Co-Optimus - Review - Aegis Wing Co-Op Review

Kat

Aegis Wing is part of a long line of side-scrolling spaceship shooters, resembling Gradius with a heavy emphasis on co-op. Up to four players fly around in colored spaceships, “docking” ships together to give special attacks an additional boost. This also may be the freest co-op game around, potentially perfect for the economy crunch!

Games that are molded from familiar classics, tend to require a bit of originality lest they get stale. Docking ships in co-op mode sets Aegis Wing apart, allowing the second, third and even fourth player to attach to a single ship. This is nice, since one player controls the bundle of ships while shooting in a straight line, allowing additional players can shoot baddies behind, above, below – basically any direction, which has not been attempted before.

Aegis Wing is an original twist on a very familiar sci-fi side scrolling genre, requiring co-op for maximum enjoyment.

Nick

It's hard to find a lot of fault in a free game, even if Aegis Wing was a $5 or $10 title the value would still be there. Created during an internship program for Microsoft, Aegis Wing borrows heavily from lots of arcade shooters but provides its own unique twist.

As Kat told you, players can dock ships together in the co-op mode to allow for cover fire in all direction. Docking also stacks the secondary weapons you pick up. For instance two docked ships will launch a fairly decent sized laser beam, but four will simply obliterate anything in front of your team. The best part is, each person still has control over their individual weapons, so one player can cover everyone with a shield while another is firing heat seeking missiles, and another launch clouds to suck up bullets. It works extremely well, and the penalty for docking is minor - the host ship slows down with every ship attached.

Aegis Wing even offers drop-in and drop-out support by "pausing" between levels and allowing players to join or un-join as needed. With a few difficulty levels and leaderboards there's plenty of re-playability here. Seriously, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Verdict

Co-Op Score

5/5

The Co-Op Experience: Aegis Wing is a side-scrolling space combat game reminiscent of classic eighties arcade hits. It features alien-busting action, slick graphics, an orchestral soundtrack, and devastating power-ups. Also included is a unique cooperative mode of play in which up to three additional players can "attach" to the leader's ship and become independent, 360-degree gun turrets. Best of all, Aegis Wing is available as a free download from Xbox LIVE� Arcade to all Gold and Silver members!

Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.

Verdict

Co-Op Score

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