Score: 10/13

Written by Scott Malthouse

It’s a fairly simple premise that has been executed with finesse. You play as a futuristic gladiator, thrust into deadly arena combat, knowing that if you win you can overthrow a tyrannical world leader. Or something. The story seems like it has been latched on last minute, but that doesn’t matter because the game would still be as entertaining without one. You have to work your way up the ranking table by taking part in a series of different events, such as survive three waves of enemies with more advanced weaponry than you, or get three beer kegs into your zone before the other teams.
The controls are normal for a shooter, using RT to fire and melee when in close quarters, A to jump and thumbsticks to move. However, Safari Studios have added a feature that makes Creed Arena stand out from the crowd: two very different camera perspectives. Initially you have an overhead view of your character, but pressing RB puts you in third-person mode (wrongly named first-person in the tutorial). This adds a new level of strategy to gameplay, as you’ll be getting an overview of the arena in the top down view, gauging where your enemies are and which path best to take, then you will switch so you can accurately target and perform long shots. However, in top-down mode your movement is slightly odd because, instead of turning, your character switches instantly to the direction you want to face. It can take a bit of getting used to at first but becomes fairly unnoticeable later in the game.
The ranking system is determined by the amount of fans you have, rather than based purely on the amount of people you’ve decimated, which is what makes Creed Arena so refreshing. If they had gone for the usual frag count then it’s doubtful that the game would have the following it does. You see, you can gain fans in a number of ways. You can flat out kill an opponent, which will earn you a handful of screaming supporters; you can inflict or avoid massive damage; fulfil an objective; or you can finish off your foe by clouting them with your gun. The most delicious aspect of this is when you kill enemies in quick succession you go into ‘crowd rage’ mode where you move faster, allowing you to sprint from enemy to enemy, cracking them in the skull for big points and inflicting more damage. As you can imagine this gives you a great advantage and you will quickly rack up fans as a result. You lose fans by getting killed or killing teammates, but this barely dents your score so you will rarely lose a match where you have to gain a target number of fans.


Read More in Issue 23

About the game

Indie developer Safari Studios thrusts you into a futuristic world of gladiatorial combat, where combatants fight to win the crowd’s heart and become the best in the business. Creed Arena offers 16 maps, awesome weapons and a plethora of game modes as well as online play.
As a top 20 finalist in the Dream Build Play competition, which saw indie developers duke it out for a $40,000 prize and a tasty slice of Microsoft profit pie, Creed Arena has become quite the popular kid in the class, and not without reason: it’s very, very fun. Sure, it’s got the bugs you would expect in a low-budget title, but this small developer’s labour of love has character and you can’t help but run through the entire campaign in one sitting because it’s that addictive.

Score: 10/13

Written by Kieran McSherry

Combat is basic and easy to grasp, based around colour recognition and reaction speed. Ram the correct ship into the correct enemy and you gain points to progress. If your ships collide with each other, or the wrong enemy type, expect to lose a life.
It’s a pretty standard and straightforward set up reminiscent of popular arcade titles from the 1980’s.
Dual Zone is challenging too, forcing you to use both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The idea is to encourage inter-brain communication and cooperation, which will actually improve a players cognitive cerebral functions and reaction times. Think of an arcade brain trainer. Mental rewards aside, Dual Zone’s steep learning curve is a tiresome and infuriating obstruction, squatting just beyond the single-player start line.
Cooperative play is far more forgiving and generates a much more tactical and social experience. Dual Zone’s “Panic” game type works very well with two players, where you simply have to survive against endless waves of enemies. As the names suggest, there will be a moment in every survival attempt where you and your wingman descend into spluttering, disorganised incoherence. Terror and alarm will ensue just before your ships are overwhelmed. The title ‘Panic’ is certainly suitable.

Visually Dual Zone is impressive, especially by most indie standards. Explosions are well animated and ships are defined to a high-standard, with many of the larger foes creating an epic sense of urgency.


Read More in Issue 23

About the game

Dual Zone, a co-operative action arcade title developed by the Spanish indie developer, Ninja Fever, has players players work together piloting two space craft in a coliseum styled environment.
Various enemies and obstacles appear in waves and you must survive to complete each battle. Every one of the fifty single-or-multi-player missions also contain assorted victory conditions, which incrementally increase in difficulty as you progress. These conditions are usually simple to understand instructions, like ‘blue ship is strong against blue enemies’, and are used to increase Dual Zone’s difficulty setting.

Score: 11.5/13

Written by Scott Malthouse

Voices ring out in the halls of gaming greats once more, as the indestructible Team 17 give us a revamp of their critically acclaimed Amiga shooter: Alien Breed. This time, “Alien Breed Evolution” delivers intense top-down gunning action with a lick of current-gen graphics, creating an atmospheric and frantic experience that’s a blast to play, even if originality is sorely lacking.
It’s quite a surprise that Alien Breed Evolution has finally been released considering its history. Planned for release in the 90s, an update of Alien Breed has been through a series of unfortunate events, with publishers refusing to produce the game for one reason or another. So it’s been a long time coming for those fans who have been licking their lips in anticipation for the next instalment.
The first episode in the series is currently available on Xbox Live Arcade for download and is slated for a Playstation, PC and Wiiware release this year. In the game you take on the role of a typical machine gun toting space marine character, who is travelling on a ship that suddenly collides with a mysterious vessel full of alien bug beasties with a craving for human flesh. It’s an extremely derivative story that blends Starship Troopers and Alien with a dash of Dead Space, but do not be deterred fair gamer. Your aim is to follow on-screen commands to make your way through the ship and investigate the damage.


Read More in Issue 23

About the game

After more than 20 years the Team 17 classic Alien Breed is back to download on Xbox Live Arcade. Updated with shiny graphics and online co-op Alien Breed Evolution sees you take on an army of bug-like aliens who have taken over your spaceship. Armed with a selection of devastating weapons you will make your way through the gloomy corridors with only a torch as your companion, rattling off rounds into any creature that dares cross your path.