Righteous Axe (XBLIG): "A Space Shooter That Pays Homage to Heavy Metal"

Recently Microsoft was kind enough to reward me with some extra points. I immediately took the opportunity to invest in a couple of XBLIG titles that included SoftwareByEugene's indie space shooter 'Righteous Axe. Being the heavy metal, and shmup shooter fanatic that I am I was very interested in picking up the game. The trailer I watched showed off hot babes rocking heavy metal style with electric guitars. What's not to like about that?


Righteous Axe has many unique features that include an 80's graphic appeal. The girls in the game are presented in a photo realistic manner which really caught my attention! As a player you can control the angle your babe/guitar shoots by using either the standard Xbox 360 controller, or the guitar controller that you use for such games as 'Guitar Hero'. That feature alone made this space shmup title very unique. I have to be honest, and say that I was unable to test out the guitar feature since I do not own a guitar, but the thought of it definitely sparked my interest. The game also features co-op for fans of that type of gameplay.

The gameplay in Righteous Axe is also a bit unique when it comes to controlling your 'Babe'. The hot chick that you control stays stationary throughout the levels. This adds focus on the guitar targeting/movement system. In order to move your character you must aim the appropraite thumbstick up, or down and fire using X, B, Y, or A buttons. This will shoot a stream of music notes that will either launch the Babe upward, or make her move downward. The same buttons are also used to fire at other targets. Each button (X,Y,B, & A) on the Xbox 360 controller is color coordinated with the enemies on the screen. In order to defeat a blue enemy you would shoot with the X button, etc. You'll find that there are also guitar/weapon power-ups like in any shmup style shooter. Some guitar power-ups feature multiple streams of notes while others shoot multiple colored notes. The choice of guitar power-ups is key in making it through the levels. The difficulty level of Righteous Axe is pretty hardcore, and you'll find that it definitely takes some getting used to.

The enemies of righteous Axe include neon geometric shapes as well as other hot babes riding various things. In the trailer I even saw one of the girls riding a giant T-Rex. I'm assuming it was a boss fight, but I haven't been able to progress that far yet. The entire theme of this game reminded me of the old 'Heavy Metal' animated cartoon. For those of you who don't know about it, the Heavy Metal cartoon/movie was based on an actual magazine called 'Heavy Metal'. It featured hot babes in scifi, and fantasy art. Overall I was definitely impressed with the character design in this indie game.

In the end I was rather satisfied with both the 80 msp ($1) price & the game as a whole. The heavy metal music that accents the game is a big plus in my book, and the art style is definitely eye candy. I don't think a gamer could go wrong in picking up this indie title, but you do need to realize that this is not your simple shmup shooter. It is definitely more involved.