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Sega's Golden Axe celebration turned into a crunch commemoration
Sega is having fun with the launch of Golden Axed, but one of the game's original developers isn't.
Twin-stick shooter Assault Android Cactus is looking sharp
If you've been wondering where the great twin-stick shoot-em-ups have gone, you can be reassured to know you're not alone. Not because Witch Beam can offer you solidarity in your views, but because the Australian indie studio is trying to change all that with Assault Android Cactus, coming to Steam, PS4, Wii U, and Vita. After sinking hours into the game's Steam Early Access build, I'd say Witch Beam is onto something very promising. "What we wanted to do [with Assault Android Cactus] was make a really good twin-stick shooter in an arcade style because we don't think there's been one in half a decade or something," Witch Beam's Sanatana Mishra told me. "The last one that was really great for me was Super Stardust HD. And I think, since then, we really need more." Assault Android Cactus represents more than a (hopefully) really good twin-stick shooter to Witch Beam. It's a game the studio's three members felt they couldn't make when they were working together at Sega Studios Australia. There they put three years of their lives into London 2012: The Official Video Game, a game Mishra isn't proud of: "It wasn't very good." He and his co-founders wanted to put their time into making games they really wanted to make, and so Witch Beam and Assault Android Cactus came about. While settling on a shoot-em-up was perhaps a little circumstantial, since it was a game the studio could make using their savings and without outsourcing, it's clearly a genre that appeals to Mishra. When I asked him about the game's inspirations, he quickly rattled off the Dodonpachi series, Deathsmiles, and old-school "arena" games like Robotron 2084.
Assault Android Cactus brings twin-stick bullet hell to PS4, PS Vita
Indie developer Witch Beam will introduce its own stylized brand of frantic shoot-'em-up action to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita next year, with the upcoming release of Assault Android Cactus. Assault Android Cactus is a twin-stick action game that takes cues from bullet hell shoot-'em-ups, offering gameplay that revolves around dodging complex bullet patterns. The game features a cast of eight playable characters, each of which is equipped with unique primary and secondary weapon loadouts. Up to four players can team up throughout the 25-level campaign, but watch your back if your buddies are the competitive type – the combo-driven score mechanics promise equal doses of cooperation and competition in multiplayer matches. Assault Android Cactus will launch via the PlayStation Network "near the start of next year" as a Cross-Buy download.
