Review: Assault Heroes (XBLA)

Assault Heroes is classic old school “shoot-em-up” action in a contemporary package.

Gameplay: Anyone familiar with the scrolling “shoot-em-up” classics of the 1980s - like R-Type, Swiv, or Commando - will instantly feel at home with Assault Heroes. You (and a co-op buddy) control a heavily armed ATV in a top-down scrolling shoot-em-up. Your ATV has three fire modes – chain gun, flame thrower, and cannon – that are used to take out a variety of enemies from foot-soldiers and tanks, to bombers and missile-boats. The game is divided into combat “zones” and comes complete with on-foot bonus stages and end of level Bosses.

Both control sticks are employed with the right stick controlling the direction of fire. Should your ATV get destroyed you will find yourself on foot until a new vehicle can be spawned. It is only while on foot that you can be killed but also obtain key "power-ups".

AH effectively utilises risk & reward to make the gameplay challenging but rewarding. For example, the cannon-shot is destructive but has a poor rate of fire; the flamethrower is ideal for troops by is short ranged and weak against armour; the rail-gun is a good compromise but lacks punch without the power-ups. Everything is brilliantly balanced.

Fundamentally, AH is great fun, especially when plated with a buddy. The action is fast, frantic, and addictive whilst never becoming frustrating or impossible.

Graphics: The graphics in AH are polished with satisfying explosions, varied environments and some very cool animations: especially on the Bosses. Everything is rendered in full HD wide-screen beauty; on a big screen, it is a feast for the eyes.

Sound: AH has a fun “arcade” sound track that suits the game style perfectly. The sound effects are great too, augmenting the explosions with fantastic booms and rumbles.

AH costs 800M$, which is excellent value for money. AH features an excellent co-op mode and offers an addictive challenge that ensures you should easily get your money’s worth out of the game. The achievements are also reasonable for an XBLA game: you should be able to unlock a fair few just playing through the game.

Assault Heroes has a winning combination of fun gameplay, great graphics & sound, co-op play, and high quality production. Assault Heroes is one of the best games to come to the XBLA and represents a new benchmark in terms of quality, value and fun. If you have the points then by Assault Heroes now, you won’t regret it!

8/10