Small Arms is a welcome addition to the Xbox Live Arcade library with its fun gameplay and unique sense of style
The game is unmistakably derived from Super Smash Bros., Nintendo’s own mascot-fighting brawler. You will still be jumping around and trying to defeat your opponents. The different stages in single-player are even broken up with target practices. While Small Arms no doubt takes many ideas from Nintendo’s franchise, you may be surprised to find out just how different Small Arms is from Super Smash Bros.
The gameplay itself is fast-paced and hardly ever without a dull moment. Rather than relying on your melee attacks like in Super Smash Bros., your primary weapon in Small Arms will be your guns; melee attacks should only be used as a last resort. What this means is that you won’t have any more one-on-one standoffs, and it keeps the game flowing nicely without pause. In the main single-player mode you will progress through multiple stages, each one more difficult than the next, until you reach the final boss stage. There is also a Challenge Mode, where you will fight a never-ending supply of enemies. This mode continues until you eventually die, and the goal is to try to defeat as many enemies as you can. In addition to the single-player, there is also a fun multiplayer component. Multiplayer matches can be played either with others in the same room or over Xbox Live. Matches are very quick, usually only a couple minutes, which means you can play the game as long or as little as you want. There is quite a sizable amount of weapons in the game, all of which have their own unique advantages. Some of my favorite weapons include the freeze gun, which can freeze enemies for a limited amount of time, and the crossbow, whose alt-fire is an exploding arrow. Each weapon is aimable, and this is where Small Arms really gets interesting. While you control your character with the left analog stick, you will use the right analog stick to aim your weapon in any direction. Pull the right trigger to fire your weapon, and the left trigger to fire your alt-fire. Jumping is left to the bumpers. This allows you to aim your weapon anywhere on-screen while still allowing you to jump and pull of some impressive maneuvers. In addition to these controls, you can press either B or X to do a quick melee punch, and Y to do a Dash, which is just a quick burst of speed in any given direction. Since you don’t use either your Melee Punch or Dash all too often, having these commands mapped to the face buttons isn’t a problem. The vast majority of the match you will keep your thumbs on the analog sticks.
Visually, Small Arms is quite impressive for an Xbox Live Arcade game. Character models look great, levels are varied and unique, and the explosions in the game are even better. Sound-wise, the game doesn’t stray from the ordinary. Each weapon sounds as you would expect it to, and each character will make a sort of “yelp!” when hit.
Overall, Small Arms is definitely one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games yet, and ranks among Geometry Wars and UNO as far as must-have Arcade titles. The gameplay is familiar enough to invite you, yet varied and unique enough to keep you engaged. Between the single-player and multiplayer components, Small Arms will keep you engaged for a long time, and is sure to be a hit with Xbox 360 owners.