Xotic

Xotic – Demo Impressions

Xotic is a sci-fi first person shooter action game were scoring points are just as important as shooting enemies. Developed by Tik Games, LLC and published by Valcon Games for the PC and Xbox 360 as a arcade downloadable title. For this article i played Xotic on my Xbox 360. The release date for this arcade shooter is TBA.

My immediate impressions of Xotic were that of a sci-fi game. The menu screen broke down into sub menus of Play Game,  Leaderboards, Achievements, Help & Options, Unlock Full Game and Exit Game. The menu screens all looked really good which unfortunately i can’t say for the actual game. Before starting the Tutorial i went into the Help & Options section to check out the buttons layout. Xbox 360 gamepad: LS-move, D-pad-change secondary weapon, LB-jump/wingflap, RS-look/play hologram, X-switch to left hand, A-crouch/stand, B-switch to righthand, Y-toggle snap direction, RB-snap, RT-shoot, LT-fire secondary weapon. The button layout and the controls as far as navigating and shooting aren’t any good. Every movement you make whether jumping, aiming,  snapping its all slow with lag. Its like the protagonist was dipped in molasses.

The story of Xotic revolves around a mystical mysterious orb who transcends its body, goes mad and starts destroying worlds across multiple galaxies. The protagonist is the host (natural source)  of the insane Orb and its job is to track down the insane Orb and capture it. Asides from the story the presentation regarding gameplay is that of scoring points on levels. Its true Xotic is a first person shooter (your equipped with an alien gun even). You do shoot aliens on occasion in the demo but its not your focus.

Xotic’s gameplay is mostly about shooting plants that trigger a domino like effect of multiplier and bonus points. The plants you shoot are called Red Scab Plants. Shooting Vases on occasion can drop Orb Brains. Shooting Orb Brains triggers huge points. Collecting Batteries powers up your Hard Hologram Generator. The Tutorial level points out the basics which consisted of the stuff above. You can also play a few levels asides from the Tutorial. One is called The Underhome Level which has the same concept as the Tutorial and that is to score points within a time limit.

You go around and shoot a few aliens on the normal levels but mostly plants and other objects trying to score big points fast. In other-words Xotic is like a first person shooter and a arcade pinball game where your goal is to just score points without dieing. I personally don’t like the gameplay. Its not fun, intresting or addicting. Its not difficult either. After you complete a level your shown a Results page detailing gameplay like Time, Level Status, Accuracy, Terraform, Best Chain etc.

Xotic’s visuals are marred by fuzzy low rez textures that its pleasant artstyle couldn’t even save. The sound design adds some character to Xotic. The objects and aliens all make interesting sounds and the music at times was calming. Xotic isn’t my type of game by a long shot. It took less than a minute of actually playing it to figure that out. However, i do think the idea of its hybrid style of gameplay is something many gamers will enjoy. Thanks for reading.