XBLA Last Wednesday: Wing Commander Arena & Contra

Filed in archive XBLA on July 30, 2007

XBLA Wednesday is late this week as I wanted to wait until my 360 got back from the repair center before blogging about the release of Wing Commander Arena for the Live Arcade - I've been a fan of the series since I played the original title on my dad's 386 PC and I've been looking forward to Arena since it was announced back in February. Here's the details from Microsoft:

* The first Xbox LIVE Arcade title featuring multiplayer gameplay for up to 16 players over Xbox LIVE
* Four gameplay modes: Single Player, Multiplayer Team, Free for All, and Duel
* Players can choose from 18 different ships that can be customized with cloaking devices, mines, energy weapons, missiles and more!
* Skill-based matchmaking for ranked games
* Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore

I'm sad to say that the demo has left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. This top-down multiplayer shooter feels more like a Twisted Metal game than a Wing Commander - and a poor clone at that. While EA may have thrown in some familiar ships and weapons this radically different gameplay is hardly what fans have come to expect from the series.