I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and are not well represented in the top 50 lists on the Xbox Dashboard. Today is day #134, and today’s game is “Abaddon Retribution”.
I’m a sucker for anything to do with spaceships, and I like a game that mixes action and strategy. That’s why I loved “Starchon” back on Day 41. That’s why I picked up “Abaddon”. Both are games that let you fly a starfighter in space combat action, while also managing and upgrading the turrets and other abilities of a mothership in something similar to a tower defence game. Bringing the two together adds up to something greater than the sum of the parts. Abaddon Retribution adds a great deal to that second game, but maintains the 80 Microsoft Point price, making it a must-buy for me.
First, from the developer (Firestorm Studios):
“The long awaited sequel of the critically acclaimed shooter, Abaddon, has come! Jump into the cockpit as Tara Cole, a talented fighter pilot who must protect Abaddon, mankind’s deadliest starship. Choose from an arsenal of ships, weapons, and abilities. This Dream Build Play 2010 finalist features tower defense and shooter elements, with online deathmatch and cooperative modes.”
Abaddon introduced a great feature set, with online and offline co-op, not to mention a tremendous upgrade system. It had very little in the way of story, though. That changes with Abaddon Retribution. Now there’s a narrative across a singleplayer campaign, with you taking on the role of Tara Cole as you protect Earth’s greatest battlewagon, Abaddon, as it limps home through a hostile universe. The character was in the first game, but the story was largely absent, and the addition of a story-based campaign helps drag the player into the game.
Like with the first game, you can “craft” together power orbs that you collect in the game’s skirmish mode, which let you upgrade the ship in a way that persists across all the game’s modes. Like with the first game, Abaddon is covered in “hard points” just waiting for you to select weapons and upgrades for. And as with the first game, you can spend more time upgrading your fighter and play an action-oriented game, or upgrading Abaddon and play it more as a strategy game. The game is worth checking out for anyone who loved the melee mode in Star Control, for tower defence fans, and fans of space opera stories.
Click here to download “Abaddon Retribution”, and then please come back afterward to rate the game.
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