I was looking for some hot game deals for my Personal Computer on the Direct2Drive website today when I encountered A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda by Thai developer Extend Studio, a newly released shooter with that classic 2D gameplay design. I visited the game's official website and downloaded the demo of the game and I must say that I am mighty impressed with A.R.E.S.
The story interludes are kept short and sweet.
You play as the suspiciously orange in that Metroid's Samus kind of way robot named Ares who is sent to a space station under siege by some robotic infestation. The game is a horizontal shooter and your character can aim his shots freely around him. I ran the game in 1920 x 1080 and the combination of 2D and 3D graphics run very smooth as well as looking really pretty. The camera zooms in and out depending on the stage layouts. The game encourages you to not take hits from enemies with its hit combo system where you have to continuously shoot down your enemies to build it up but then it would reset if you get hit. Defeated enemies drop off materials that you can use to create health items and upgrade your weapons as well as special moves: This results in a slower-paced action since you are not rushing just get to the end of the stage. The demo only allows you to play through the first stage of the game.
The game fully supports the X-Box 360 controller.
It is always encouraging to see that developers are flocking back to the 2D gameplay design these days and if this game ended up being truly successful in its complete form, it may propel this unknown developer into stardom amongst the shoot-'em-up community. The one thing that I am worried about is the game's length since it is being advertised as the "first chapter in a full featured episodic" game. To be fair, I don't expect a hardcore shooter to last more than half an hour or go beyond one hour and a half mark as long as it is addictive enough to warrant multiple play-throughs. Still, developers need to stop teasing us with content - please don't try to mimic Sega's stupid move with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I - and just give us the full game already. A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda is currently available from the official webpage, Direct2Drive, as well as Gamersgate for around $14.95. I hope that it will hit Steam soon. And oh, it is planned to be released on the X-Box 360 in the future as well.
It can't allude to its classic roots without giving us humongous boss encounters.
FIRST IMPRESSION: 4 out of 5
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