Assault heroes is simply one of the best Xbox live arcade games
The bad: Incredibly short and online co-op does not work
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Assault heroes is one of the few original games for the xbox live arcade. It definitely takes cues from such games as spyhunter, jackal, smash tv, and speed rumbler. But Assault heroes is a simple game with a cool car to drive and plenty of enemies to destroy.
Assault heroes has no story and this game functions great without it. At the beginning of the game there are a few quick sentences that tell you to destroy some enemy but from there on out, the only cutscenes are at the end of the levels. In Assault Heroes, the scrolling is forced. Therefore, you cannot backtrack but you can stop it if necessary by staying at the bottom of the screen. Most of assault heroes takes place in your car. But if your car is destroyed, you can jump out and continue the adventure on foot. This is a great idea but you are incredibly weak on foot and can die in only a few shots. At the end of every level is a boss such as a giant spider or submarine, which are usually not very difficult. The campaign is fun but incredibly short. I beat the entire game in an hour and really was not in that much of a rush.
In addition to the fun experience of beating the game by yourself, you can also bring a friend along for the ride. Co-op is very much faster than singleplayer, but is fun while it lasts. One of the cool things about co-op play are the co-op attacks. By pressing X both of you can do a variety of attacks such as a shared column of fire, upgraded blasters, and a magnetic field that kills everything in range.
Graphically, Assault heroes looks great for an Xbox live arcade game. There is a nice assortment of environments including a very fun level where your vehicle is tranformed into a boat. The sound is your typical "let's go kill stuff" music and it fits the destruction well, but it is the only track played the entire game and it gets very monotonous. Assault heroes also has some achievements and only about 3 of them are difficut to get. If you know what you are going for than you can easily get 70 or 80 points just in the first zone.
In conclusion, if you are a shooter fan, and a fan of the classic shoot em' ups from days past you will have a blast with these 800 marketplace points.