GamePro Arcade

Review: Mutant Storm Empire

May. 28 1:42 PM by Will Herring

There is just enough of a back story to provide a reason for throwing hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies at you. But really, as is often the case with these types of games, Empire's focus isn't on the narrative but on the gameplay. The action takes place over a series of rooms which make up each of the few worlds in the game. Each room is filled with a set amount of enemies that increase in number and ability as the difficulty is ratcheted up. The enemies themselves are well animated, and rather diverse in both pattern and ability-you'll encounter plenty of turrets, swarming enemies, long-ranged foes, and larger bosses to name just a few. The environments themselves are also rather diverse, and some of them go so far as to change on the fly as you're fighting, which definitely changes up the pace at some points.

The standard two-analog stick controls we've seen in similar games such as Geometry Wars is also present in Mutant Storm Empire. One stick controls movement, and the other controls where you fire. It works as well as it has in every other game that uses the scheme, and as such can be considered a definite plus.

As a standard shmup, Mutant Storm Empire is rather easy to recommend, especially considering the lack of such games on the XBLA service. Its only real drawback might be its rather short length, as experienced gamers will probably smash through the single player levels in no time, even at the highest difficulty level but for small, bite-sized chunks of action, Empire definitely satisfies.
- Andrew Dagley

Graphics: 4.75
Sound: 4.00
Control: 4.50
Fun Factor: 4.25

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