FROM MEDIOCRE TO "X-CREMENT"
TRASHSTORM IS NOT A REAL STORY.
IS NOT EVEN GOOD FICTION.
IS TRASH GAME REVIEWS.
ALL OF THE GAMES FEATURED WOULD CAUSE A PERSON DISAPPOINTMENT,
ANGER, FRUSTRATION, DEPRESSION, MONEY LOSS INCLUDED.
TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.
Remember my review about X-Force Genesis where the ending threw a sequel threat?
Well, here's the sequel: X-Force Under Attack.
At least is not a space background.
Well, that's a start. Rather than a generic space starfield, the Main Menu is more of a computer-like interface where we can select the if we want to start the game and go to the upgrade screen.
Save planets, and sometimes, space stations.
As you keep progressing throughout the game, you can select the next level or return and repeat the level cleared. If you've played X-Force Genesis, you'll realize this is where the replay value of the X-Force series can be found due to money grinding (think Ginga Force but with less grinding).
Who needs text when you can figure it out with icons?
After picking a level, you have five options, the way to figure out each one is by picking one of the icons on the bottom.
SHIP SELECT (Rocket): This is the character select screen.
PLAY GAME (Controller): Picking this option sends you to the selected stage.
SUPER BOMB (TNT Spheric Bomb): Buy a spare Super Bomb. Your ship can carry a maximum of 3.
SUPER LASER (Laser cannon): Buy a spare Super Laser shot: Like the bomb, you can carry a maximum of 3.
SUPER MISSILE (Standard Bomb): Buy a Super Missile volley: Just like the previous two, your ship can hold a maximum of 3.
Select Your Machine!
While the first game only had one ship, this time you are now granted the option of choosing one of four ships with their unique features and weaponry. While the Space Shadow, Viper and Phoenix are full frontal types with different bullet patterns, only the Destroyer is the spread type, and honestly, this could be a little better than that since there's plenty of room for experimenting in shmups, have a look at Aero Fighters and Raiden Fighters Jet with the immense variety of aircraft and their multiple weapon types. X-Force Under Attack tries to improve, but is not enough.
Space Combat, the usual routine.
The core gameplay remains pretty much the same as Genesis, Right Trigger is the fire button, and the bumpers are used to toggle the Auto-fire on and off. Like I said back then, having the auto-fire is pretty much like the vulcan in the Genesis port of After Burner II, While the B button is useless in the game, the other buttons have their own "Special Attack" function: Pressing "Y" fires the Super Missiles, which sends a large missile attack that will cause great damages to anything they touch. "X" button is for the Super Lasers, which summons a pair of drones to the sides of the ship providing laser fire. Like the temporary Drone items, you can control their rotation angle with the Left Trigger, and finally the "A" button is for the Super Bomb, a powerful blast/pulse that damages everything on screen. When I said temporary Drones is because the power ups in this game are temporary, including support fire and shot strength, since your bullets can be upgraded in the store. This is what I was talking about in RedRaptor's review; you can't rely all the time on the sub-weapons all the time. Along with the main features, there's also the flaws, and the worst of all is the Turridamage, where a single attack can drain your health with no chance of having a temporary invincibility after the first hit like in Turrican. While Turridamage will be a small problem in the first stages, it will almost render the final stages nearly unplayable due to the bullet hell conditions of the game, forcing you to burn 1 or 2 of your Super Bombs to clear the screen. Combine that with the hitbox which is the whole god-damned ship, it becomes an exercise of frustration. Keep in mind, if you die once, the mission will fail and you'll have to start all over from the beginning of the stage. TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) to all the bad-tempered pilots out there: AVOID THIS GAME.
You did it!
The stage requirements were rebalanced for a more "Arcade-ish" style. While X-Force Genesis required to get perfect results and clear specific objectives to unlock the same stage in a higher difficulty level, X-Force Under Attack only needs to clear the stage with any result, making the game experience a little more relaxed and less demanding, leaving those requirements as self-imposed challenges for the player (as they should), and honestly, that's for the best.
Multi-parted threats waiting to take you down.
