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''Assault Heroes'' is an arcade-style, top-down shooter
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed by
Wanako Games Behaviour Interactive Chile Ltda. (Behaviour Santiago; formerly Wanako Games Chile Ltda.) was a Chilean video game developer based in Santiago. The company was founded as Wanako Games in 2002, by Esteban Sosnik, Tiburcio de la Cárcova, Santiag ...
. The game has the player driving 4x4 vehicles, piloting speedboats, or proceeding on foot against enemy hordes. Players can play alone or co-operatively, including both online and offline 2-player co-operative modes. ''Assault Heroes'' was originally available as an
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
title. On March 19, 2008, its price was lowered when the game joined the Arcade Hits lineup. A
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
retail version was released on October 23, 2007, and the PS3 version was added to the PlayStation Network on January 28, 2010, published by
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
in the United States.


Story

Originally designed as an Xbox Live Arcade title, ''Assault Heroes'' features only minimal story elements. According to the game, the player controls "the last surviving member of an elite forces unit" searching for a secret enemy
laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...
. Once located (near the end of the game), the goal is to destroy the lab and escape.


Gameplay

Over the course of the game (which is very similar to the 1987
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
'' Time Soldiers''), players battle through five progressively more difficult levels. In addition to countless lesser foes, each level generally contains several " bosses" which must be defeated in order to proceed. Using the left thumbstick to move and the right thumbstick to aim/shoot (when playing on the Xbox 360 & PS3), players dodge enemy fire while inflicting damage upon foes utilizing three primary weapons: *
Minigun The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an elect ...
- A traditional machine gun with a high rate of fire. * Flak cannon - A cannon that, while slow, can produce devastating results. *
Flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...
- A short-ranged weapon that continuously spews flame. Player vehicles have access to these primary weapons at all times and can switch between them with a button press. Weapons have unlimited
ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...
, although the flamethrower will "cut out" briefly if used without interruption for a period of time. Each weapon can be upgraded (up to three times) by collecting an appropriate
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...
during play, although upgrades are lost if the player is killed. Vehicle health depletes when damage is taken, but slowly replenishes over time. If a vehicle is destroyed, players are not immediately killed, but are instead thrown from the vehicle and must proceed on foot. While on foot, players are exceptionally frail and have only a small machine gun with which to defend themselves. If a player lacking a vehicle survives for a certain period of time, a new vehicle is automatically delivered and can be immediately boarded. Players can also temporarily leave their vehicle of their own free will, usually to collect
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...
s which are not accessible from within a vehicle.


Special weapons

In addition to the standard weapons which vehicles are equipped with, players also have access to a limited number of grenades and nukes. Grenades are "thrown" from the current position towards a crosshair, and inflict heavy damage on anything they hit. Nukes (referred to as "smart bombs" in many other titles) explode in an area around the player, causing massive carnage to everything caught within the blast radius. Additional quantities of both weapon types can be found and collected as power-ups during the game, with grenades being substantially more plentiful than nukes.


Bonus areas

Each level features a single underground bonus area. These are accessed by entering a specially-marked structure, which then transports the player(s) into an underground bunker. While underground, players are always on foot, and hence are easily killed. However, if players do die during these bonus sections, no life is actually lost; instead, players are immediately returned to the main (above ground) level and continue as before. At the end of each underground area is an extra life (or "
1-up In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. Sometimes the euphemisms chance, try, rest and ...
"), earned for successfully completing the sub-level.


Multiplayer play

When playing with two players, both players share the same screen and work co-operatively to destroy enemy forces. Players cannot harm each other directly, although they can scroll (or refuse to scroll) the screen in a manner which can be problematic for the other player. The game does not increase or otherwise change the quantity and difficulty level of enemy forces based on the presence of a second player. As a result, having a second player can make gameplay somewhat easier. Players can play multiplayer either offline, or online via
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
or PSN. When playing offline, high scores are not recorded on the leaderboards for either player if one of the players is using a local account.


Reception

''Assault Heroes'' received positive reviews from critics. On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the Xbox 360 version of the game has a score of 79/100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Sequel

*'' Assault Heroes 2''


References


External links


Wanako Games page
{{Activision 2006 video games Activision Blizzard franchises Cooperative video games Microsoft franchises Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Network games Sierra Entertainment games Top-down shooters Video games developed in Chile Vivendi Games games Windows games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games