Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade is over, and with it the end of summer itself, or at least here in the Pacific Northwest. Essentially XBL's SoA was a five week stint of releases to the XBL Arcade, download and play the trial or full game, and get entered into a drawing for a windfall of 100,000 to 4,000 MS points. Suffice it to say the bulk of the games released were worth DLing; and a few weren't.
Really enjoyed the first title. Though I approached the follow up with trepidation. Initially I enjoyed the demo, though it wasn't exactly a good preview of the full title. Thus with only one mode available to test drive, I never downloaded the full game. However, Metacritic is showing a score of 90 for the title. Which is good, and right now it stands as the 13th best game available for the 360. In the end this title is a split decision.
PT: PASS
The Industry: BUY
You've either played Braid or you haven't. That sounds like a simple assessment, but the game is either worth the 15 bones to you or it isn't. The largest complaint of people who haven't played Braid is the price tag. They're concerned that the game may not be worth 1200 MS Points, and that it the game's puzzles could be solved within the better part of the day. And they could be right.
I breezed through most of Braid within seven hours in one sitting. At the end of the day I was only missing four puzzle pieces, but even if I had found them all in the that one sitting it wouldn't have meant that I have dominated the game. Braid is one of those rare games that keeps on giving long after you've completed your initial run through of the game. The game boasts five speed runs that are unlocked after you've completed the game, in addition to secret stars hidden throughout seven levels within the six worlds, not to mention the game's alternate ending.
Braid is an adventure that's worth the fare, but you can only find that out for yourself when your ready to pull out your wallet.
PT: BUY
The Industry: BUY
I'd been waiting for this game since it's announcement. Fortunately for me, GRIN the Dev behind the remake did anything but disappoint. BC:Rearmed boasts a complete overhaul of HD quality graphics while keeping true to the mechanics of the original 1988 NES game. In addition, GRIN added a new mechanic for the game's hacking system, a multitude of challenge rooms, and an awesome remixed soundtrack.
If you've never played the original, you should know that it was altered (Capcom replaced all Nazi emblems and most of the references) before it's US release. The original game has an intriguing background that is reflective of one of the many NES games that have had mysterious references that could be seen as either too political for children, or just flat out offensive.
BC:Rearmed is the perfect plat-former for the Gen-Xer's that have been waiting for a game that gives them that warm and fuzzy nostalgic feeling.
PT: BUY
The Industry: BUY
Wasn't impressed with the demo, and honestly there were several other arcade titles that I'd like to see updated and released to the XBLM besides Galaga. Granted it's a Namco property and they were bound to put it up on the XBLM at any some point. They've done three iterations of Pac-Man and Galaga Legions is the second iteration of Galaga. It's just unfortunate that it had to be a part of this promotion. Legions just doesn't hold it's weight in comparison with these four other titles.
PT: PASS
The Industry: PASS
A long awaited title from the The Behemoth developers finalizes the Summer of Arcade. Put on display at last years PAX; Castle Crashers garnered a lot of attention, that was followed by disappoitnement when The Behemoth announced delay after delay. So it wasn't much of a shocker when the game launched that it had some connectivity issues and bugs. It is possible that you may not experience any of the aforementioned, and if you do it's probable that you won't be too disappointed. Simple fact is that Castle Crashers is a fun hack and slash in the same vein as Double Dragon and Fatal Fury. Though this game has more humor and a longer shelf life.
PT: BUY
The Industry: BUY
The Bottom Line
Xbox Live's Summer of Arcade delivered in 3 out of 5 weeks for me. Luckily Braid, Bionic Commando:Rearmed, and Castle Crashers are excellent digital titles that will deliver long after the summer will be over.
The drawing is September 17th! Good luck to those of you who entered into the drawing all five weeks!
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