Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is a downloadable top-down shooter created by Canadian indie developers A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games and Eyerisk Studios and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game is based on the constructible strategy game called Rocketmen from WizKids. It supports 1-4 person cooperative play either online or offline.

Story
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil's story is based around a possible treaty between the "Legion of Terra and Mars", and the Alliance of Free Planets (Mercury Venus and Earth). The Axis of Evil kidnaps the leader of the alliance, after which the player must explore multiple planets and space stations in order to free her and save the day.

Gameplay
In the game, the player can choose from three races including Human, Mercurian, and Venusian as well as three classes including Warrior, Engineer, and Outcast. The player travels through 10 different levels in a linear fashion, the only nonlinear thing being the secondary objectives. The entire object of the game is to go around picking up weapons and shooting the enemies, using the control sticks to move and shoot.

Character creation
The game starts off at the character creation screen. The player first chooses a gender, followed by a race. The color is then chosen, the default being a skintone pigment but ranges from bright pink to black. Throughout the gameplay, each character will gain experience points that can be used after each level to upgrade weapons, skills, and attributes and to raise the drop rate of certain weapons.

Weapons
The thing that separates this game from most shooters is that the weapons are not bullet-limited; they are time-limited. When someone picks up a weapon, that player can shoot it as much as they'd like until the timer runs out. There are a few different weapon-choices. The starting pistol is slow and weak, but it is really only a stand-in until a better weapon is found; The shotgun is the next weapon found, and it utilizes a powerful scatter shot; The Razor fires sawblades which bounce off of walls and wreak havok; The laser shoots slow bullets that travel through anyone they touch; And the Vulcan fires a quick, double stream of bullets. There are also secondary weapons such as landmines and rockets that allow for additional tactics.

Reception
Critics picked this game up to be mediocre at best. IGN gave the game a 5.7 out of 10 and GameSpot gave it a 6.0 out of 10. Eurogamer gave it a poor rating of 3 out of 10. 1UP gave it a grade of B.

Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus
A followup, Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus, appeared on the ESRB ratings, rated E10+ as well. A removed post from Capcom's blog stated the expansion would be released on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 for Xbox Live Arcade and Thursday, May 15 for PlayStation Network. The expansion, will include 3 maps, 3 main weapons, 2 secondary weapons, and new enemies.