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Xbox Live Indie Game Review – Avatar Onslaught

I guess I’ve got to get used to the fact that developers seem to think it’s a good idea to put these little avatars into almost EVERYTHING. And this game is no exception. It’s basically Space Invaders only your view is from behind your main character looking on as the avatars advance upon you. Instead of a gun, you throw balloons at them … and they will occasionally do the same.

Now, I’ll fully admit, my aim in this game is garbage. I’m not particularly good at it (much like every other game I play) … but damn is it ever fun.

And I’ll be willing to bet once I can actually AIM correctly that fun will continue. And this is a weird one for me, because I think the avatars are just stupid. Flat out. And I feel sorry for the people who actually spend money on outfits for them.

Now, granted, the outfits would benefit a game like this because how cool would it be to have the Big Daddy from Bioshock throwing water balloons at an oncoming avatar horde. Not that I’m willing to do something like that, but still.

Graphically, everything comes together rather nicely. The avatars look like … well … avatars. The one piece of scenery I’ve seen looks suitably dark and murky with nice little details thrown in here and there. Some of the avatars in the later levels actually don shields not unlike Plants vs Zombies. Others will come at you in a sprint. The music is great, the sound effects … are extremely light but they work just fine.

The gameplay is about as simple as it gets, though a good aim is a must. You move left and right and throw balloons. You have 3 shields that can take a number of hits (like in Space Invaders) that can be repaired. But what makes the game interesting is that you can level up your avatar’s abilities like more ammo and faster reload times. I haven’t been able to get far enough (yet) to max those out, but they really do make a difference. And to boot, it has online leaderboards for people with Xbox Live Gold.

7.5 - Now, honestly, that’s ALL there is to it. Just wave after wave of avatars. There doesn’t seem to be any extra weapons to help you out … I was hoping for a turret or something to plant somewhere. And it’s unfortunately only single player. But it’s definitely a nice distraction for a few minutes smacking down avatars with water balloons. Definitely worth your 80 MS space bucks.

Possibly related posts:

1. Xbox Live Indie Game Review – Super Avatar Hero Force
2. Xbox Live Indie Game Review – Avatar Racedrome
3. Xbox Live Indie Game Review - Avatar Showdown
4. Xbox Live Indie Games Review - Avatar Golf
5. *UPDATE* A couple of Xbox Live Indie Game Trial Impressions : Avatar Bumper Cars and The Impossible Avatar Getaway