Aegis Wing is Free and Worth Your Time

cboxaegiswingCreated by three Microsoft interns in the summer of 2006 and released midyear in 2007, “Aegis Wing” at its heart breathes the air of the classic shooters of yesteryear. Anyone with any solid foundation in gaming will be quickly reminded of shooters such as Defender and Gradius. However, there are a few blemishes in this Live Arcade free download that keep it from being everything it could have been. Nonetheless, the end product is one that’s worth downloading.

The biggest problem many will have with the game is its extreme difficulty. Anyone that doesn’t have patience will find themselves looking to throw their controller at the nearest living thing while playing the single player campaign. Shocking statement, but that’s how tough “Aegis Wing” gets at times. In addition, the graphics and sound aren’t really on the level of the other 360 Live Arcade games, but nonetheless do a decent job of portraying the sci-fi atmosphere.

Because the single-player campaign is so challenging, many gamers will try to play the game with a bunch of friends. However, and luckily for this title, the multiplayer mode is nothing short of gratifying. Supporting up to four players, “Aegis Wing” is a blast to play with a few friends, especially when they’re all yammering over their headsets to help each other out. In addition, there is one innovation in the game that takes the gameplay to next level and solidifies the game as more than just a summer internship project.

Using the X-button, all four players can link together to form a ship with more than enough firepower to take down some of the game’s extremely tough enemies. While one player controls the ship and fires his weapon, the other three players can also fire their weapons. If that method isn’t working well, another tap of the X button will let the unhappy ship part from the union and continue the game while the other three stay linked.

Not only is this option one of the coolest ever seen in a side-scrolling shooter, it saves “Aegis Wing” from reveling in mediocrity and makes the game accessible to gamers of varying levels of skill. Those who grew up on games like “Ikaruga,” “Raiden Project” and “Philosoma” will appreciate the game for its immense challenge, while novice gamers will enjoy the game’s multiplayer campaign.

Considering the fact that the game is a free download on the X-Box Live Marketplace, there’s no reason why any 360 owner shouldn’t give it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose but hours of solid old-school shooting action.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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