Review: ExZeus

Since the dawn of time all men have been fascinated with fire. This fascination eventually begot our love for blowing things up! Men also love technology and more specifically… robots. What do you get when you put all the above together into a video game? The answer is none other than ExZeus ($5.00), the “big stompy robot” game by Hyper Dev Box!

This developer is from Japan, and it thankfully shows. From the anime-style “mechs” to the fast paced gameplay, this game feels like it’s straight out of an episode of Gundam Wing. Fans of anime will really appreciate this game and play it just to take in its visual style.

The graphics in this game have raised the bar for webOS gaming up to this point. Nothing in ExZeus is overly pixelated or blocky in appearance (a la NOVA). All environments are detailed beyond what I thought possible on this platform. Explosions are beautiful and plentiful, and never once did I look at something in this app and get disgusted. In a nutshell, if you are looking for top-notch graphics on webOS then you have to buy this app.

The plot of ExZeus is nothing special, but it suits the game fine: Earth has been taken over by aliens (there’s an original theme!), thus forcing humans to live under ground. A group known as the ExZeus is sent to the surface in their super cool robot suits to eradicate the enemy scum. That pretty much sums up the game’s experience as all you really do is fly around and blow up everything in your path.

Sound effects in this game are pretty sweet, too. There are plenty of hip hop and techno beats that really set the tone for the game’s pace. Explosions all sound great and weapons each have a distinct sound that never gets old. Altogether the sound never felt old or redundant, as plagues some other webOS games. To fully appreciate what I’m talking about, try wearing headphones while you play.

Most games on modern touchscreen smartphones do not do a good job with controls. Rarely does a virtual D pad and buttons work well on a touchscreen. In ExZeus, you will not find any virtual buttons whatsoever, and the developer has implemented a set of controls that work flawlessly: you move your character strictly through the use of the accelerometer. However, if you tilt a little harder than normal your character will perform a cool roll dodge that comes in handy. Tapping the right side of the screen will fire your weapons while tapping the left side of the screen will lock on enemy targets to fire rockets. If you tap and hold the right side of the screen your character will unleash a huge laser that will wipe out pretty much anything in your path. If you swipe your finger from the top of the screen to the bottom you will unleash a ridiculously huge bomb. Sliding your finger from bottom to top will pause the game.  These controls may sound a little complicated and do take a little getting used to, but once you spend five minutes with the game it comes naturally. The developer has also been nice enough to include a little tutorial that walks you through how to pilot your character.

No game like this would be complete without power-ups. As you fly around and blow stuff up, power-ups will appear on screen which you must pick up. Most power-ups replenish your health, shield, and lock on gauges. The only real weapon power-up allows you to fire a wider spread of bullets. There is also a speed boost power up that will allow your character to move faster for a short period of time. In between levels there is a shop where you can replenish your various gauges and extend them for money. You can also buy more bombs (which you will need to beat the bosses at the end of each stage). I found myself really stressing over what to buy at the end of each level with what little money I had.

I will warn everyone that this game is tough. The kind of tough that could make most not want to play it after ten minutes. However, with enough practice you will get better and get a true sense of accomplishment when you beat the game. It would have been nice to have the option to turn the difficulty down but that is by no means a deal breaker.

In the end I was not let down one bit after all the hype and excitement that surrounded this game’s release for webOS. I am in fact so pleased by this title that I’ve purchased this developer’s other game Lovecatch (despite that fact that it looks a little umm… strange).  I sincerely hope that Hyper Dev Box continue to bring their apps to webOS and continue to broaden the horizon of Palm’s App Catalog.