Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is a top-down shoot-em-up from Capcom for both the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. We’re covering the PS3 version here, but both are virtually identical. Does killing Martians give you enough bang for you buck? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Rocketmen: Axis of Evil for the PS3:
Presentation and Graphics: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil employees a semi top-down view, similar to Diablo or Marvel Ultimate Alliance. With this system, you really aren’t seeing too much close-up. The characters and environments look pretty good in the game, albeit plain. Many characters will look alike on screen and environments don’t vary a whole lot from level to level. The cutscenes are all done in a comic book pane style, with colorful characters speaking through text in bubbles. It looks decent, but the cutscenes tend to be very long. 6.5 of 10
Sound and Music: Sound effects are very good in Rocketmen. The development team at A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. did a great job for each weapon type as well, of which there are plenty. Background music fits the gameplay nicely. Voiceover work, while corny, is done well. The jokes will make you chuckle here and there, which gives the game a light feel. 7 of 10
Gameplay: You start off Rocketmen: Axis of Evil by creating your own character, something which surprised me in a game of this type. You get to choose from a few different character races and classes as well as customizing colors for your skin and clothing. Surprisingly, a few of the character types look naked, even through they’re wearing skin-colored space attire. Not sure how well this would go over with parents or the younger crowd. Once your character is all decked out and named, you get to sit through a brutally long cutscene to start the game. During the first training level, there are quite a few more cutscenes like this, which can be frustrating if you just want to play the game. The story is somewhat hokey, as you have to rescue friends from the clutches of Martians. It goes on from there and branches out, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I’ll let you find out for yourself.
The controls for the game are very simple, with movement on the left analog stick and shooting on the right analog stick. The only other button you really need to know is the action button (X on PS3, A on 360). This allows you to open doors, access terminals, etc. Sure, this control scheme has been used thousands of times, but it’s simple and works well. The weapons in Rocketmen: Axis of Evil are pretty fun. You start out with a normal space laser gun which doesn’t do too much damage. As you progress, you can pickup shotguns, razer guns that shoot saw blades, and bigger laser guns. You always have unlimited ammo, but each of the weapon pickups only lasts for a set amount of time before disappearing. With the waves of enemies that barrel down on you, you’ll have to time the weapon pickups to keep a better gun at your disposal for most of the fight.
You can upgrade your character and weapons through various pickups you attain during the levels. Each different type of pickup, dropped by fallen enemies, allows a specific type of upgrade to your character, such as armor, weapons, and secondary weapons (ie. grenades, missiles, etc.). You also earn experience points as you play through the game which allow you to increase your speed, damage, etc. These don’t seem to make a huge difference in the game, so you can upgrade at your leisure. It is important to note that if you die, you lose experience points. So kicking the bucket ten times in a level means you won’t be earning much of anything to upgrade your character.
The biggest problem in the game is the camera. With the fixed top-down view, there will be many times where you can’t see your enemies coming. The camera system also allows no backtracking in the game. If you have to go around an obstacle and want to go back and grab a weapon pickup on the other side, you’ll be out of luck. More than once I wanted to throw my controller because of the camera. 7 of 10
Multiplayer: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil features four player co-op, which greatly adds to the action. The camera actually works better in co-op mode, as it has to account for all players on the screen. You can play both online and offline, but your mileage may vary finding an online match. In my experience over the past week, I haven’t found too many games available without hosting my own. Even still, getting 4 players into the game didn’t happen that often. 6.5 of 10
Lasting Appeal: The solid weapon system and gameplay will keep you entertained for a while with Rocketmen: Axis of Evil, but the camera will make you want to throw the controller a few times. Playing through the entire game won’t last you too long, but for $10, you can’t expect an 8 hour game. Your best bet is to parter up with some friends and play co-op, either in your house or online. 6 of 10
Final Word: I enjoyed playing Rocketmen: Axis of Evil on the PS3 in most respects. If the camera had been better, the game definitely would have received a higher score. Hopefully for the sequel, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. makes the needed tweaks the engine to give a very solid title.
Overall: 6.5 of 10
