XBLIG Review: InvAIders

“The Only Good Thing Is The Music.”

An XboxHornet review by Xavier “Mercedes” Marchena.

InvAIders is a strange game for me to review. It touts that as you complete wave after wave of baddies, the AI would adapt to the way that you play. Well, that’s what it tells me, but I’ll be damned if I noticed any adaptation whatsoever. Just a simple progression from “this is easy, now this is harder.” I was at first all excited because I thought it was going to be like one of those shmups where you fight boss after boss and it just builds on itself. No so much here. I think I may just be stupid, I don’t know. This is what the developers have to say about InvAIders:

All the enemies act the same, there’s no difference! If the one defining feature of your game is so subtle no one can pick up on it, you’re doing something wrong. There’s another thing that baffles me. After ten rounds, you get a screen that shows you… something. I actually don’t know what it shows me. It looks like this:

I haven’t the slightest idea on what that is supposed to represent. Is is Connect 4 win strategies? Is it crochet patterns? Who knows! I sure as hell didn’t find anything explaining it. Real talk time: This is a very generic shmup with the only defining feature is that firing your weapon for too long will cause it to overheat. Why they even included missiles is beyond me. They’re very limited, they don’t track, they don’t clear the screen; they simply shoot and kill one baddie. Now carefully imagine me twirling my finger in the air nonchalantly saying “Woo.”

There’s nothing bad about the game, but at the same time the only thing good is the music. It is really, really well done, I have to give them props. Everything else is just so… samey.

Game Score: 5/10.

Download a free demo of the game here.



2 Responses to “XBLIG Review: InvAIders”

1. Elvis Maratos says:

   June 7, 2012 at 1:24 am

   I’ve just been bitten by a bug and I have to read and read.
2. Xavier Marchena says:

   June 13, 2012 at 7:33 am

   I ain’t gonna stop you son! Gobble them letters up!