Game Reviews

Twin-Stick Shooters and bullet-hell games are well known to today's gamers, but what happens when Naval Warfare is also thrown into the mix? Aqua is the answer. This Xbox Live Arcade title is the first game to be developed by Games Distillery, a fairly new team that has yet to prove themselves in today's gaming market.

Aqua follows the story of Captain Benjamin Grey, an elite military officer of the Emperean fleet who has just returned victorious from the Gothean War. Joined by his newly appointed Engineer, Polly Edison, Grey decides to search for treasure hidden among the wreckage left behind from battles past and in doing so discovers much more than he bargained for. The Gotheans are back, and this time they have new found technology to not only start the Gothean War all over again, but to ensure victory as well. It is up to Captain Grey to quell the Gothean uprising before it gets out of hand using only his ship, his crew and the few remnants of the Emperean fleet. The story is hardly original but it does tie the levels together well and also features a few likeable characters, it's good enough considering there are a lot worse examples out there.

The gameplay is fairly simple, players take control of Grey's ship with the left stick and shoot with the right, it's this simple control scheme that makes twin-stick shooters a joy to pick up and play. Grey's ship however has more tricks up its....porthole? The ship can also fire torpedoes with the right trigger and lay mines with the left trigger. These weapons are not imperative to use but make things a whole lot easier when faced with tougher opponents in larger numbers. Later on in the game, players will have access to three different ships, each boasting different pros and cons, more powerful weaponry, upgrades and a squad of ships to accompany them. It's these choices given to players that truly make this game great, as more powerful items are spread evenly throughout the levels to keep the gameplay challenging and fun.The world of Aqua is very beautiful, that is when not being shot at.