Avid XBLA gamers should definately check this game out.

User Rating: 10 | Madballs in Babo: Invasion X360
For a game that came totally out of the left field this week, Madballs in Babo: Invasion ended up being very welcome surprise. Games don't get much more fun than this. It sounds kind of basic at first, but once you start playing, you'll find it hard to stop.

Madballs is a top-down 2D-controlled shooter, in which you play as various ball-shaped characters wielding an arsenal of different weapons. It features both a campaign and a fully functioning multiplayer component. The campaign can be played solo or with up to 3 other people for a fun 4-player co-op experience. The campaign is actually decently lengthy for an arcade game, and offers a good variety in design across 10 levels with a mix of fast-paced shooting action, boss fights, platforming, and light puzzle solving, while serving up a good challenge on the Normal and Hard difficulties. It never feels unfair or cheap and doesn't make you redo everything if you die, but if you lose all of your lives, you must restart the entire level over again, so make sure you're extra careful during the later levels.

The multiplayer is where the game really shines. With 5 game modes, 21 maps, tons of unlockable characters, weapons, unique powers, and ranks, Madballs has just as much content, if not more than many full-retail games. It has has the standard Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch (called Skirmish and Team Skirmish respectively) and Capture the Flag modes, along with an interesting deathmatch type where the game takes the head of your avatar and turns it into a ball to play as. The more multipliers you collect during the game, the bigger your head grows. But perhaps the most impressive game mode is Invasion, which pits two teams against each other as they attempt to control the enemy team's nodes and destroy their main node. Sounds like nothing new, right? What makes this mode so cool is that before the match starts, each team must take turns designing the layout of their own half of the map, and voting on the locations of the nodes. It adds an element of strategy and makes for some very interesting games. Up to 16 players can participate in a multiplayer match.

Ranks are achieved by gaining a certain amount of experience and unlocking items. Unlockables can be earned in both the campaign and multiplayer modes, and come in the form characters, guns, and powers. Each of the game's 13 characters has 2 unique powers, some more useful than others. They really come in handy in the multiplayer, and gives a class-based feel to the game. There are also 10 guns to unlock, and each gun has 2 firing types. The damage types for the guns are divided into 4 elements: Impact, Energy, Freeze, and Incendiary. Some characters are more resistent to one type of damage, but weak against the opposite form, throwing a little more strategy into the mix.

For only $10 (800 MS Points), Madballs in Babo: Invasion is an absolute steal with all of the content it offers, and definately should not be overlooked, especially if you're looking for a new competitive or co-op experience.