Top 5 Community Developed Games on Xbox 360
December 20th, 2008 | Written by Filippo Dinolfo | Topic: Xbox 360One of the most significant additions in the new NXE Update has been the inclusion of a Community Games section on the Xbox Live Marketplace. This section contains games that have been developed independently by hobbyists using the XNA Tool Set. Why is this significant? Well, what other console has ever been open to anyone to develop for? This opens up the doors to all sorts of games that big publishers just wouldn’t take a risk on. It also helps aspiring developers get their feet wet, and eventually move to bigger development jobs.
What we’re going to do here is take a look at a few cool Community games that you should have a look at. Trial versions are free, and the cost of the games range from 200 to 800 Microsoft points. And now, onwards into the depths of XNA!
Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse
I have no doubt that some sort of illicit substance went into the creation of this game. This is a four player Smash Bros style game involving Zombies and Guitars. I’m not exactly sure how those two particular subjects ended up being combined, but the end result is a simple to pick up fighting game that ends up charming you with its absurdity. At 200 Microsoft Points, it’s a pretty decent value.
Weapon of Choice
Weapon of Choice is one of the more polished games on the Community Games service. It’s essentially a side scrolling shooter in the vein of Contra or Metal Slug. Like its predecessors it’s quite a difficult game. Thankfully you’ve got an assortment of characters and weapons at your disposal. One of the interesting things the game does is slow the action way down when you get into a life or death situation. This gives you the chance to carefully aim at an enemy that’s threatening you in hopes of saving yourself. Weapon of Choice sports some really nicely done visuals and a rocking soundtrack to help keep the adrenaline up. Despite the excellent production value, the game is only 400 Microsoft Points, making it one of the better values on the service.
In The Pit
This is an “audio-only” stealth Action game. You play as a monster of unknown origin and your task is to stalk your prey and then catch and eat them. This might seem interesting on its own, but In The Pit takes it a step further by taking away one of the key senses you’d normally rely on: your sight. The monster is blind and the pit you’re in is pitch dark. The only senses you have to rely on are your hearing and touch. This game makes great use of positional audio, so if you’ve only got a stereo output this is going to be difficult to play. The touch element of the game is relayed through the controller’s vibration and will let you know when you’ve bumped into something. I have no doubt that In The Pit has no graphics because the developer was not an artist, but the game is actually better and more creative as a result. Definitely check this one out, it’ll run you 400 Microsoft Points.
Head Banger
It seems like we’ve got rhythm games that cover just about every possible medium. There’s instrument based games, singing games, firework timing games, but somehow, nobody has ever explored the head banging metal-head genre. That is, until now. Head Banger is a very simple game; you pick a song and try to press the face buttons on the controller in time to the scrolling notes that go across the screen. This will make your giant-headed figure move his substantial noggin to the music. The better you do the more vigorous the motions. It’s simple and fun, and it’s cheap too, only 200 Microsoft Points.
Biology Battle
As much as we love being at war with geometry, sometimes we want something a bit different. So instead of shooting random geometrical shapes, now you’ll be shooting nasty bodily threats like bacteria and germs. The game plays pretty much the same as Geometry Wars does, and that’s not really a bad thing. There are power ups for you to collect and Trophies to unlock, since Community Games don’t yet have Achievements. The game looks and sounds good, but most importantly it’s quit a bit of fun to play. It’s one of the more expensive titles on the Community Games service at 800 Microsoft Points, but it’s well worth it.
And there we have it. Five Community Games that you should have a look at. As you can tell, there’s quite a bit of variety up there already, and more games appear on a regular basis. It’s definitely worth checking back into the Community section of the Marketplace from time to time, you never know what sort of gems will be there.
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