While at first the game seems to be boss-less 'cos the first two levels are just navigating through stages, is on Sector 3 where the game strikes back with one, in fact, there's like three bosses in the game. Sectors III, VII and IX are those stages, and ALL of them are the same: Multi-screen long battleships with destructible turrets and cannons, a step back compared with the bosses of X-Force Genesis. Also, when the cannons are destroyed the ship retreats rather than exploding, making these battles anti-climatic and disappointing. In terms of rewards, they're very helpful. While Sector I gives you a decent reward of Stars, the first boss gives you like 3,000, resulting in a great and early way to get all the ship upgrades even before finishing the game. My best strategy is to repeat Sector I like 5 times to level up the ship's regular shots and then repeat Sector III until you get enough stars to upgrade the rest of the ship's upgrades.
The Megadeth Principle: Peace sells, but who's buyin?
In the Upgrade screen you can buy level ups for your ship, weaponry, and the duration of the temporary power ups. While increasing the ship's energy is of great help, it doesn't help too much when the Turridamage problem is still present.
To be updated...
After finishing the final sector, you might expect an ending to close the conflict against General Lava and its forces, but guess what? The jackasses from Cube Games CLEARLY FORGOT THAT, as you'll be back on the stage select screen but next to the final level there's a "COMMING SOON" message implying the game will include additional content sometime in the future. ¿Free or Pay-for-It?, who knows. But after finishing Sector IX, General Lava or not, you'll be already done with this game, as you'll be getting all the achievements and your 1,000 Gamerscore points.
But you know what's even worse and is absolute horseshit? Once again, Cube Games uses the false advertising blurb of "brings back all the charm of shmup games from the 80's/90's". Fuck that, if that's 80's, then let Eda nail me to the cross.
Eda: Clean nails or rusty nails?
Me: Ah, shit. Now Eda really wants to kill me.
*Sigh* Looks like joking about suffering pains rather than playing bad games is no longer the same.
Let's keep going with the review, shall we?
Meet the "No-Name" team.
Graphically, it aims for three-dimensionality rather than the 2D-ish universe from the first game. Leaving the ships and enemies as the 2D graphics while planets, space stataions and large battleships are CG-rendered. However, there's a little overpixelation in the CGI, while in the battleships looks tolerable, it looks odd on the giant planets as if the CG used a regular sized planet and the graphic designers stretched its size to make it look much bigger than they should be.
While having four ship options, it kinda disappoints that the Destroyer, Viper and Phoenix are just recolors of the Space Shadow. It was interesting to see how the game gave pilots to the ships rather than doing what Super R-Type did with the "Performed by you!" cliché. However, like in Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax, the pilots don't have names of their own. Also, they're depicted in a western/euro style rather than the traditional anime look. I'm gonna be fair this time and I'll say its OK, because it is a breath of fresh air when we break the routine of anime-anime-anime-anime-anime in videogames and try to make a return to the comic book format when things are done right.
The music is amazing if you're the heavy metal enthusiast as the soundtrack is a mix between industrial-techno and hardcore metal as if the game borrowed a little influence from Contra Shattered Soldier and blended it with Euro-styled metal, making this aspect one of the few redeeming qualities of the game, but as we've learned throughout my player experience-based trash game reviews, a good soundtrack doesn't make a better product if gameplay is a failure.
X-CURIOSITIES UNDER ATTACK
I knew I saw this bomb attack before.
- Please, whatever you do, don't confuse it with Marvel's X-Force.
- The Super Missile attack is very similar to the F-14's Tomahawk bomb from Aero Fighters.
- The name Keldor might be or not a reference to Masters Of The Universe, as the former name of the villain known as Skeletor.
There's still things they need to work.
But it was more fun than the last time.
It lacks of ending cutscenes and still suffers from false ad blurb and the infamous Turridamage, but Cube Games seems they're trying to learn a lot of lessons in a slow paces. X-Force Under Attack is far more enjoyable than Genesis with the added content, larger amount of stages and the soundtrack is a real blast for the metal audience, but the lack of endings and the "Comming Soon" message clearly leaves more to be desired from the game. Might look like a Gamerscore/Trophy Milker, but its quite fun and enjoyable at the first 6 or 7 levels before things go out of control.
Unless if you're new into XBOX, and need a good trophy boost without too much difficulty and close the loose ends with Cube Games' X-Force series then pick it, but honestly, you'd be better off playing something else.
The usual result for videoshit, I guess.