There are three new titles available to anxious Xbox Live Arcaders this week, and even though your usual host is off gallivanting around some spooky hotel, we wouldn't dare dream of not highlighting them in a new XBLA in Brief video. So strap yourself in and prepare for quite the eclectic mix of titles -- Military Madness, Football Genius and Bust-A-Move Live -- in this week's XBLA in Brief!
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I had some hope for Military Madness, really disappointed by the trial though. I wish we could get something with at least Advance Wars level depth on one of these services (or even crazy DaiSenryaku level stuff). Both this and Commanders: Attack are too bare-bones. If you want something with a little more meat, you are much better served with Band of Bugs (though that plays more like Tactics Ogre / Final Fantasy Tactics).
Since it's happening with some regularity, I can't avoid asking the question:
What did you do with your video player, Joystiq? It's hard to get any video to play on your site lately. I have to refresh the flash thing half a dozen times before it finally deceides to run.
Nectaris happens to be the predecessor to everything from Battle Isle (anyone remember that) to Panzer General to Advance Wars. So it's no wonder that it's "nothing new". It's "nothing new" in the same way that Karateka is nothing new when compared to Street Fighter. Get my drift?
Sorry, but Nectaris, Battle Isle, and Panzer General all came after Famicom Wars. I'm not saying Wars was the first, but it is the benchmark title for the accessible turn based strategy games. Hudson even developed some of the games in the Wars series, they should know better. Accessible doesn't have to mean overly simple.
I find the ideas on Military Madness here pretty blah. The game itself is fine; Unlike most modern hex games, it doesn't offer resource mining, nor the ability to constantly pump out weak troops, in hopes of weaking the opposition through spam.
I think this really forces one to uses the pieces delt in the most efficient ways possible. Positioning, field of control, and managing troop survivability are at a top priority in the game.
The Commander unit in multiplayer is a wonderful way to add a modern day twist (customizable troops) to a classic game that fans have much time invested in.
A good amount of Military Madness / Nectaris fans seem to be pretty happy with the game. It's nice to see a remake that isn't bogged down in over-modernization. Personally, I think the ability to "rank up" soldiers adds a nice amount of depth that makes even small skirmishes worth fighting in the game.
