Explosionade

Explosionade – Demo Impressions

Exolosionade is a 2D action indie game featuring mechs, nice visuals and explosions galore. Developed and published by Mommy’s Best Games as an Xbox Live Indie Game or (XBLIG). Explosionade originally released back on October 7, 2010.

The main menu screen featured sub menus of Start Game, High Scores, Awards, Options and Help, Exit Game and Buy Game. I immediately went into the help section to check out the button layout. Xbox 360 gamepad: X-machine gun, Rt-grenades, A-jump, LT-shield, RB-zoom, RS-shoots at and LB-lock movement. The controls had a floaty feel which i’m thinking was designed for gameplay as a technique like Shield Bouncing requires you to float etc. Otherwise, the controls in Explosionade felt fine and wasn’t complicated to learn.

Explosionade’s story has to do with First Lietenant Terry Atticus and his boredom issues while standing watch at a base. One thing leads to another and he finds a mech. At which time he enters the sewers so he can relieve his boredom by blowing stuff up. I did play through the tutorial level in Explosionade’s demo which was enlightening. I learned how to do basic stuff like shoot at enemies with the gun as well use bombs to blow up walls. I also learned the importance of collecting gold for points and armor reinforcement. You get points (1,000 and 5,000) respectfully for Gold and MBG. Ten piles of gold grants you one Meganade.

The main goal in Explosionade is to shoot the Powercore. I personally didn’t encounter any Powercores that i know of during my time in the demo. There are many enemies in the demo some fly and others are on foot or stuck to the ceiling. All enemies grant you various points. Enemies include Snake Bat, Flip Bat, Sneaker, Clinger, Horranym Soldier etc. Every enemy has his or its own unique detailed design and attacks. You can turn valves by shooting them (which i didn’t do in the demo). I looked at the “How To” section so i know more then what the demo gave me.  After the tutorial which did a good  job of explaining things i played the Single Player.

The first thing i noticed when i started playing Explosionade was its gorgeous visuals and high production values. I played enough XBLIGs to notice quality when i see it. It stands out to be frank. Gameplay revolves around getting to the bottom of each map and dropping into the next one. I used the twin-stick appraoch which took care of the simple gatling gun shooting and aiming. Using sticky bombs on the 2D walls gies you access into areas that ultimately leads to the way out. Sheild Bouncing is used to reach high places on the map. You jump then as you hit the ground you activate your sheild which bounces you up high. You can also zoom out to see the entire map which really helps sometimes.

Explosionade has the old school Challenge Room gameplay written all over it. Its about beating rooms and progressing by performing light puzzles, shooting baddies while collecting loot for your mech. Using your shields was important for me in the demo not only to Sheild Bounce but also for normal protection. You can unlock awards in-game i got the “Low Ceiling” award (i think that was its name?). Explosionade is a solid overall. However, i didn’t like the sound design in this game. The music wasn’t that good in my opinion and didn’t create any atmosphere or immersion. The HUD on screen shows your Meganades Count, Player Score and Name, Shield Heat Meter and Mech Armor level.

Explosionade is quality and trust me i don’t use the word quality alote with Xbox Live Indie Games. The mech shooting, fun gameplay and great visuals really makes this demo a good one. Its 80 MSP on Xbox Live. Thanks for reading.