IGN has a preview of Schizoid, the first game to be released that was built using MS's XNA game development tools.
"As we said, the premise to Schizoid is simple. There are two good guys on the screen at all times. One blue and one red. Blue can only go after the blue bad guys, and the red can only destroy the red. Try and mix colors and your character will blow up instantly. That underlying gameplay mechanic, while it might sound overly simplistic, is what really drives Schizoid forward and, Torpex hopes, ahead of the rest of the XBLA crowd. As you'd expect there are several different enemy types that float around the game space. Some are just mindless blobs that move at random whereas others are fully aware of their color and who they should attack. Other baddies lay eggs which hatch and then evolve, and new enemies continue to pop up as you advance through the more than 100 levels of sheer madness.
While the initial single-player offering that has the AI controlling the red player is fun in its own right, the real mind bending mode is unlocked once you complete the seventh stage. It's called Uberschizoid, and it will have blood shooting out of your ears in no time at all. The left stick controls the blue, the right controls the red, and you'll have to maneuver both in conjunction with one another. Needless to say things get fast and furious in no time and we can honestly say that we've never played a game that forces players to use their brain in the way that Schizoid does. Having to keep track of both characters as they move around some of the larger levels, trying to avoid opposite colored enemies along the way is extraordinarily challenging, but once you get the hang of the dynamic and get both moving in harmony things becomes very enjoyable, though still frenetic."
I'm a sucker for XBLA/PSN games, so I'm excited to check this out.
****I tried to post a screen of the game, but I'm getting HTML errors. I use the whole [blahblah]blahblah.com[/blahblah] format for my pics and links, and it causes trouble, if there is a better way to do it, I'd love to know.****
Log in to comment