Small Arms is probably one of the first original Live Arcade titles to be worth it,
Training is a pretty straight forward tutorial session that teaches you how to play the game. Challenge mode is a survival style mode where you battle endless amount of opponents. Shooting Gallery is basically target practice. You should be able to breeze mission mode pretty quickly. The fights are a good challenge because you will go up against one, two, or three opponents. The boss at the end also puts up a good fight as well. The Single player is fun and all, but it won't be the thing to keep you in this game. The real fun comes in the multiplayer. Up to four people can duke it out with each character. It can get pretty chaotic especially with all the bullets, missiles, lasers, and arrows flying everywhere. You can play up to four on a single 360, or you can take the action online. Whether you are playing with four people on the same screen or on online, you are bound to have a blast. The gameplay is fast and pretty fun. You control your character with the left thumbstick, and use the right thumbstick to aim. You can jump with the A button or the left or right bumpers. You can also perform a spring move by holding down the Y button. Each gun has two different attacks. Primary fire is done with the left trigger, and secondary with the left. Secondary fire is usually the stronger attack with a gun, but it takes more ammo. The controls might seem kind of hard at first, but it won't be long until you master them. Each player has a health and ammo meter. Healing items, ammo, and new weapons will spawn across the level. The guns in the game each offer something new to the table and each has a devastating power. The sniper rifle comes with an explosive mine that detonates if a not-so-careful player steps on it. While the flamethrower will come with a burning cocktail attack that sets enemies on fire. The visuals of the game are the best of the Live Arcade titles. Each character is colorful and looks great. The levels also look nice with some nice detail. The effects aren't the best looking part, but they do compliment the rest of the game's visuals well. The nice part is the game is locked at a good 60 fps. Even during all the chaos there is no slowdowns. The sound effects during fighting are nice, but not the best part of the game. The music is also kind of bad, so you will probably want to play your own tunes while playing this game. Other than some minor problems, Small Arms is a great example of what Xbox Live Arcade titles should be. It offers great gameplay both offline and online. If you have been looking for a Live Arcade title that would be worth your purchase, Small Arms is the game for you.