Sometimes an amazingly ingenious idea is all I need to be convinced that it’s worth parting with 80 Microsoft Points. “Xeno Waster” has such an idea, though it’s buried in the multiplayer options. This is one shoot-’em-up (or shmup, if you prefer) that lets you play as the aliens trying to stop the super-ship from destroying you all. Now that’s an interesting idea! It’s only playable in the multiplayer co-op mode, and it’s offline only, but I’ll be danged if it’s still not worth 80 MSP (which really isn’t a whole lot of money).
The rest of the game is pretty decent, if obviously in the R-Type vein of things, but with nice presentation. It’s got a tiered upgrades system that lets you choose how your ship developers (as opposed to pre-packaged random power-ups). It’s got some varied backgrounds
Here’s what the developer (Venables Games) has to say about the game:
“1-4 local player action scrolling solar system space shooter where for once you can control the aliens. Battle across 9 varied stages and choose from 9 different weapon systems as you struggle to liberate the planets from the evil xeno.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 