 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rocketmen: Axis Of Evil
(Capcom Entertainment/
A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games)
Let’s face it; my obsession with video games and all things video game-related has been, for better or for worse, a life-long affliction. I can clearly remember devoting countless hours to mastering the handful of Atari 2600 and NES cartridges I was fortunate enough to have begged, borrowed, stolen or rented. Seriously…don’t even get me started regarding the untold fortune I pumped into coin-op classics like Double Dragon (or, for that matter, Double Dragon II) Final Fight, Narc and Roadblasters at every freakin’ arcade, convenience store and truck stop within a quasi-reasonable distance. Now, twenty (!) inexplicably long years later, armed with an Xbox 360, an improperly utilized laptop and a truly disturbing surplus of free time, I once again find myself diving headlong into the wonderful world of obsessive compulsive home gaming worship.
Thus, you can only imagine my fascination with the stellar Rocketmen: Axis Of Evil (2008), an expertly assembled, fully-customizable Action RPG shooter. Beginning with the obligatory--albeit unavoidably necessary--player creation process (which allows for three choices of Races: Human, Mercurial, and Venusians, as well as three choices of Classes: Engineer, Outcast, and Warrior), the game commences with main characters Nick Sion and Alec Mink discussing their urgent need to free the Solar System form the tyrannical forces of the Legion Of Terra. Using the left stick to move your player and the right stick to fire the various available weapons, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to destroy anything and everything in your path.
With the majority of the action wisely distributed amid ten increasingly difficult levels (all of which are deftly intertwined with comedic cheese-laden comic book style ‘…cut scenes…’), the average gamer is afforded the painfully underrated opportunity to vicariously act out every eight year old boy’s fantasy by slaying score after score of cartoonishly evil yet feeble-minded villains. Sounds easy, right? Well, the nonstop onslaught of aliens (and the resulting tidal wave of largely detail-free carnage) will undoubtedly make you think twice about how easy it all really is. Okay, okay…so I won’t give the ending away; but with that being said, I find it highly unlikely that all but the most inexperienced of partakers will find themselves challenged to the point of being unable to successfully complete the game over the course of a long misspent weekend.
Fortified throughout via a surprisingly vast array of 1 - 4 co-op and multiplayer vs. 2 - 4 player options as well as the oft-discussed downloadable …It Came from Uranus expansion pack, what ultimately separates the delightfully lo-fi Rocketman: Axis Of Evil from its few legitimate contemporaries is the game’s refreshingly unique lack of gratuitous violence and an apparently single-minded, guilty pleasure-fueled focus on all things fun. The lowlights? Fortunately for all parties involved, they are mercifully few and far between. Despite being somewhat limited via the game’s arguably frustrating scrolling screen format (which forces the player to mindlessly horde all available ‘…pick ups…’) and an undeniably arcane over head view, one must, at the very least, sincerely admire Capcom and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. for boldly releasing such a defiantly atypical title.
So what’s really wrong? Nothing. Not a single damn thing. In fact, I highly doubt things could get much better. An absolute must-have for any serious RPG Action-Adventure enthusiast (or, for that matter, anyone with a genuine appreciation for all things linear and/or Old School), the majority--if not all--of the decidedly nostalgia-inducing wares contained herein are seemingly guaranteed to leave even the most hopelessly pessimistic, GTA IV-obsessed gamer only wanting for more. As a result, if you’ve once again found yourself in search of an impressively ‘…low rent...’ alternative (Rocketmen: Axis Of Evil, is, believe it or not, available for a mere 800 Xbox Live credits) to the hopelessly bloated, overly-hyped major studio offerings that are so often force fed en mass, then this, my friends, might just be the high octane cure for what ails you.
Dan Williams / Todd Newton