Xbox Addict:

Small Arms

Games like Small Arms™ are the reason why Xbox Live® Arcade exists. It's the definition of what an arcade game is: Fast, pretty, easy to pick up, and it has enough depth to keep you hooked after the learning curve. What's more, Arms is one of those games that's fun to play whether you're on a winning streak or getting your butt handed to you in multiplayer. Best of all, there's no other game like it, on Xbox® or anywhere else.

Platforms, gunfire, and high speed action.

Gastronaut, a small, independent studio based in Seattle, has served up a sweet and polished instant classic of multiplayer action with Small Arms. The game is a finely balanced hybrid of several genres: It plays like a platformer crossed with a Super Smash Bros. style brawler, with guns thrown in just to keep things interesting.

The Basics
The core gameplay is simple: You are plopped down in a level, with one or more opponents, and you must kill them each several times to advance. At close range you can take them on hand-to-hand, but where the game gets its name and its unique dynamic, is in the ability to whip out your gat and throw down some serious firepower across the screen at your opponent before he can drop you.

Consequently, what might have been a straight-up brawler becomes a fast, violent, and even strategic skirmish, in which positioning, cover, and attack routes become critical.

The Cast
The game stars a cute and occasionally bizarre cast of characters, just begging to be marketed as plush toys. The game's storyline explains that the critters are the castoff results of a mad scientist's experiments, swept under the carpet and scattered throughout time.

Eight fighters are immediately available, and several more can be unlocked. The fighters have different levels of cuteness: From Marky Kat, an angry Care Bear look-alike packing a multipurpose gatling gun to Professor Von Brown, a demonic professor whose head has been replaced by a flaming bag of dog poop.

Four player head-to-head action

The Fights
The matches are fast and furious, with players dodging fire and scrambling for health. All the characters, from cute stuffed animals to crazy cyborgs, love to eat meat, which drops into the screen at regular intervals so you can regain your health. Players must also scout the level to find ammo drops. Ammo gets used up very quickly in this game, sometimes in seconds. The environments are varied and spacious, and deadly in their own right, challenging you to use platforming skills as well as marksmanship.

Each character begins the match with their default weapon, and although weapons can be dropped during the match and swapped on the fly, success hinges largely on learning the proper techniques for using the specialized weapons.

Each weapon also has a secondary fire mode. Marky's gun fires a deadly close-range shotgun blast in addition to its regular rapid stream of bullets. Tyrone, a dinosaur with behavioral disorders, packs an automatic rifle that doubles as a freeze ray.

One false move and you go right to the bottom.

The Package
The game's production values are simply stunning. It is difficult to believe that this is the product of a small studio and not a game sitting in an actual arcade cabinet at your local mall. Every aspect of the game is polished to perfection.

The characters are quirky and engaging, with amusing animations and great sound effects. The character models themselves are designed with shiny surfaces that look like action figures come to life. Each character has their own battle cry and combat dialogue. Pector El Pollo, giant chicken and ex-wrestler, is particularly noteworthy.

The fighting environments are diverse, multi-tiered, and, like a snakes-and-ladders game, often feature traps, slides, elevators, pitfalls, and other interactive elements to add layers of uncertainty and unpredictability to the fight.

The game's high-def graphics are lovely and practically beg for a good quality widescreen display as the fighters spread out across the environment. The camera can pull back to show more action, and some of these levels are quite spacious. The multiplayer, via Xbox Live®, is well-implemented and guarantees that you can play whenever you want. Start a match against A.I. bots and other players can drop in, eliminating the need to wait in a lobby for others to show up.

Although the single-player mode and unlockable modes like the shooting gallery are a hoot, and excellent for practice, Xbox Live is where this game really shines. Familiarize yourself with the game by playing solo, and then take your game online to get the full experience. The game's unlockable achievements reward the social gamer, with awards for increasing combo kills, matches played, and matches won.

Small Arms is one of those games that comes out of left field, turning a genre completely on its ear and creating a completely new experience. After this, regular fighters just won't make the grade anymore. As an Xbox Live download this game may be the best value for your buck there is, and it’s also the perfect opportunity to get casual gamers onto your sofa and into a match. Check out Small Arms!

Article by Xbox Addict