Mutant Storm Reloaded - Xbox Live Arcade review

Shoot, dodge, shoot again and then shoot some more

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Endless tension

  • +

    Beating your own high scores

  • +

    Getting a taste of 'the zone'

Cons

  • -

    Power-ups could last longer

  • -

    Dying - because it's all your fault

  • -

    Forgetting you have bombs

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Few games can still launch you into "the zone" - that magical place where the real world melts away and all you see, hear and perceive is the game in front of you. Mutant Storm Reloaded easily brings that trancelike state by surrounding your tiny, floating ship with relentless waves of morphing mutant monstrosities.

Fans of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved will instantly recognize the setup. Move your ship with the right stick, point the left stick in the direction you want something to die. Every so often a power-up will spill out from the vaporized puddle of colorful monster-gore - your chance to really tear stuff up. They only last for a few seconds, but that's all you really need out of a spinning, shredding halo of discs.

There are 89 super-quick levels of this stuff, and you'd think after so long it would get pretty damn boring. But it can't. As soon as you get used to the crawling bug things in level one, they start shooting back in the fifth. By 20, they're teleporting in by the truckload, launching missiles and exploding into a thousand tiny critters, each of which can take you out in one hit. Translation: sweaty palms, unblinking eyes.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionBlast teleporting hordes of mutant bugs in a pulsating, morphing glob of ... something. Perfect arcade madness.
PlatformXbox 360
US censor ratingEveryone
Release date22 November 2005 (US), 22 November 2005 (UK)
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CATEGORIES
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

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