Mutant Storm Reloaded (Xbox 360)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 11/23/2005
• Released on: 11/22/2005
• Originally published on GameSpot: Mutant Storm Reloaded (Xbox 360) Review

It has been on shelves (or flying off of them) for only a couple of days now, but already the Xbox 360 has cemented its status as the console of choice for fans of dual-joystick arcade-style action. Xbox Live Arcade is a digital distribution point that publishers--some major and some independent--are able to use to put out small, inexpensive games. So far, the lineup contains two games that pray at the altar of Robotron: 2084, a 1982 arcade game from Midway that put you in the shoes of a little guy that materialized in levels surrounded by angry robots. Like that game, Mutant Storm Reloaded uses one joystick for moving around the screen and the other for firing in any direction. It's not the most immediately compelling arcade-style shooter in the world, but this top-down shooter has enough additional difficulty settings to make it entertaining, especially if you're into online score tracking.

Mutant Storm Reloaded is broken up into 89 different rooms. Each level places your tiny ship inside one of the rooms and then proceeds to spawn a large gang of enemies for you to shoot at. The enemies warp into the room in different spots, forcing you to move around and take care of each threat as it appears. A lot of different enemies pop up along the way, starting with little, easy-to-kill mutants, but you'll eventually see large, tentacled creatures plop their way onto the playfield as well as turrets that regenerate themselves until you can slip around them and blow up a generator.

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