Mutant Storm Empire

Added November 11th, 2007 by Justin McBride

Mutant Storm Reloaded was one of the Xbox Live Arcade’s first games but having debuted next to a similar and excellently addictive arcade shooter by the name of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, it was often relegated to Geometry Wars’ shadow. In Reloaded, battles took place in a small, enclosed arena, garnering many comparisons to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. To shirk these comparisons, pretty drastic changes had to be made. Well, these changes were made but the question remains if Empire's better because of it.

The game plays from a top-down perspective with a simple control scheme. The left stick moves your craft, the right stick fires in the direction you move it and finally, the triggers fire your “super weapon”, which deals exorbitant amounts of damage but is limited in its ammunition. This is certainly nothing you haven’t seen about a dozen times before. But that’s a good thing, since its simplicity is part of what makes it fun and accessible to nearly everyone.

Easily the best thing going for this game is its impressive level variety. Each level has its own unique charm despite sometimes sharing similar themes. Some levels are completely linear, segmented into five or more sections with each new section opening up until the prerequisite number of enemies are destroyed. Other levels take place in the small arena settings similar to Reloaded. Even more levels still are quite inventive and wholly entertaining, such as a level which plays very similarly to the classic game Asteroids. In this level, you’re confined to an enclosed space by two barriers as rocks bombard you from both sides.

Straying a bit from its arcade-style shooter brethren, your ship now has six hit points, which regenerate upon completion of the level. This changes how the game is played. It makes things less strategic than the first Mutant Storm. Knowing that you can take so many hits per level can cause you to throw caution to the wind and simply charge head on into each conflict.

The difficulty can be quite steep at times for more casual arcade shooter fans. In the small confines of the levels, it isn’t uncommon to find yourself overwhelmed by the seemingly endless hordes of enemies. To remedy this, there are five difficulty levels, raising or lowering the number of points you receive per enemy destroyed to compensate.

Also included is a co-op mode. Unsurprisingly, the gameplay isn’t altered significantly to accommodate the second player. During co-op matches, you share the same six hit points and don’t have access to the super weapon. But this doesn’t really matter much because with a partner alongside you, most of the challenge flies right out of the window.

Well, unfortunately, a crucial flaw surfaces after you’ve played through the game. It just doesn’t have the replay value or addictive qualities you’d expect from a game such as this. You can easily blow through the Adventure mode in less than an hour and after that…there’s not much to keep you coming back. The Tally mode, in which you try to beat your high score on each of the 16 levels, is fun but nothing that will keep you coming back several times over.

All things considered, Mutant Storm Empire is a pretty good game. The unique, creative and colorful level designs and variety impress. The combat is intense and satisfying for an arcade shooter but it’s all over in a flash. The co-op mode is good enough to keep your attention for a while but the lack of levels really limits its appeal. Empire In short, it’s a great ride while it lasts, but once its over, you’ll be left wanting more.