Rush'n Attack

"Not Contra but it's alright"

Rush and Attack is yet another Live Arcade game that came out without me ever eharing of it. I'm sure it's an old arcade game or something but I never heard of it until now. When I originally played the game I tossed it aside because Contra was better and this game seemed insanely hard. Now that I've replayed it and understand how to play it, it's much more enjoyable.

You're some commando who is sent out to rescue some prisoners of war. That's the plot in a nut shell and it doesn't advance past that. It's fine for the time but it really didn't do anything for me.

What I did like was how the game is actually kind of hard at first. Then you realize the guys just kind of run at you and you punch them and they die. It's actually simple once you know that. The catch is that the game gives you two whole lives and no continues,

This makes it all rough at first but I quickly finished the game as it is very short. Actually the game is too short to even be considered worth purchasing in my opinion. It does offer achievements and co-op but it still isn't that good.

The game has an alright visual style going for it though. I didn't realize that the game was running the enhanced graphics which has some mild shimmering being done by the enemies as their sprites are rather poor quality. Then I tried the original graphics and my eyes almost bled. Very ugly and lots of flashing sprites.

The game has an amusing soundtrack. It opens with a military march of sorts. Not sure if it's a real tune or not but it seemed familiar to me. Enemies don't really make sounds as they die and to be honest there isn't a whole lot of sound effects happening in this game.

Control was also an issue for me at times. The fire button (which is used only when you're carrying a weapon) jumps when you don't have a weapon. Pushing up also jumps but it's odd that what was once a fire button is now a jump button. I actually died once due to that...

Fans of the run and gun genre might get some entertainment out of this but the guns are few and the game isn't long and it just isn't that hard once you figure it all out.

I'd give this a trial download and nothing more. I doubt you'll find many people on-line and even then the match should be over in no more than 15 minutes.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 8/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 6/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/08