''ExZeus'' (also known as ''Counter Force'' for the Wii release) is a

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

HyperDevbox Japan HyperDevbox Japan (previously known as Hyper-Devbox) is a French-Japanese video game company created by Carlo Perconti, one of the founders of Toka (company), Toka and Arcade Zone. HyperDevbox Japan is developing original games, mostly for Andro ...

. Despite the company's name, it was founded by Carlo Perconti, one of the founders of the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

-based video game company Toka who moved to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and set up a game development studio in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It was released in 2003 for the arcades running on a Tsunami Visual Technologies TsuMo arcade cabinet and was later released for

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 ...

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...

. In 2004, a

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

version was released, but only in Europe. Then in 2005, the game had a re-release in the arcades, this time running on

Sega NAOMI Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin- ...

GD-ROM The GD-ROM (gigabyte disc read-only memory) is a proprietary optical disc format developed as a collaboration between Sega and Yamaha for the Dreamcast and other Sega systems. Specification A double-density format based on the CD-ROM that cou ...

hardware, and only released in

ese arcades. It was later released to the Wii under the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

of Shoot Out, later changed to ''Counter Force'', and released in 2007. It was ported in 2009 for the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

by Octopus Studio, under the name ''ExZeus''. An Android port by Octopus Studio was released in 2010.

Reception

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

gave the Wii version a positive review, praising its accurate infrared controls, graphical design, and "deep-rooted sense of nostalgic fun". However, they scored the game a 4/10 based on its price, saying "If it was on Wii Ware for $5, we’d have a hard time not nerding out entirely".Bozon (29 January 2008)
Wii version review

Re-Release

In August 2021, Video game publisher Ziggurat Interactive announced through their official YouTube channel that they would be re-releasing ''ExZeus'' and ''ExZeus 2'' as ''ExZeus: The Complete Collection'' for PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch in Summer 2021, with porting completed by developer

Sickhead Games Sickhead Games, LLC is an American independent game development studio founded in 2002. It is best known for its multiplatform turn-based strategy game ARMED!, its involvement with the MonoGame framework and Torque series of game engines, and t ...

References

External links

Conspiracy Entertainment's Counter Force page
505 Games games 2003 video games Video games about mecha PlayStation 2 games Rail shooters Wii games Arcade video games Windows games IOS games Android (operating system) games Video games developed in Japan Conspiracy Entertainment games Single-player video games Metro3D games HyperDevbox Japan games Ziggurat Interactive games {{rail-shooter-videogame-stub