February 29, 2008
Shoot-’em-ups like Triggerheart Exelica are made with a specific audience in mind, and that’s just fine. Like many other similar titles, Triggerheart is light on content and heavy on challenge, so if you’re into trial and error, pattern recognition, and beating high scores, you may want to check out the game’s demo on Xbox Live Arcade. Spending $10 on the full game when there are better shooters available for purchase, however, isn’t something we can wholeheartedly recommend.
If you’re gunning for a high score, Triggerheart keeps things tough.
You start the game playing as one of two mech characters: Exelica or Crueltear. There’s some backstory to read, but as you would expect, your only real goal is to blow up everything in sight from a top-down perspective. Each character fires a different weapon with a different fire spread, but the main twist in Triggerheart is the anchor. Using it, you can latch onto enemies, swing them around, and release them into the oncoming hordes of spacecraft. The anchor isn’t just for show, however–its use is necessary for you to make it unscathed through Triggerheart’s five levels.
Everything else is much as you would expect from a vertical scroller. Waves of various enemies swarm from above, and you shoot them down, use the anchor to bash them into one another, or use one of your limited number of bombs to wreak havoc on a screenful of foes. It’s all a stringent challenge, so if you’re gunning for high scores and like the pattern memorization of the genre, you’ll find that Triggerheart doesn’t skimp on difficulty. It does, however, offer an unusually forgiving caveat in the form of unlimited continues, which means you can easily plow through the game in the first 15 or 20 minutes and see everything it has to offer.
Of course, hardcore fans will be more concerned about getting their high score on the online leaderboards than the scant bit of gameplay here. In light of the additional value similar games throw in, however, Triggerheart is too bare-bones to make it worth the 800-point asking price. It doesn’t have the unlockable characters and varied weapon types of the recently-released Omega Five, features no co-op play of any kind, and offers no visual or sonic flair. Morover, the cookie-cutter enemies and settings aren’t very interesting, and aside from a few extended boss battles and a “true” ending to unlock, the game doesn’t harbor any secrets of interest.
If you like the challenge of high scores and actually expect some bang for your buck, there are a number of better arcade-style shooters available on Xbox Live Marketplace. As it is, Triggerheart Exelica is simply competent, which isn’t a quality worth spending the money on.
February 29, 2008
TechWeb - The bug affected Hotmail, Windows Live, Xbox Live, Windows Messenger, and other Web sites and services that rely on users’ Windows Live IDs for logins.
February 29, 2008
Reuters - Japan’s Fair Trade Commission says it has launched an investigation into Sharp Corp (6753.T) and Hitachi Displays on suspicion of a cartel in liquid crystal displays for video game players.
February 29, 2008
AFP - Japan’s fair trade watchdog raided Sharp Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. on Thursday on suspicion of limiting competition by fixing prices of displays for portable game consoles, officials said.
February 29, 2008
Reuters - Nintendo Co Ltd’s (7974.OS) Wii game console outsold Sony Corp’s (6758.T) PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best seller list, a game magazine publisher said.
February 29, 2008
AP - Japan’s fair trade watchdog raided two electronics companies Thursday on suspicion of fixing prices of display panels for Nintendo’s popular DS portable game machines, officials said.
February 29, 2008
USATODAY.com - The PlayStation Portable has found its rhythm in the form of Patapon, a hypnotic adventure and arguably one of the system’s best titles to date. You control the Patapons, warriors resembling walking eyeballs. Once rulers of the world, the Patapons seek a return to greatness after falling from grace. Players must guide the Patapons through deserts and other exotic landscapes in search of Earthend.
February 29, 2008
Reuters - Cable network and movie studio owner Viacom Inc said on Thursday fourth-quarter profit rose 16 percent on higher advertising sales at its MTV Networks and strong sales of its ‘Rock Band’ video game and “Transformers”DVDs.
February 29, 2008
AP - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., maker of the “Grand Theft Auto” video game series, said Thursday that other companies are interested in buying it, but Take Two has not received any formal offers and is not negotiating a merger with anyone.
February 29, 2008
It seems as though the a port of GC title Biohazard 0 will only be making its way to the Wii in Japan. A Capcom Europe spokesperson today stated that, \”We currently have no plans to bring the Wii version of Resident Evil 0 […] to either US or Europe at this point in time. It will most likely be a Japan-only release.\”
February 29, 2008
Nintendo have revealed that Mario Kart Wii Wheels will also besold separately. The wheels will be available in Japan on the same day they release Mario art on April 11th for 1200 yen ($11). Thats a relief eh.
February 29, 2008
SNK announced the \’Neo Geo Stick 2\’ for the Wii today. It will be available in japan on April 10th for 5040 Yen (about $47). The stick will be compatible with all Virtual Console games.
February 29, 2008
Major League Baseball 2K8 provides the most fun and exciting baseball simulation experience available and the innovative Wii controls allow fans the opportunity to pitch, bat, field and run the bases using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
February 29, 2008
Divineo.co.uk has confirmed to us that in around 10 days, Datel are set to release FreeLoader for the Nintendo Wii. The product allows you to play import games from all over the globe and a single version works on PAL, USA and JAP consoles. REMEMBER - CLICK THE FOLLOWING IMAGE AND YOU WILL SEE THE FULL BOX - IT IS FOR Wii!
February 29, 2008
Datel has now confirmed the price for the Wii FreeLoader will be