that means is it's possible that a player who takes occasional hits but otherwise does well will slowly bleed out in one run thanks to a lack of health drops, but in other runs will be able to get far because they got lucky. This same player might blaze through a boss because a weapon dropped mid-fight, but then their next run might leave them to dry wondering why they're doing so much worse. Normally in a game like this, you'd be able to focus purely on getting better and eliminating those mistakes, but knowing that you could luck out at any point leads to sloppiness and reliance on hoping for the best. It promotes bad habits that just make for a less fun game and your victories hardly feel earned because of it.
Worst of all, your basic gun runs on limited ammo and after it's depleted, you have to scramble to grab the ammo crate that, you guessed it, spawns in a random location. Oftentimes this won't be a problem, but those few times where it gets you killed will forever stick in your head and keep you up at night. Many foes take dozens of bullets to kill, so even with a fully upgraded gun, you'll be running out of ammo constantly. Knowing that every time you run out of ammo you're rolling the dice with your life is something that'll chew away at your confidence in short order, which is a terrifying prospect in a game that's as hard as Xeno Crisis.
The icing on the cake is something you'll be familiar with if you followed the game after its release and it's hard not to agree with the majority consensus on it: to see the game's proper ending and actually fight the final boss, you need to finish it without dying once. Naturally, such a Herculean task was criticized by most people who played the game, since such a requirement isn't made (fully) clear until you've failed to meet it at the game's end. The brief story segments in between levels hint at the fact that there's something suspicious about the elixir you use for your equivalent of extra lives, but there's no way to know that using even one will make the game's ending as unsatisfying as possible. Missing out on a bit of story wouldn't have mattered to me, but not getting to fight the final boss is a punishment that I couldn't get over, so I kept playing the game until I eventually nailed it. Turns out, the final boss isn't even all that exciting and it's easier than the level that immediately precedes it!
While the idea of making your extra lives punish you later on for story reasons is an interesting and subversive one, it takes away from the fun of the gameplay. 1CCs should come because a player enjoys the game enough to strive for them, not because they need to do it to get some kind of resolution. The randomization only makes this task worse and it eroded my goodwill away with every subsequent run. Xeno Crisis should have been a game about the journey and not the destination, but by making the carrot on the stick so needlessly harsh and placed in the perfect spot to maximize frustration, it makes peoples' experience with the game one that ends on a sour note they won't soon forget.
I sincerely hope Bitmap Bureau gives a sequel a shot someday. If they remove the randomness and reconsider the ending trickery, I may very well be there day 1! It's a testament to how good Xeno Crisis plays that I didn't immediately drop it as soon as it started asking something ridiculous from me. It was an experience that started off wonderful and gradually wore down my patience and goodwill, each run ending with a lack of drops or a mistake at the end of a hour long run causing me to lean ever so closer to quitting. A non-insignificant amount of each run being spent on stage 3 sure didn't help either! I'm glad I didn't quit and was able to finish it, but I wish my time with it ended on a high note that properly summarized the joy of the experience instead of something that I and others will mostly remember for how mean it was out of nowhere in a game that's otherwise so fun and welcoming.
If you've played the likes of Smash TV or Robotron 2084, you know exactly what to expect here. Using a variety of guns, grenades and a powerful but risky melee attack, you have to rip and tear your way through seven levels chock full of alien monstrosities. At the macro level, there really isn't much that Xeno Crisis does wrong; some enemies take too many hits and stage 3 just sucks because of its reliance on enemies that burrow underground and waste your time, but otherwise Xeno Crisis is one heck of an adrenaline rush. Your default gun feels amazing and remains effective throughout the entire game, and every melee kill you earn feels sufficiently meaty. The risk/reward balance for using melee attacks is very finely tuned too; melee attacks instantly take out most foes, so if you're willing to risk getting hit, you can immediately take out enemies before they even start moving and shooting. Some levels are so overwhelming with their hordes of foes that this tactic becomes regularly valuable and worth pursuing, encouraging players to get good at dodging and relying on their peripheral vision. Other gun pickups are unfortunately on a timer, leading to situations where you get them with no enemies to use them on, but the majority of them are powerful assets that give you a chance to go hog wild for a bit, empowering the player in times of, well, crisis.
Shooting hordes grants you dog tags that can be used to buy upgrades in between levels. These include the likes of health/speed/attack boosts as well as increased grenade and ammo (yes, ammo, more on that later) capacity. There's even a niche upgrade in the form of the gas mask that protects you from poisonous gas, something's that's only useful in stages 3 and 5 but is extremely so in those two cases. This system provides a small but enjoyable way to give each run a different approach. You can go all in on attack to make the start easier, you can buff speed to make sure your runs go cleanly, or you can save for the gas mask and make your life easier later. You can eventually afford everything if you're thorough enough, but this little bit of decision making turns Xeno Crisis into a game that's more thoughtful than the average game of this ilk.
The game is also a visual treat full of massive bosses that play as well as they look. Each boss has very fair, understandable attack patterns and are reasonable to defeat even with the default gun. Curiously, level 3 doesn't have a boss fight which is a shame considering it's the one in most desperate need of something to break up its monotony.
