Even if you cannot remember a time when games were simple, yet challenging and fun, Pop Cap does. Heavy Weapon is yet another fine entry into Xbox Live Arcade, doing for Moon Patrol what Geometry Wars Evolved did for Asteroids.
Originally designed and released for the PC, Pop Cap's Heavy Weapon holds up well on the 360. Basic right and left stick handling substitute the original mouse controls; with the right serving as your tank's side-to-side movement and left firing your weapons, similar to Smash TV. The basic premise, like its long-lost cousin Moon Patrol, is to shoot all the enemies on the left-to-right scrolling screen while picking up weapon and shield upgrades along the way, which are dropped from friendly planes. Calling the lunar shooter, Moon Patrol, a cousin is like calling humans cousin to monkeys though; the game has come a long way from the '80s arcade version.
The cluttered menu system offers a deep variety of gaming options. The 'Deploy' option offers three offline game modes, Mission, Survival, and Boss Blitz. Mission is essentially a story mode where gamers fight their way through the Red Star army level by level, with Red Star controlled countries serving as levels.
Throughout the level, your tank is dropped a variety of items to assist you in battle. The friendly planes drop off weapons and shield upgrades, as well as Nuke bombs used to disintegrate any on-screen enemies. These friendly drops remain on the ground until you pick them up, or they are swept off the screen by the side-scrolling view. In contrast, enemies that you kill occasionally drop pieces of a 'Mega Laser' weapon. The weapon takes four pieces to complete, but if the piece of the weapon hits the ground before your tank can catch it, it is lost forever. Once complete, your tank is equipped with a steady-stream all-powerful laser; which may seem unfair, until you notice the ten-second timer running down once activated.
The developers add a bit of strategy to the game by taking away any Mega Laser pieces and unused Nukes from players when they die. While you may want to save those incredibly deadly Nukes for the final boss each level, getting there with even one of the three allotted slots filled with a bomb is difficult to accomplish on the higher levels.
With your tank and acquired weapons, gamers battle through swarms of enemies en route to a boss battle. After defeating a boss, gamers have a list of upgrades to select from, awarding one token at the end of each level. The six weapons and shield upgrades offer a nice twist, as gamers will have to choose wisely for maximum assistance on the next level. Although the first few levels are a tad too simple, it picks up steam quickly to become a controller-throwing challenger. With a wide variety of unique enemies and challenging boss battles the nineteen level Mission mode is deep and compelling enough to warrant the purchase alone.
The game's only flaw is its apparent determination to kill you with a specific enemy in Mission mode. While the enemies generate randomly, the game tends to group enemies together on a level, a tank on the ground and a helicopter above it, for instance. Many times, the game will be stuck on wanting to end your life with these two enemies, and will loop them about ten times; resulting in a battle of attrition that does not end until you die or they give up. It is a small issue, however, as the enemies are generally tough enough to put up a good fight despite the repetition.
