Undertow

"A month without Live and I get this?"

With the brief amount of info I knew about Undertow I knew for certain I wouldn't like it. I got the game anyone because I'm a glutton for punishment. Is it worth your MS points or is it another dud for the Live Arcade?

A pirate is recruited by the marines to stop some guys from blocking a smuggling line or something. It's an odd plot but I was more amazed by the fact that it had a plot. Not very good but it works I guess.

Graphically the game looks pretty good. The locations are nicely done and fit the game nicely. The reefs and coral all look good. My only problem is that the units (be it your own or the enemy) are all very small. This means they lack detail and could almost be considered a blob.

The game has full voice acting for the cut scenes. These arcade games really are coming a long way. The music has an odd arcade feel to it but I literally just turned the game off and can't remember what it sounded like exactly. The sound effects are typical shots being fired and things going boom.

Control in the game is fairly simple. Move with the left analog stick and shoot with the right. This means you can shoot in a 360 degree range. X is used as a boost; Y is used to upgrade your units. Once you get the hang of it the game becomes very easy.

The game offers 15 or so stages which isn't too bad I guess but each stage usually takes 3-6 minutes so this game won't last you forever. I did notice that I was able to quickly finish the entire game in a 20 minute span once I got the hang of it all.

The game play is very typical of a shooter. Your little man floats around and you move him and shoot enemies. I some how finished the first stage and no clue how. Once I did figure it out it became much easier.

See, the game didn't tell me that I needed to conquer the enemy's bases. Sure it makes sense but I assumed a blue orb meant it was mine. But if you hover longer you blow up the base so they can't take it back. But that's only on some stages, sometimes it's a power struggle to capture all bases or you can suffer and try to kill all of the enemies (the number is at the top).

At that point the game became more enjoyable and the endless waves of enemies less annoying. Even on the easiest difficulty I found the game was able to create a challenge for me.

Not only that but with the ability to change units (4 types per stage) it could really spice the game play up. You also gain points which are used to upgrade your units. A great idea really but it doesn't carry over into the next stage. The problem that comes from the powering up is that the game locks you up to make the selection but the game itself keeps going so it's easy to be killed when trying to upgrade and trust me, you'll need to upgrade.

A little strategy mixed in with a shoot'em up game play never hurt anyone and it makes this a slightly fun game. The game offers co-op but even with it being a free game I rarely found anyone playing. There is also a death match mode which is fun and hold sup to 16 players. There is also another online mode but I think it's a capture one. Either way the on-line play is nearly unplayable due to the lag and if you go for under 16 players it becomes very boring.

Undertow isn't anything special. It's a game that is kind of fun if you're in the mood for it but otherwise I'd probably save the MS Points. Fans of the genre may get a kick out of it for a while and with on-line play I'm sure it's fun. Try out the demo because I think it gives a fair assessment of the game.

Story - 5/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 6/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/08, Updated 01/29/08

Game Release: Undertow (US, 11/21/07)