Heavy Weapon (XBLA)

"A lonely warrior roaming across lands of naked oppression..."

Popcap, with their established position on the web, has been around on XBLA since its relaunch in 2005. From Bejewelled 2 to Zuma and the infuriatingly addictive Peggle, they're one publisher you can count on for fun on your GS quest. But what if you're not a fan of jewels, pegs or balls? Never fear! There is an answer.

Heavy Weapon is Popcap's side-scrolling shoot em up, set against a Cold War backdrop; you take charge of a tank to beat back the planes, tanks, bombs and nukes that make up the invading Red Star forces. A friendly chopper drops various upgrades to the tank's turret and shield and you can build a mega-laser to blast everything within reach during the stages. There are also nukes to pick up for when it all gets too much and you simply have to kill every last enemy on the screen, whilst beating each end-level Boss means you can choose another weapon to add to your arsenal. In short, every mission brings more guns, more explosions and more action.

If you’re looking for the best shooting title on XBLA, this isn’t it. HW isn’t a gaming revolution; there’s nothing new about shooting ever-increasing numbers of enemies to smithereens with a bigger and bigger artillery. However, the controls are uncomplicated and the graphics simple, which makes the game easy to slip into. The tricks that the enemy weapons begin to play as you march through the 19 stages keep you on your toes – as does the speed and volume at which they attack. The mayhem in the last half to third of the game isn’t quite that of Geometry Wars, but it does a hell of a job of coming close.

Along with the missions, there are three modes – Survival, Boss Blitz and Multiplayer. Survival does what it says on the tin: you begin with few weapons and enemies, but as the minutes pass by, both your weaponry and the opposing forces power up until you’re clobbered off the screen. Boss Blitz, somewhat like Survival, involves successively facing off against each of the level bosses, starting with the basic guns and grabbing upgrades along with way. Multiplayer is a simple case of scoring the biggest number of points against a maximum of three other players, which is quite a sight with four tanks blasting away at all and sundry.

Stripping away the life-like graphics and multiple controls, it brings back feelings of standing in the arcades, beating the hell out of a joystick (not an euphemism...) and pressing a thumb into the fire button until it's numb. The game play can be somewhat repetitive - after all, there's little variation you can get from moving left to right whilst firing a gun. However the escalating pandemonium after each level, along with the other modes, provides more than enough distraction. The achievements (save a couple from the multiplayer mode) are easy to unlock and at 800 MS, it’s half the price of the web version.

If you don't want to worry about head shots and claymores, but still want to make your screen light up like Guy Fawkes' Night, this is for you. Essential for any fan of Asteroids, Space Invaders or Missile Command; a must for anyone who likes a big bang for their buck.

I’d give this seven and a half nukes out of ten.