Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Having already played through the 360 version, I’ve also had a good go at the PS3 version of the game. For those of you that don’t fancy nipping over to Totally360 to see what I thought, here’s a revisited review to see how the PS3 version fares.

As you may know, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is based on the extensible tabletop game by Wizkids. The tabletop game is a heady mix of strategy and action played via skill cards and cute little Styrofoam models. The PSN Arcade title? Well there’s precious little strategy on offer which is a bit of a shame if I’m honest.

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is based on the 1930s Sci Fi stylings of stuff like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers (no not the cheesy 70s/80s version) and other hoary old serials. Using a stylised cel-shaded game engine, what you’ve essentially got here is an action romp with a mere sprinkling of RPG stylings. Essentially the whole game feels like Super Smash TV or its ilk, or any of the other twin-analogue stick shooters which seem to be incredibly popular with developers at the moment.

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil takes the well-worn storyline beloved of games of this ilk. Earth is being invaded again (why do they want our planet? It’s knackered! Do they not know this?)

Our intrepid heroes Nick Sion, Alec Mink and the freedom fighters of the Alliance of Free Planets strike a rebellious stand against the Legion of Terra, the shadowy dark organisation slowly taking power throughout the galaxy and enslaving every planet in their path.

The game kicks off with a character design screen. Here and throughout the rest of the game the visuals feel a little crisper than the 360 version, possibly because you’re seeing things through a HDMI cable rather than component or possibly because there’s a distinct lack of anti-aliasing going on. One difference though is the hideous slowdown that seems to affect the game when things get busy and legions of Martians are on screen at once.

Control wise, the left analogue stick governs your movement, whereas the right analogue stick controls your all-round field of fire. Primary and secondary weapons are fired by the right and left trigger respectively, ranging from guided missiles to mini-gunner drones which can be planted on the ground to make mincemeat out of the attacking opposition in double-quick time.

As with the 360 version, the game feels relentless but dull at times with no real thought being put into level design. The same frustrating camera system is present here, meaning that you can end up with the camera trying to catch up with you if you move too quickly through the levels with no way to scroll back and grab those items you missed previously. Control response felt a lot slicker though and perhaps the twin-analogue sticks of the Sixaxis are more suited to this style of game but I felt like progress was a lot easier this time around.

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil doesn’t really seem to have enough going on to keep your motivation levels high enough to get through the entire game. Despite some cut scenes to explain the storyline, and its particular visual style it felt like the developers spent very little time giving you interesting things to do.

The same levels and bosses occur here as in the Xbox 360 version, and each round is punctuated by a chance to level up your character’s armour and weapon levels – one of the few nods to the original extensible card / RPG game but not nearly enough meat to keep you RPG and character development nuts happy.

Co-op mode is still in place though progress feels stilted without the aid of in-game communication.

All in all very little has changed since I first looked at this title, and both the 360 and PS3 versions are incredibly close save for a few graphical nuances that don’t really add up to much. If you really yearn for the early 8-bit days of gaming, and fancy something that feels like Smash TV then it might keep you entertained for a rainy afternoon. For a shade under a fiver it’s not hideously priced but even for that cost, it’s still a bit on the dull side alas, and so much more could’ve been done with the licence.

A sequel has been announced – Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus (tee hee hee) which should be available in June.

Our rating

4/10