Article by FTG Contributor Robert Beach
The Xbox Indie Games channel, much like the numerous mobile app stores, is a cluttered mess of cheap hidden gems. Word of mouth drives us mainstream gamers, to flock on over and rummage through for a weekend. Let me help you skip that process to the actual gem, look for SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance.
You could spend more on day one DLC or another multiplayer doohickey, or take that $3.00 to the Geometry Wars meets a four player couch co-op ship shooter. The freshman effort from Brain Shape Games, SCHAR is made from a tiny team whom house the creator of gaming site Co-Optimus (Nick Puleo), who’s been programming the game as a side project. Like Puleo’s site, Co-Op is the focus of SCHAR and what makes a unique “play with a friend” game is make each player important along with teamwork, teamwork, teamwork.
Four ship classes to control that emit mines, shoot missiles, send heal bots, and release turrets. Minor RPG elements make each vessel upgrade certain speeds, capacities, and anything else a ship can improve upon. Well worth a weekend of one screen action with three others to battle the nondescript alien race of CoNs (Constituents of Nothing). Hold on, I can sense your concern. “But there’re free Browser based games in the twin stick space shooter genre already!” Or you could find out it’s deeper than it appears and remember a controller is different from a keyboard. I know I’ll be picking this up for when the rare occasion my console will have four active players, let alone two. Check it out on the marketplace now for 240 points, or look for it to be released on PC in August.
Source – PR
