360 Rant Rave Forums

Introduction:
Capcom’s latest effort to bring panache to the Xbox Live Arcade, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (RAE), falls way short of its intended mark – whatever that may have been. In addition it has a hefty 800 point price tag that, in most cases, is going to leave you with buyer’s remorse.

Gameplay:
To start off with, just getting going in this game is a long and tedious project. First you have to select your character from one of RAE’s races of beings. Once you have selected your race you will choose between the class of person you are, as well as your gender. The game also gives you choices for costume color and many other non amusing attributes. It all seems a little too much for me, as none of the characters or races really seem to perform that differently.

Once you have gone through the character design/choice process you are forced to sit through what seems like endless cutscenes. They are cartoony in nature and the characters in them speak through cartoon-like pop up balloons. The cut scenes are long and laborious, full of corny attempts at humor. At some points they do try to give you instructions on weapons use and other gadgetry. However, the game is so simple, they could have easily left these out and let the gamer figure out what to do on their own.

Once you do get going, the game improves very little. It is a top down shooter that is very linear indeed. The first problem you will encounter is the camera itself. The camera does not focus or center on your character but instead fixes on points in the scene. The bottom line is that often times you will miss out on objects you need to collect, simply because there is no backtracking to the camera. At times you may see some power ups or collectibles but you are too engaged in the fight to get them right then. Well, if you move the camera position up through your own character’s travel you are just out of luck. The camera will not allow you any backtracking. So at the end of levels, expect to be infuriated at the object count on things you missed, mostly because you missed them through no fault of your own.

As for the actual game play, after the first few levels you quickly realize that little is changing. It is extremely linear. There is no real exploring in this game. You have one weapon with unlimited ammo. After a period of time the weapon will render itself useless and you must find another one to pick up. Fortunately, the levels are plentiful with weapons and power ups to collect, so you are never in any danger of running out. Besides, who cares if you do? You have unlimited lives. Dying costs you experience points that reflect in your stats, but after playing a while you will realize your stats do not matter much. At the end of each level everything is tallied up and you are rewarded points to be used for upgrades. However, the upgrades really appear to be pointless as they do little to alter your character’s abilities.

Although the graphics are not terrible in the gameplay itself, the ridiculous cutscenes disparage the entire game. They add so little to the experience and hold the game play up in an unending interruption of play. They may have been alright if they were cutscenes that were done well graphically and added to the overall appeal of the game – say like in Mass Effect. Unfortunately, however, they do not. At least you can skip them if you want.

Playing through the levels you quickly get the feeling of repetition. The left stick guides your character and the right stick fires your weapon. Hordes of enemies march relentlessly at you and die in an unending rail of fire from whatever weapon you have your hands on. There is virtually no strategy and no challenge in RAE. It is simply a matter of endurance. Quite frankly, it is a matter of you tolerating the game all the way until the end. Unless you are forced to play the game, RAE will leave you thinking about what game you could be playing instead.

Extras:
RAE’s only redeeming quality is the multiplayer portion. And it barely helps RAE’s survival rate. You can play with up to 4 players in co-op. The problems with the camera don’t go away but with the four of you, you gain a small element of control – emphasis on small. There is very little lag and it runs smoothly but, really, who cares? The chance of four of your friends having the game and wanting to play it seems slim. It does allow for a match finding mode that works well. I would guess though, that soon enough the population for this game online will be extremely minimal.

Conclusion:
Overall, there is little I can find to say nice about this game. There is nothing new or spectacular to be found in RAE. It features a weak storyline, weak game play and offers no real sense of achievement moving from level to level. In the end, all you want to do is move on. RAE is way overpriced for what it delivers and I would warn anyone interested to please try the trial version before spending your points on this game.

Score : 4.5