Xbox 360
Heavy Weapon is an old school side-scrolling shooter which has been bought into the present kicking and screaming; on one hand we have crisp HD graphics but also a game which retains all the gameplay mechanics of games now long gone, be them good and bad.
In terms of story we're pretty much running on empty from the get go with a brief campy flash animated introduction to an alternative 1984 where the Ruskies have backed the United States into a corner and their last hope for survival and freedom is yes, the Atomic Tank. This upgradable death machine is capable of throwing out incredulous amounts of firepower as it trundles through nineteen missions. Whilst the stages do vary from Yeti inhabited arctic tundra's to desert wastelands the art direction is exceedingly underwhelming compared to relatively old titles such as the Metal Slug titles.
The main hook is the addictive gameplay where failure is rarely the games fault but more down to your own shortcomings. Whilst playing there's always that constant itch to do just one more mission, or re-retry the one you failed previously in order to improve your skills. By the time you've completed the nineteenth mission I wouldn't be surprised if most people have developed dexterity/hand-eye coordination skills only surpassed by Yoda due to the nearly godly dodging and screen scanning skills required to progress. The controls are simple and functional; the left analogue stick moves the Atomic Tank and the right stick shoots; essential to ensure serious hand cramps are not the flavour of the day.
In-between missions you upgrade your tank by installing homing missiles, rockets, flack cannons, lasers, defence orbs and arc lightening conductors. Good stuff. Even though it's hard not to laugh at the amount of firepower bristling at your fingertips you're certainly going to need every last bullet as for all you throw at your enemies it comes straight back at you with a vengeance. Normally the "cannon fodder" boss preludes can be dull and repetitive in side-scrollers but PopCap Games have managed to keep it fresh with interesting enemy wave patterns and apt difficulty levels. The problem herein is with the actual boss battles themselves which are exceptionally lacklustre in both variety and difficulty. Without exaggeration each boss took around 15-20 seconds to beat and that's being generous. When compared to the screen filling, insanely difficulty but rewarding battles in other shooters you have a fundamental problem with the core gameplay, when introductory enemies give you a more exciting, tense and difficult experience. Another bugbear is the lack of creativity and innovation, this title doesn't feature either attribute and is essentially the PC game released back in 2005 which, even then, contained the same gameplay mechanics as ten year old side-scrollers.
Aside from the lengthy nineteen campaign missions the title also features a boss battle and survival mode. Whilst this does extend the games longevity you can also play the mission mode with four players over the net. In terms of online play you can either choose arms race or war party. The difference is in arms race you get three lives apiece and in war party the match keeps going until all four players are dead at the same time. The matches can get pretty frantic and if you get a group of mates together it's a real blast.
All in all if you're looking for a basic, budget shooter with no frills then this should do the trick, but if you ask for a bit more out of your games then look elsewhere.