A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda - PC Review

Review by Austin Godfrey

"Pounding, electronic beats, deep colors, flashing, kinematic lighting; the only thing a Japanese side scrolling shooter needs to resemble an underground techno rave is a layer of foam and plethora of random pills. Indie developer Extend Studio's A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda is no exception to this game developing formula. A.R.E.S. takes aesthetics to the next level by bringing the look and feel of sidescrollers such as Megaman X and Metroid to the PC, but is the gameplay also on par with these classics as well?

The gameplay is pretty standard: run, jump, shoot, and collect. It can be played with a keyboard and mouse or an Xbox controller, but feels more natural on a controller. As the player progresses through the game they will unlock a new armor around the halfway point that adds a few new abilities, but even these feel pretty standard issue. Enemy variety is shallow, a majority of the level design is linear and under-challenging, and boss fights feel like direct ripoffs of ghosts from gaming's past. By the second level the player has pretty much reached the creativity crescendo. A few sections of the game are more puzzling, but this is only relative to the rest of the game's barren variety field..."

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