Nebulon is a XNA shooter developed by Dark Omen Games. On the surface it might look a bit like a Geometry Wars clone due to the games sharing some aesthetic likenesses, but Nebulon isn’t really a twin-stick shooter. Maybe a one and a half stick shooter if that’s possible, I feel the developers did this to make the game stand out from the crowd. While you’re moving you can only shoot straight ahead, so sitting still and fine-tuning your aim is more of the right stick’s job. Once you get used to the new control system you will find that a quick burst into space and fire at a distance is the best option. At this point you will find the game very fun and even more addictive.

Now to the game’s upgrade system, which is my favorite part of the game.  The upgrade system is funded by glowing orbs dropped by defeated enemies which then build up on the lower part of your screen. Once you reach a certain number of orbs you can upgrade your weapon. Then when you have upgraded your weapon a few times you can unlock what I think is the best weapon in the game, the plasma cannon. You can also upgrade it, and there is also a limited bomb weapon that destroys all the enemies on the level.

The background layout and character design is simple but really nice to look at. The backgrounds look very psychedelic and I love how they react to what is happening in the foreground. The sound and visual explosion of blowing up an enemy is utter bliss. I think that the way the harder enemies are made is genius. You start off fighting off weak single ball enemies then they join up making a double act and keep doing so until they have become  a triode, the hardest enemies in the game. Now the triode’s are very annoying as they eat your power ups if you don’t collect them quick enough.

Now there are two things I didn’t like in this game, firstly is the fact if you die you have to restart all the way back at the start of the game and you lose your upgraded weapons. This is very annoying if you have a 4 shot plasma cannon, although this is not really a major issue as playing through the levels doesn’t take very long. My second annoyance is graphical slow down, mostly when the worm enemy types where on screen. Again not a major issue and could be fixed by an update later on.

The result? Overall Nebulon is well polished, very addictive game and one of the most simple but effective concepts I’ve played on XNA in quite a while. Yes it is simple but also has depth in the weapon progression so if you haven’t quite grown tired of shooters yet, definitely give this one a shot. Hell, do it even if you have for 200 ms points it’s a steal

                                                   7 Ninja Heads Out of 10

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