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From the land that brought you Vincent Van Gogh, Eddie Van Halen, and Famke Janssen comes Xyanide, a shoot-‘em-up game geared towards fans of Gradius, R-Type, and the like. The developers at Playlogic have attempted to add a Dutch twist to a genre that’s been perfected by the Japanese. The end result is a substandard mishmash that combines elements of Ikaruga, Robotron, and Geometry Wars…but without any of the ingredients that made each of those games great.

What the Hell’s a Space Witch?

For some inexplicable reason, the developers superimposed a ridiculous story on top of this shooter. As a guard named Drake, you must escort an evil space witch to a black hole for execution. Naturally, the mission goes awry as an asteroid hits the ship. The asteroid is made of Xyanide, a mystical substance that gives form to thoughts. Of course the evil space witch conjures up a dark and dangerous world that Drake must fight his way out of in order to bring the space witch to just. Now, even though the concept of a “space witch” is just preposterous, the delivery is pretty good. The story is told through the game’s opening scene, which is probably the high point of Xyanide.

On paper, Xyanide looks like a game that will please fans waiting for the next Ikaruga or Radiant Silvergun. It has many elements that shoot-‘em-up fans love: fast-paced action, complex gameplay, dozens of power-ups, etc. In practice the game is a mess. It doesn’t do any one thing well and will leave shooter fans yearning for the next Treasure shooter.

As expected, you pilot a small ship that’s bombarded by dozens of enemies at a time, occasionally tackling a giant boss-type foe. Mimicking Ikaruga, you have two modes of primary fire: organic and mechanic. Certain enemies are more vulnerable to mechanic fire, while others are weak to organic attacks. You also have missiles at your disposal through the L-trigger. These launch in a fashion reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon. Of course there are numerous power-ups for you to attain. These can be classified into four categories: offensive, defensive, shielding, and support.

Which Way is Up?!?

What makes Xyanide unique is its camera system. Your perspective changes several times during each level. This requires you to think on three axes. Again, this sounds great and unique on paper, but the execution is poor. The developers overdid the perspective changes, making the game feel jarring, confusing, and disorienting. Not only do you have to worry about wave upon wave of enemies attacking you, there are times in Xyanide where you have to worry about which way is up.

When you put it all together, Xyanide can be a very frustrating game. It’s relatively difficult, a bit unusual, and quite incohesive. Hardcore shoot-‘em-up fans might enjoy this game with some imagination, but even that might be a stretch. More casual players will find it annoyingly difficult and overly complex. Unlike many of Treasure’s intricate shooters, most people will find that Xyanide is neither rewarding nor challenging.

Smoking Some Dutch Treats

Visually and aurally, Xyanide looks like the developers were indulging in a favorite Dutch pastime. The graphics, while not very impressive from a technical standpoint, are unique, flashy, bright, and trippy. The music sounds like leftover techno from the ‘90s--you know, the kind that some wannabe raver is spinning in his dorm room. The sights and sounds of this game are certainly not going to win any awards, but at least they’re somewhat distinct.

Consoles often have its best games at the end of their lifecycles. Xyanide is definitely not one of those games for the Xbox. It borrows or attempt to borrow conventions from several popular shoot-‘em-‘ups, but in the end it’s just a confused mess that’s not very fun and not very impressive. It would be one thing if it were a five to ten dollar game on Xbox Live Arcade, but even as a twenty-dollar retail-release for the Xbox it’s hard to recommend for anyone other than the most hardcore shoot-‘em-up fans that have to try every game in the genre.

Article by: Raymond M Padilla
Video produced by: Jonathin Solin