Plague (XBLIG): "Retro Run 'N Gun 2D Platforming Shooter"

Contagious Games the developer behind this unique solo/multiplayer game was kind enough to allow me to do a review of it. From the attached message I got with the review code I could tell Matheryn (One of the 7 Developers) was a cool guy. Contagious Game's XBLIG title 'Plague' brings all the retro fun back in the form of video game parodies. The game consists of five different levels that each contain three stages, and a multiplayer Deathmatch mode (1-4 Players). There are epic boss battles to be fought, and a wide variety of weapons to pick up. As you play the campaign you will take on the evil virus that threatens to plunge the world into another dark age via the only working computer. In your quest to rid the world of this threat you will play as one of 4 unique AI bots, and can share the experience with a friend (1-4 Player co-op) ...

Plague's story is both simple, and complicated. It just so happens that the king of all malware viruses has been unleashed upon the earth. All the computers were rendered useless, but one. This computer turns out to be humanity's last hope to escape the inevitable dark age that it's being faced with. Four AI bots must venture in, and try to rescue this last PC from the plague. The intro to the story is brought to life by some very impressive artwork, and the characters you'll encounter in the game are very unique. Everything about Plague, from the plot to the animations brings this story to life in a way I have rarely seen in an XBLIG title. The Contra style gameplay is easy to get used to, and offers a control scheme that is truly user friendly. The game starts you off in a tutorial level to ease you into the action which is a nice touch. I just went to the control options in the main menu to figure it out like I usually do though. The game also gives you the option to change the difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard).

The control layout in the game consists of the left thumbstick for movement/aiming, X for shooting, Y for gun/block pick up, B for melee, and A for jumping. You can also hold down the right bumper button for stationary aiming. I picked up on the controls easily since it kind of reminded me of the controls used in Contra style games. You will definitely need to get used to the controls, because the levels' difficulty increases as you go along.

The four heroes of the game are types of robots. There are three male robots, and one female robot that you have the option of playing as. BETA is the girl robot who looks a little like an anime character. She has pink hair, and a blue body. GLITCH is a yellow muscular type of robot with a visor for his face. ROM reminds me of one of those Warhammer mech soldiers, and REBOOT is a tall silver robot that looks as if he's wearing clothes that Link (The Legend of Zelda) wears. The constant dialogue between the heroes is quite humerous, and a bit on the mature side. At times it seems that ROM has a crush on BETA. It's kind of like a robot sitcom. Any character you choose will start off with the same weapon. As far as the strongest, or weakest character goes I couldn't really tell a difference. They all seemed to be balanced.

The levels in Plague pay parody-like homage to some retro games you will likely recognize. The enemies also go along with each level's theme. There are some standard enemies that appear in each level, but there are also level specific enemies. Aside from the variety of foes, they also come in different strengths. As you make your way through the levels you will encounter stronger versions of each enemy in a shade of red. The red enemies are much more difficult to destroy, and will crowd you a lot of the time. I found that patience is definitely important for advancing through the game's levels. The end of each level (The Third Stage) contains a final boss. Once you defeat the boss character you will be given an end level statistics update. This also applies to each individual stage in a level. The statistics include things like damage dealt/taken, kills, shots fired, accuracy, and weapons found. There are actually 17 different weapons in the game that include such guns as the Centipede, Asteroid, Lemming, Minigun, Star Gun, and Homing Missiles. Like the rest of Plague these weapons pay tribute to classic games.

I found Plague to be a solid game that delivers on many levels. It's a game that you can play alone or with/against a friend. The fact that it offers both co-op, and competitive local multiplayer makes this game's replay value really high. The humorous dialogue between the story's heroes, and characters kept my undivided attention. The gameplay, and level design's unique tribute to all that is retro in gaming made this a very fun XBLIG title. Plague also has a surprise ending that I'm sure fans (Future Fans) of this game will be thrilled to see. I think Contagious Games did an excellent job in making a game that caters to us fans of retro style gaming. I hope to see more games from him in the months to come.