It's unfortunate that Xeno Crisis wasn't actually a Neo Geo or Mega Drive game released in the appropriate time period, because I probably would have been able to leave it at this and give it 4-5 stars as a classic of its era. But since it was created in the age of modern indies, where so many games need to pull from popular trends to get any kind of attention, Xeno Crisis has ideas that unfortunately do it no favors. Primarily, most aspects of the game are randomized, from parts of the level design to item drops, and that randomless leads to frustration in short order. Games like this are at their best when mastered by a player who knows everything about the game, but with randomness injected, all of the skill in the world can't save you from a streak of bad luck. Everything that drops from enemies is randomized each run. What that means is it's possible that a player who takes occasional hits but otherwise does well will slowly bleed out in one run thanks to a lack of health drops, but in other runs will be able to get far because they got lucky. This same player might blaze through a boss because a weapon dropped mid-fight, but then their next run might leave them to dry wondering why they're doing so much worse. Normally in a game like this, you'd be able to focus purely on getting better and eliminating those mistakes, but knowing that you could luck out at any point leads to sloppiness and reliance on hoping for the best. It promotes bad habits that just make for a less fun game and your victories hardly feel earned because of it.
Worst of all, your basic gun runs on limited ammo and after it's depleted, you have to scramble to grab the ammo crate that, you guessed it, spawns in a random location. Oftentimes this won't be a problem, but those few times where it gets you killed will forever stick in your head and keep you up at night. Many foes take dozens of bullets to kill, so even with a fully upgraded gun, you'll be running out of ammo constantly. Knowing that every time you run out of ammo you're rolling the dice with your life is something that'll chew away at your confidence in short order, which is a terrifying prospect in a game that's as hard as Xeno Crisis.
The icing on the cake is something you'll be familiar with if you followed the game after its release and it's hard not to agree with the majority consensus on it: to see the game's proper ending and actually fight the final boss, you need to finish it without dying once. Naturally, such a Herculean task was criticized by most people who played the game, since such a requirement isn't made (fully) clear until you've failed to meet it at the game's end. The brief story segments in between levels hint at the fact that there's something suspicious about the elixir you use for your equivalent of extra lives, but there's no way to know that using even one will make the game's ending as unsatisfying as possible. Missing out on a bit of story wouldn't have mattered to me, but not getting to fight the final boss is a punishment that I couldn't get over, so I kept playing the game until I eventually nailed it. Turns out, the final boss isn't even all that exciting and it's easier than the level that immediately precedes it!
While the idea of making your extra lives punish you later on for story reasons is an interesting and subversive one, it takes away from the fun of the gameplay. 1CCs should come because a player enjoys the game enough to strive for them, not because they need to do it to get some kind of resolution. The randomization only makes this task worse and it eroded my goodwill away with every subsequent run. Xeno Crisis should have been a game about the journey and not the destination, but by making the carrot on the stick so needlessly harsh and placed in the perfect spot to maximize frustration, it makes peoples' experience with the game one that ends on a sour note they won't soon forget.
I sincerely hope Bitmap Bureau gives a sequel a shot someday. If they remove the randomness and reconsider the ending trickery, I may very well be there day 1! It's a testament to how good Xeno Crisis plays that I didn't immediately drop it as soon as it started asking something ridiculous from me. It was an experience that started off wonderful and gradually wore down my patience and goodwill, each run ending with a lack of drops or a mistake at the end of a hour long run causing me to lean ever so closer to quitting. A non-insignificant amount of each run being spent on stage 3 sure didn't help either! I'm glad I didn't quit and was able to finish it, but I wish my time with it ended on a high note that properly summarized the joy of the experience instead of something that I and others will mostly remember for how mean it was out of nowhere in a game that's otherwise so fun and welcoming.
Twin stick Smash TV style shooter released in 2019 for the Mega Drive/Genesis in cartridge form but also for modern platforms through digital download. You can use the stick on modern consoles or the face buttons to fire in eight directions, you can also throw grenades, do a strong but very short range melee, and roll to avoid enemies or shots (how the hell does this work with a normal Genesis controller). Picking up dog tags allows for upgrades between levels. Your gun has ammo, starting with 100 shots, and when you start to run low an ammo crate appear in the room to refill you but it might not always be in the easiest to reach spot.
Looks and sound good with a great soundtrack, somewhat randomly generated maps can change the levels up slightly.
For what else is out there the $20 price can be kind of high, more so when there isn't that much content here, the randomly generated rooms don't do a whole lot when every level is still going to include the same environment, enemy types, boss, and style of rooms. There are a variety of weapon pickups and and ones like the shotgun, laser, and rocket launcher are fun to use but the spread gun, seeking gun, and rebound shot just feel too weak. It can be very difficult as the game will just force you into an instant game over when you reach the final boss if you have used any continues.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1478198884014825472
Looks and sound good with a great soundtrack, somewhat randomly generated maps can change the levels up slightly.
For what else is out there the $20 price can be kind of high, more so when there isn't that much content here, the randomly generated rooms don't do a whole lot when every level is still going to include the same environment, enemy types, boss, and style of rooms. There are a variety of weapon pickups and and ones like the shotgun, laser, and rocket launcher are fun to use but the spread gun, seeking gun, and rebound shot just feel too weak. It can be very difficult as the game will just force you into an instant game over when you reach the final boss if you have used any continues.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1478198884014825472
me chupa la polla y los huevos este juego y su dificultad de hijo de puta
la virgen puta no paso del tercer nivel pero esta guapo de cojones
This is the peak of arcade twin-stick shooters in the realm of Smash TV and Robotron 2084. Grab a friend, because this game is tough as nails, but with all the addictiveness of the arcade classics.