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Leave Home (Xbox LIVE Indie Games)
I will be honest: I am not a big fan of shoot-‘em-up games. I loved Einhander and Ikaruga back in the days but that’s about all of what I’ve played when it comes down to “shmups”. This is why I was sceptical about trying out Leave Home, a Xbox LIVE Indie Games title developed by hermitgames that came out in December 2009. The game lured me in with its Rez-like visuals and got me addicted right away. Let me explain to you why this happened.
Like I said, Leave Home is a shoot-em-up title that takes place in a Rez/Tron type of environment. You control a space ship and try to make it through the game’s levels without getting shot, shooting enemies and collecting blue orbs along the way. So far, it’s just a typical arcade-like shmup. But here’s the twist. Depending on how good you are doing, the game will ajust to either make your journey easier or much harder. If you are gunning down enemies like flies, the level patterns will get harder and the enemies will shoot more bullets at you. Because of this, every playthrough of the game is different, making the game pretty much infinitely replayable.
Also, each of the game’s playthrough last about five minutes. While this sounds rather short, you will find yourself playing those five minutes over and over again to get the highest score possible and to see how much each session can be different from the others you have played. While the game’s difficulty is already well-balanced, the game gives you an infinite number of lives, which makes sure that absolutely everyone will be able to go through it. Finally, the game has few items that can be unlocked by accomplishing specific tasks in the game, which will keep the best players busy for a while.
Like I already mentioned, the visual aspect of Leave Home is beautiful while still very simple. Like Rez, the player evolves in a techno/futuristic environment. Most of the visuals are composed by simple and flashy textures but it blends with the game perfectly. To support the beautiful graphics, the game uses a very well composed electronic soundtrack that will immerge you into the game’s universe.
Sadly, Leave Home still suffers from some minor elements. First, the randomness of the game makes the scoring unfair on some playthroughs. For example, you can get to a specific part of a level that gives many points on one session while you may not have access to this part in another session. Also, while the short-session nature of the game is interesting, a longer game mode would have been appreciated. The core of the game is so good that it could have been used for a much longer type of game.
In short, Leave Home is a diamond in the rough that is the Xbox LIVE Indie Games channel. It will bring you in a very special universe like few games manage to do. It is beautiful, addicting and innovative. For just 80 Microsoft Points, you must do yourself a favour and buy this awesomely crafted game.
Leave Home is available on the Xbox LIVE Indies Games channel for the Xbox 360 for 80 Microsoft Points (1$) and for PC for 5$ (at http://hermitgames.com/leavehome.php).
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Positives:
- The futuristic and artistic look of the game...
- ... and the great electronic music that comes with it
- The Director AI is integrated in a great way (levels and difficulty)
- The lack of a Game Over screen is used in a good way
- The unlockables bring some kind of challenge to expert players
Negatives:
- The randomness of the game can make the scoring unfair
- A “longer” game mode could have been appreciated
Gameplay: 9
Visuals: 9
Audio: 9
Lasting appeal: 8
Innovation: 8
Final Score: 9
Game experience at time of redaction: Game cleared (around 30 times) and 3 challenges out of 4 completed.
Redacted on: March 5th 2011
Uploaded on: March 5th 2011