Eye-Ball
Eye-Ball has you taking control of a finger, poking at a floating eyeball to compete in a grotesque game of Pong. A veiny mass of flesh throbs in the background to constantly remind you how unappealing this game is. It isn't even a very good Pong clone. (200pts)
Roid Riot
"Asteroids in 3D" is one of those notions typically reserved for the PC shareware bin at Office Max. In that respect, Roid Riot offers something worthwhile: the chance to purchase a bad game even when you aren't shopping for overpriced computer desks. Sarcasm aside, Roid Riot would be a pretty inoffensive take on a simple concept, but it's hampered by unnecessarily sluggish controls and gameplay. (200pts)
Gamerbots:Third-Robot Shooting
This is depressing. Gamerbots has so much going for it: a Sega arcade-style presentation, awesomely cheesy soundtrack, and customizable robots! So of course, being an XBLI title, it has to go and ruin all that by being a slow-as-molasses third-person shooter. The graphics are even pretty good, but the super-stiff controls and inbred AI show that Gamerbots is little more than a well-intentioned rookie effort. (400pts)
Lotus - Stellar Conflict
Lotus - Stellar Conflict is a simple 2D take on complicated 3D space-flight sims. While the game is played from an overhead view with controls reminiscent of Asteroids, it seems to have the mission variety you expect from a Freespace or Colony Wars. It has you keeping track of ammo, fuel, and shields while engaging in combat that's a little more deliberate than your typical 2D space shooter. While the engagements weren't too exciting, and the voice acting is Microsoft Sam caliber, Lotus is different and polished enough that it may cure your space shooter itch.
(400pts)
Get The Ball
Get The Ball is one more piece of evidence that there should be a way to offer free games on XBLI. It's so mind-numbingly simple that I can't imagine it being worth any amount of money, and yet in its own silly way it's kind of fun. The game is a competitive collect-a-thon in which you guide your circle around a boxed-arena trying collect more balls than the other guy. It's a bit broken though; the balls are so fast and random that it's as much about random chance as reaction time. Still, Get The Ball does a good job a satiating that appetite for collecting lots of stupid little things.
(200pts)
Button Memory
Surprise! It's another damn Simon clone. This time, the graphics and presentation are worse than ever before. I'm going to have to devise from kind of template review for this kind of game because there's so many of them.
(200pts)
