At any rate, the visuals are plagued by big pixels, blurry backgrounds, and many head-spinning scenes where so many jagged projectiles fill the screen that you never see the bullet with your name on it. The graphics haven't even been adapted for widescreen presentation, so the game is shown in 4:3 with buffers filling in the gaps on widescreen TVs. The visuals look a lot like those seen in handheld versions of the game, simply blown up to fill a TV screen. So you get an old game with a new (misleading) name. Virtually nothing has been done to update Metal Slug XX for the Xbox 360. The game pits you against armies of crazed soldiers and gigantic metal monstrosities. So you just keep going until you're done, which is long after you realize that you're doing the same thing over and over again. The game's brevity also keeps you going, as you can finish the seven brief levels in a single 60-minute session as long as you're playing on easy or in co-op. This is one of those nutso shooters that hit you with so much running and gunning that you never get the chance to think long enough to decide to stop playing. Everything gets a touch monotonous at times, because Metal Slug XX doesn't mix up enemy assault waves as much as it should, but the pace is always snappy even when the never-ending stream of enemy soldiers, tanks, mortars, and choppers makes you want to cry uncle. One enemy shot takes you out, so you can easily find yourself stuck in a rut of getting killed over and over again in difficult sections of levels.ĭespite this level of difficulty, it can be hard to walk away, especially when buddying up with a friend to take on the campaign as a team in co-op. Difficulty in the campaign is just brutal when going it alone, even if you play on beginner with unlimited continues, because the levels are geared for co-op play either locally or over the smooth and lag-free Xbox Live connection. Whereas something like Super C forced you to mostly blast it out on terra firma, here you frequently get the chance to wreak havoc while driving tanks, mechs, and even giant mechanical ostriches. The only real difference between the Metal Slug series and its predecessors is a reliance on murderous tank vehicles called slugs. Gameplay is identical to the previous Metal Slugs, which in turn ripped off earlier scrolling shooters, such as Contra. All you have to understand is that you've got to kill everything in sight while jumping around and activating the odd platform. Not that you need to care about any of this story stuff. In both the seven-level solo/co-op campaign and the single-player-only combat training mode where you fight dozens of quickie one-off battles, you go up against the evil General Morden's regular troops plus his new cadre of future soldiers wearing helmets with antennas. As in the rest of the franchise going back to its debut on the NeoGeo in 1996, the action is all about running and gunning. If you know what you're getting, Metal Slug XX can be a hell of a ride. Ralf from the Ikari Warriors and King of Fighters series rears his bandanna-wearing head in Metal Slug XX. And while the action is insanely intense and boasts a great co-op mode, like all good side-scrollers that trace their family trees back to the 1990s, the game is very short and the price is awfully high at 1,200 points. This Xbox Live Arcade addition to the venerable series of 2D side-scrolling shooters is actually a retread of Metal Slug 7, released for the Nintendo DS at the end of 2008, so be aware that you might have played this game before. Add SNK Playmore to the list of groups trying to save the planet through salvaging, although what the developer is doing with Metal Slug XX is far from admirable. Recycling isn't just for environmentalists anymore.
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