The indie marketplace is no stranger to shooting games many of which are excellent but others are well suffice it to say are not quite up to par. Many of which require you to have twitchy fingers and fast like reflexes; Decimation X is no different. Xona’s game Decimation X is a reimagining of the very popular classic Space Invaders. This retro inspired game supports 4 player co-op, but is it worth the time to bring friends along? Read on to find out.
The game is simple, like Space Invaders, you have aliens coming at you in waves from the top of the screen moving left to right and you must destroy them with your tiny tank before they reach the bottom or shoot you. What Decimation X differences itself from Space Invaders is the enemies randomly supply you with falling power ups to help you in your quest of never ending victory. The game has no ending and you continue until you run out of lives. As you gain enough points you receive extra lives and increase the “icon shower” which drops a stream of power ups. The power ups include the usual perks of extra bullets, more damage, shields, and more. My personal favorite power up is the ion shield which it prevents bullets from damaging you and it helps in many sticky situations.
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It seems the game is simple overall as the graphics are minimal at best, but this does not take away from the experience at all. While the graphics at a glance are simple, the animation runs smoothly with little to no hiccups. When the bullet hell starts to progress you’ll witness a lot of explosions, bullets, fast aliens, with defensive barriers protecting you. As you can shoot your own defensive barriers they can shoot them too. Everything about Decimation X screams arcade cabinet fun as you see all the retro colored aliens and the colorful display of explosions.
The sound of Decimation X is about the same as the graphics; simple. There is only one song in the game and it is a never ending techno themed song. It can get annoying at times and there is no option to turn the volume down. The only thing you can do is play music from your Xbox to disable it. You will be constantly hearing firing of bullets, power up pickups, and explosions. The sound effects are merely there in the background being overlapped by the music, so it will never be annoying.
The inclusion of four player co-op is an excellent addition for this type of game. It is easy to pick up and play and have fun with. The chaos is just as the same as playing solo, so don’t expect an easy ride just because you have friends with. One problem I came across with playing co-op is that it at times feels like a fight for the power ups as you do not share them among friends. It seems there will always be a dominant player over all and the stragglers will have a hard time once the game reaches higher levels.
Decimation X does have its faults though and they may be only relied on the player rather than the game itself. The difficulty picks up rather quickly once you get in the swing of things and if you are not a fast reflexes person you can expect many deaths. Once you reach your death in the game it starts back at level 1. This isn’t one of those games that you can play for hours on end unless you somehow accomplished going past level 100 and so forth. Decimation X is a perfect example of pick up and play arcade mayhem.
Xona Games included a leader board in Decimation X, but it has been nearly 7 months since release and it is still being said online leader boards coming soon. I expect they are busy with their upcoming releases, but to not have an online leader board on this type of game hurts it a bit. I must admit though I’m glad and not glad at the same time about the missing online leader board. I would hate to see how far down my measly 2.4 million points is, but I would love to see what the highest score is.
Decimation X has to be one of the most fun retro take backs on the Indie marketplace. For only 80 :MSPoints:, I dare say everyone who has ever played and enjoyed a 2D shooter will have a blast quite literally as well. The faults in Decimation X are minimal and don’t ruin it in any way. You cannot go wrong with this fantastic take on Space Invaders.
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