Xeno Crisis is a 2019 multi-directional arena shooter developed and published by Bitmap Bureau. Created as a love letter to classic arcade shoot-’em-ups like Robotron: 2084, Xeno Crisi released for a litany of systems including the Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch, GameCube, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 4, and (most importantly for this review) the PlayStation Vita. In short, Xeno Crisis is an nightmare-infested bullet-hell that offers a satisfying nostalgic shooter experience with outstanding pixelated visuals and an impressive soundtrack but falls short due to its length and crushing difficulty.
Like most video games from the same genre and time period that Xeno Crisis pulls inspiration from, the story here is sparse. The entire plot centers around a distress signal from the scientific research facility Outpost 88 which has been overrun by some sort of outside invaders. After receiving this distress signal, Commander Darius tasks two space marines, John Marsh and Sarah Ridley, with eradicating the threat and rescuing any survivors. After choosing whether to take on the mission as a one-man killing machine or in tandem with a second player, your marine of choice is airdropped into the first level of the invasion and has to fight for their life.
To survive, the player must guide their marine in and out of enemy-invested rooms, clearing each one of the invaders and saving survivors along the way. While initially equipped with only a standard rifle, a limited supply of grenades, and a close-range melee attack, the player will soon discover a wide array of weaponry scattered throughout each level to utilize - i.e. flamethrowers, homing missiles, lasers, shotguns, etc. Unfortunately, these scavenged weapons are only usable for a short amount of time, but their firepower more than makes up for it. When every room has been cleared, a door to the level boss opens and the ultimate challenge begins. The six bosses in the game each have their own disgusting designs, inspirations, and mechanics that make them fun to destroy and best in combat. Their designs, however, all look to be just pixelated versions of demons from Doom or a straight one-to-one copy of a Lovecraftian monster. It’s not a bad thing, per se, and the pixel work is still outstanding, it’s just a tad disappointing.
The gameplay loop of Xeno Crisis - entering a room, killing anything that moves, grabbing whatever power-ups, ammo, and health you can find, and dashing to the next room to do it all again - is incredibly addicting. This, along with the game’s soundtrack, is what makes it a fantastic game to have on a handheld and why I can’t delete it off my Vita. Rolling credits on the game, however, is no easy task. Xeno Crisis is crushingly difficult, even on the easiest setting. There are of course options to upgrade your character after each successful level, but these incremental health increases or weapon upgrades don’t do much to curve the ever-increasing difficulty. Furthermore, the twin-stick controls the game employs - left joystick controlling character movement, right joystick controlling the direction of weapon fire - is less than ideal on the PlayStation Vita. On a legitimate controller with two full-size joysticks, I’m sure the twin-stick controls and the demanding precision and speed required to survive in Xeno Crisis are far easier than on the tiny nubs available on the Vita. And while the Vita’s joysticks are serviceable and worth putting up with to have this game available on the go, it might leave you with a hand cramp or two.
Overall, Xeno Crisis on the PlayStation Vita is a fantastic port for fans of old-school arcade shooters and those seeking a challenge. While the difficulty and short length do put a damper on the overall experience, it doesn’t take away from the sheer enjoyment of blasting wave after wave of enemies with an ever-increasing arsenal of weaponry. I can say with certainty that I will never go back and put myself through the hell of finishing Xeno Crisis, but I also can’t bring myself to delete the game. It’s an impressively fun pick-up-and-play shooter that functions as a fantastic time-waster where the player can cut their brain off and just pull the trigger until their chosen Marine or the invaders are dead.
In short, if you crave intense twin-stick action on the go and have the reflexes to match, Xeno Crisis offers a rewarding, nostalgic trip down memory lane that deserves its spot in your Vita’s library.
Like most video games from the same genre and time period that Xeno Crisis pulls inspiration from, the story here is sparse. The entire plot centers around a distress signal from the scientific research facility Outpost 88 which has been overrun by some sort of outside invaders. After receiving this distress signal, Commander Darius tasks two space marines, John Marsh and Sarah Ridley, with eradicating the threat and rescuing any survivors. After choosing whether to take on the mission as a one-man killing machine or in tandem with a second player, your marine of choice is airdropped into the first level of the invasion and has to fight for their life.
To survive, the player must guide their marine in and out of enemy-invested rooms, clearing each one of the invaders and saving survivors along the way. While initially equipped with only a standard rifle, a limited supply of grenades, and a close-range melee attack, the player will soon discover a wide array of weaponry scattered throughout each level to utilize - i.e. flamethrowers, homing missiles, lasers, shotguns, etc. Unfortunately, these scavenged weapons are only usable for a short amount of time, but their firepower more than makes up for it. When every room has been cleared, a door to the level boss opens and the ultimate challenge begins. The six bosses in the game each have their own disgusting designs, inspirations, and mechanics that make them fun to destroy and best in combat. Their designs, however, all look to be just pixelated versions of demons from Doom or a straight one-to-one copy of a Lovecraftian monster. It’s not a bad thing, per se, and the pixel work is still outstanding, it’s just a tad disappointing.
The gameplay loop of Xeno Crisis - entering a room, killing anything that moves, grabbing whatever power-ups, ammo, and health you can find, and dashing to the next room to do it all again - is incredibly addicting. This, along with the game’s soundtrack, is what makes it a fantastic game to have on a handheld and why I can’t delete it off my Vita. Rolling credits on the game, however, is no easy task. Xeno Crisis is crushingly difficult, even on the easiest setting. There are of course options to upgrade your character after each successful level, but these incremental health increases or weapon upgrades don’t do much to curve the ever-increasing difficulty. Furthermore, the twin-stick controls the game employs - left joystick controlling character movement, right joystick controlling the direction of weapon fire - is less than ideal on the PlayStation Vita. On a legitimate controller with two full-size joysticks, I’m sure the twin-stick controls and the demanding precision and speed required to survive in Xeno Crisis are far easier than on the tiny nubs available on the Vita. And while the Vita’s joysticks are serviceable and worth putting up with to have this game available on the go, it might leave you with a hand cramp or two.
Overall, Xeno Crisis on the PlayStation Vita is a fantastic port for fans of old-school arcade shooters and those seeking a challenge. While the difficulty and short length do put a damper on the overall experience, it doesn’t take away from the sheer enjoyment of blasting wave after wave of enemies with an ever-increasing arsenal of weaponry. I can say with certainty that I will never go back and put myself through the hell of finishing Xeno Crisis, but I also can’t bring myself to delete the game. It’s an impressively fun pick-up-and-play shooter that functions as a fantastic time-waster where the player can cut their brain off and just pull the trigger until their chosen Marine or the invaders are dead.
In short, if you crave intense twin-stick action on the go and have the reflexes to match, Xeno Crisis offers a rewarding, nostalgic trip down memory lane that deserves its spot in your Vita’s library.