The game provides an added bonus for those good enough to complete it with Boss Blitz. This mode, only available after beating the game, offers gamers the challenge of beating all the level's bosses in consecutive fashion. Heavy Weapon also offers a maniacal Survival mode. Supporting up to four players on the same console, the timed mode's lone goal is to stay alive as long as possible with just three lives. Since there is no end to the level, the friendly plane drops the same weapon and shield upgrades you select at the end of each level in Mission mode; making it a little easier to stay alive a respectable amount of time. The mode starts hectic, and get insane within five minutes; making the game's achievements set at lasting eight and twelve minutes in Survival satisfying rewards.
Xbox Live offers two additional, albeit similar, modes. Both War Party and Arms Race are slight variations on Survival mode in Deploy. Arms Race's only real difference is the option to play with three other gamers not in your house. In both online modes, players share both the Mega Laser and Nuke bombs. Each time a player collects a piece of the Mega Laser, it is added to the group's bar; however, the only the player to catch the fourth piece actually gets to use the weapon. More of an issue is the shared Nukes, which may cause gamers fits as another less experienced player gets an itchy trigger finger early in the game; wasting valuable bombs on easy enemies. Still, the game is incredibly addictive, and suffers from no noticeable drop in frame rate, even at points where there are almost two dozen enemies on screen and all four tanks blasting away with as many weapons as the game allows.
War Party has a twist that makes it at least seem easy; players can respawn continuously, so long as at least one of the other players is still alive. When the game gets to the point where huge bombers are deploying their own brand of nukes on the tanks, it is truly an accomplishment to survive, as these bombs wipe out all on the ground if they land successfully. The drop-in/drop-out play added to War Party is a treat, as gamers never have to worry about a quitter wrecking their quest for achievements. Players joining a game mid-round in seek of one of the time achievements would benefit from a separate timer showing them how long they have been in the game rather than how long the game has been going, but it is a small complaint.
Graphically and sonically, the game is sound, but not spectacular, for an Arcade title. Both your tank and the enemies look slightly upgraded from the PC version, and the weapon effects appear as though jazzed up versions borrowed from an early '90s Genesis game. The backgrounds are solid, and keep the game fresh. The small touches, like the mile markers indicating how far until the next boss battle in Mission mode and the tracks that only appear as your tank rolls over the ground, show the attention to detail Pop Cap put into the title. The soundtrack is straight out of a late series NES shooter, with an electro-action dance track. Sound effects and graphics are not up to par for a title that you would pay for in stores, but hold up well considering the price and where you bought it; and graphics and sound is not what most gamers look for in an Arcade title.
With long lasting Mission mode, an unlockable Boss Blitz mode, satisfying Achievement Points, and smooth and addictive Live play, Heavy Weapon adds its name to the list of must-own Arcade titles. Delivering everything gamers expect from a download title, and then some, gamers are going to begin petitioning that Pop Cap handle all Arcade titles.
