There are games you love for what they do, and games you love for what they don’t do, and then there’s “Bleed” which straddles the middle. It’s a side-scrolling 2D action shooter (AKA Contra) which looks good, has very tight controls, lets you move in one direction while shooting in another, and is constantly throwing new enemy patterns and challenges at you.
It’s a hefty price-point for an Xbox Live Indie game, but cheap by XBLA standards and is easily XBLA quality (and I don’t mean that just because it’s better than Screwjumpers or Yaris, though of course it is). However, it’s getting post-release support (such as the addition of co-op play) and is one of the best XBLIGs you’re likely to ever play.
Here’s what the developer (Ianthraxx) has to say about the game:
“Wryn is a girl with a big arsenal and big dreams — she wants to be the ultimate videogame hero! Help her take down the Greatest Heroes of All Time in an action-packed bid to claim the title for herself and show the world what a true hero looks like!”
Writings of Mass Deduction 