Xenophobe

"Repetitive action gaming...figures..."

The NES has always tried to cash in on the action games that revolve around shooting and blowing up as many things as you possibly can without losing too much to interest in the process. The game story takes place as taking the role of one of three different hunters, wandering around a huge complex and destroying aliens with several different weapons and the like. Something that the game does, is create a slightly decent two-player environment for you and a friend to roll through although the games isn’t anything that is worth playing through more than once, if that at all! The visuals are vintage Nintendo, with very little to do with the overall detail of the game or otherwise, and the audio with both the effects and music score leave plenty to be desired. If you’re into ancient NES games that have a little bit of game play, but nothing else, then you must be a die-hard collector, or a true NES fan…

The game play revolves around you taking one of three different hunters through several different stages of action in which you faced off against a ton of different aliens. The challenge of the game is what really offsets the premise, simply based on the confusion that sets in after about twenty minutes of play! Where you would figure that there is a point, or a mission to accomplish, you really have nothing more than to make it from one end of the stage to the other, collecting different power ups and special items that would allow you to return to base. I’m really not sure just how in the hell you are supposed to derive a feeling of accomplishment out of a game such as this, in which your main goal is to kill or be killed! The difference in the difficulty of the game is if you’re able to get through the stages without getting yourself killed and that can be ultimately hard simply based on the fact that enemies pop up from every noticeable area and knock you down. While this may seem like a rather interesting game play aspect, the enemies stay right on you and it takes a long time to gain your footing and start over again, leaving you open to getting nailed again and having to wait.

The two-player option is nothing more than adding a friend to the battle, and ultimately is the saving grace of the game itself. If you were to go up against the game alone, you’d probably find that the enemies overwhelm you without much difficulty, but with a friend by your side, you’ll at least have a fighting chance! This portion of the game makes more difficulty for the game play alone, in which the enemies seem to increase in difficulty and number with the addition of another player. If you’re really into hardcore action, then add that second friend, pick up a gun and start firing away, because it’ll be your only hope.

The control here in Xenophobe suffers from the same Ghost Control that most NES games of this era have. You’ll find that jumping and shooting as well as trying to avoid your enemies is something that takes plenty of practice and patience, and in most cases, you’ll find that there is nothing that will save you from taking unwarranted hits! The precision of the control is the main problem, but if you’re new to the game and used to the way that the NES controller screws up, you’ll find that this is nothing new overall. Other than that, there is nothing that is too complex that you can’t figure out in just a few minutes, and it really is a pick up and play game that can be played by anyone of any skill level.

Visually, Xenophobe is a game that suffers from several problems in terms of detailing and color schemes. You’ll find that the game lacks in several areas, even though the stages that you roam through are unique in their own way, you’ll find that the game lacks the amount of detail that other action games such as Ghost n’ Goblins and Commando gives you! The colors are muted to the point that you really can’t tell what enemy is what color without squinting. Detailing on the characters and enemies themselves is just another example of how simplicity in an NES game can be apparent and rather droll, with instances of image break up and otherwise coming forward without much prodding.

Audio wise, Xenophobe suffers the worst, in which there is nothing of variety or change no matter what stage you’re on. Giving way to the same track over and over again leaves most people wondering just what in the hell they are doing listening to a game that has nothing to offer, and in my personal experience, it is worthy of muting and listening to something else! The sound effects are your standard amount of NES effect that come with gunfire and enemies hitting you with the MIDI thuds and crashes that you come to expect. However, these sounds and even the music is something that isn’t blends together well, and in the end, you’ll find that the headache the overall collection causes is enough to make you scream.

Xenophobe is a game that seems to draw off of every sci-fi move that you may have seen in previous years and turn it into a video game. The game play is boring enough to the effect that if you’ve played just about any sort of action game on the NES, you’re really not running into anything new or exciting here! The control suffers from stiff and unresponsive movements as well as the visuals and audio lacking severely in most departments. If you’re looking to collect games in the X division of the NES library, then you’re really not left with much choice on what to pick up. Playing this title on the other hand is a feat of patience and infinite forgiveness, because when you step back and take the game for what it is, it’s nothing more than a poorly made game with an action genre slapped on for good measure.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/01, Updated 12/07/01