Orbitron: Revolution Review

Xbox Live Indie Games have never been recognised for amazing graphics, with the majority of the games looking like a full priced windows 2000 game. With such a low quality stream of games becoming the norm, people have dumbed down their expectations. Never have I been able to compare graphics of an indie game with an arcade, or at times, retail game and put up a good fight; but with Orbitron: Revolution, I can.

Orbitron: Revolution is a 2.5d, side-scrolling shooter and the first game from Firebase Industries; a new, upcoming studio that launched in June of this year. With Orbitron being their first game, I’m extremely impressed with the amount of polish in this game – most game companies’ first games still carry bugs or whatnot, but not this.

Now, while a man can preach only so much about the graphics for this game, I think I need to reiterate – this is a beautiful game, one that stands proud on my Xbox Live Profile. There is a distinct techno vibe from the game and the soundtrack ups that vibe ten-fold. The soundtrack, produced by Audio Antics (who did the soundtrack for Geometry Wars: Retro Revolved), suits the game well, immersing you in the action immediately. Even though I am a self-confessed techno fan, I feel any lover of music (AKA everybody) will enjoy the music; nothing mindblowing, but still good.

Though the game certainly is a looker, it lacks content – there are 2 game modes from the off (Countdown & Ring Defence, Extra – unlocked after surviving for more than five minutes in a mode). There is only 2 ships playable, there’s only 1 level to choose from, and single-player only (there is a replay feature, but it only works in Countdown). This makes gameplay a limited and frankly linear affair because there’s only so much you can do in the game.

There is highscore leaderboards to compare and beat, and milestones to complete certain objectives – but that’s it. While it would have been nice to have online multiplayer, or indeed more content, this is still a very enjoyable game, with plenty of bang for your buck (or Microsoft Point in this case). What’s more, Firebase have updated the game with new features, better designs and bug fixes; hopefully indicating that they will constantly update the game in the future.

In terms of price, the game is a little too expensive –  don’t get me wrong, you’ll get your money’s worth, but for 240 Microsoft Points, there doesn’t seem to be enough stuff. Maybe if there was multiplayer, I would think otherwise. But this is still a competent game; the graphics are some of the best on XBLIG, the gameplay is solid and the soundtrack is pretty sweet. The level of quality on offer is immense for a XBLIG, but I cannot stress enough how little there is to do in this. Nevertheless, with such a strong start into the Indie Games fray, I am heavily anticipating Firebase’s next release – if they keep producing this kind of quality, then they will definitely earn a name for themselves.

Orbitron: Revolution was reviewed with on the Xbox 360 with a copy provided by Firebase Industries. You can download the game in the Xbox Live Indie Section for 240 MSP ($3).