Undergoing a secret experimental journey, the spaceship Aknathen detects an energy spectrum identical to the one emitted by its prototype weapon, the XG Blast. Travelling to investigate, Aknathen is sucked through a wormhole and into a dimension filled with aggressive alien life-forms determined to take the weapon for themselves. Fight your way through hordes of enemies to uncover the origin of the mysterious signal and find your way back home...

XG Blast! is an old school arcade shooter that sees gamers confronted by hordes of aggressive aliens with one goal in mind: to destroy you and your ship. This is your pretty standard classic arena based 2D space based shooter - similar in style to the Xbox 360 mini game Geometry Wars - in fact a few of the alien space ships look very similar.

The object of the game is to destroy a constant, ever-increasing swarm of alien invaders which materialise at different areas of the gaming arena. You can also pick up power ups, new weapons and recharge your health and energy for your main weapon.

The ship is controlled using the D-pad and either the action buttons or the touch screen, allowing all gamers to find a control system that's best for them. Using the touch screen was easier for me. Once the stylus touches the screen your space craft fires, and moving the stylus around the screen changes the way the ship is facing. Then, to avoid or engage enemy craft, simply use the D-pad to move your ship around the environment.

It's pretty simple enough to pick up and play and there's enough diversity of level designs and enemy craft to keep you hooked for quite some time. While XG Blast! won't be to everyone's tastes, those that grew up on the old school classics will be delighted that Rising Star Games have done something a little new with an old idea.

8

Nick Smithson