Finally, a homage to good old shoot-em-up ups / beat em ups

User Rating: 8.8 | The Red Star PS2
Graphics: Game looks pretty sweet. Nice explosions, models, and overall feel, this is a game that won't likely depreciate graphically as time goes on due to its style. Gameplay: I played with my buddy for about 3 hours, and we still wanted to keep going but our thumbs were dying. The combat is smooth, well integrated, and repeating a stage doesn't seem boring until maybe the 10th time (everything has its limit right). There is actually alot of combos available but you won't typically pull them off, once you know how it all works, the game begins to look real nice. The character variety is enormous, they are completely different in terms of melee attacks, and some differences in shooting as well. The firearms are really cool, for the guy in the game, you get a regular pulse gun, a flamethrower, and a heavy missile launcher, but it will need some upgrading before everything feels like you're owning hard. Bosses are absolutely a craze. Me and my buddy found ourselves laughing like crazy when the bullets circle around us making us run in a spiral (you'll get to this point in the game, you'll laugh too). There are about 2-3 "bosses" per stage, and it's all very well done.

Sound: Every few stages will change up the music, can't complain. Music also matches the area you are in, ie. snowy, deserty...etc.

Co-Op: Best co-op i've ever played, period. Cons: It's not easy. You'll find yourself restarting a mission several times, but it doesn't get frustrating usually (depends on how much you suck at first). It would be cool to have unlock able combos (maybe there are, haven't played that far). But in general there is nothing noticeably wrong with the game, everything fits and makes sense. Very little they could improve on, except maybe story, but depends how much you care. If they had some nice cinematics every 4 stages or so that would own, but meh. Game is also $20, can't go wrong. I give it a solid 8.8/10. Cheers