Relic Raider
Developer: Nathan Cross
Genre: Action & Adventure
Available On: XBLIG
Co-Op Mode: Local (4 player)
Price: 80 MS Points ($1)
Demo w/ Co-Op Available: Yes
When this feature was started, a name was (somewhat jokingly) decided upon after a weekend spent re-watching the "Indiana Jones" movies. (Of which there are only 3!) Much like the titular hero does in each of those movies, we figured this article would be a way to explore the many indie co-op game offerings to find those gems that truly bring you a great co-op experience (and potentially belong in a museum). After much searching, we have found Relic Raider, a game that seems just as inspired as we were by Dr. Jones and provides a great co-op experience to boot.
In addition to everyone’s favorite whip wielding adventurer, the game is based around many of the ‘80s type arcade games. For each of the 50 levels, your goal is to navigate around the labyrinthine area, opening up the various tombs to uncover the relic, the key, and the exit. Discovering what lies inside a tomb is accomplished by completely circumnavigating the area around it, though be careful of what you might find. Along with treasure, bikini babes (apparently), and a means of escape, there are tomb guardians and snakes that may lurk within these catacombs, not to mention the occasional trap.
The guardians and snakes randomly move about the level to thwart your otherwise easy exploration, though you are not completely defenseless. In a move that feels straight out of Pac-Man, you will occasionally find a scroll of power within the catacombs, which allows you freely destroy the snakes and guardians without fear of reprisal. Of course, making your way through all of these twisting and turning passages is far easier when you bring a friend or three along.
Working with friends to discover the secrets of the tombs means each level becomes something more of a “divide and conquer” exercise. Each player can be given his or her own quadrant on which to focus his or her encompassing efforts, or players can work together within the same area to get through a little bit faster and avoid the hazards. If a player runs out of lives (each has 5) due to too many run-ins with the various foes and traps, he or she must sit out for a bit until the other players find an ankh that will resurrect fallen allies.
A few of the games we’ve discovered through the Indie-Ana Co-Op series have attempted to recapture the more retro feel of the NES/SNES/Genesis days of gaming, but very few have gone back to the days when you’d toss coins into the arcade at your local pizza place. Relic Raider provides a very fun co-op experience for any gamers looking for a throwback to those older days. After all, it’s not the years; it’s the mileage.
Wrap-Up
Relic Raider is For: Co-op games looking for a very ‘80s arcade style gameplay experience
The Co-Op Experience: Team up with up to three other friends locally to discover tombs, treasure, peril, and snakes… Why’d it have to be- oh, you know the rest
Stick ‘Em Up 2: Paper Adventures
Developer: Whatever Games
Genre: Action & Adventure
Available On: XBLIG
Co-Op Mode: Local (4 player)
Price: 240 MS Points ($3)
Demo w/ Co-Op Available: Yes
Last week we took a look at Papercraft, a twin-stick shooter with some RPG elements with a paper plane and felt board art style. This week we take a look at Stick ‘Em Up 2: Paper Adventures, an action platformer that also utilizes paper style graphics and co-op action.
Across the 6 levels (including a tutorial level), you and your co-op partners will shoot, fly, race, and cross blades with pirates. Each level comes with its own unique weapons or mechanics to use in order to complete it. The Japan level, for instance, has you wielding throwing stars to fell your paper foes while the Treetops level relies upon the old bow and arrow. There’s also a level that puts you behind the wheel of a moon buggy type craft and racing around the moon. While all of the levels are fun and keep things interesting by changing up the look and gameplay, the Space Race level is definitely the best when it comes to playing co-operatively. Racing around in an environment where the gravity’s been lessened a little provides all kinds of opportunities for pulling off some crazy flips as you fly off the ramps.
As far as the co-op experience goes, playing with your friends essentially just adds to the craziness. Completing the levels doesn’t necessarily get any easier with the addition of one, two, or three more players, but it does get more fun. Distracting enemies with one player while the others sneak around to kill the foe from behind certainly can be achieved, but showering your opponents in a hail of bullets just seems like the more entertaining option. For each level, players will have just two lives and a health bar to help see them through. Should a player fall, he or she will have to sit it out for the remainder of the level until his or her friends, hopefully, make it through.
Replaying a level for the sake of another player, though, does come with certain benefits as each player can earn “goals” (essentially in-game achievements as XBLIG don’t come with XBLA achievements) by achieving certain tasks, such as flipping the moon buggy 720 degrees. Earning some of these goals will likely take a couple tries, so there is a sense of replay value here. Additionally, Whatever Games is currently developing additional levels for the game, which will be released as part of a free update to the game, provided you get it now at the 240 MS points price.
While Stick ‘Em Up 2: Paper Adventures may not be a game that relies upon co-op in order to make levels easier to complete, it does implement one of the more important co-op principles we hold to here: making the game more fun.
Wrap-Up
Stick ‘Em Up 2 is Geared Towards: Platform gamers that enjoy a change of pace from level to level
The Co-Op Experience: Team up with up to three other friends to shoot foes, pilot helicopters, race moon buggies, and do battle with pirates and ninjas