Arena Review Revue (July 27, 2007)

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
The Wing Commander Arena reviews continue to roll in! Here's three more, following the two posted yesterday. The best news is from XBL Radio, who was incredibly positive about the game:
If you are looking for a fast paced action game, Wing Commander Arena is for you. Only playing for just a few hours, it feels like Wing Commander Arena has made its way in the top five Xbox Live Arcade Games. Overall, Wing Commander Arena is definitely worth the 800. I would definitely recommend Wing Commander Arena as a purchase for any hardcore gamer.
Vito's Verdict has posted an extensive commentary on the game, discussing the pros and cons of every single mode... they've even took their own screenshots, if you're interested in seeing more mundane aspects of the game such as score screens. Arena earns a 7/10 and was generally accepted:
Wing Commander Arena is meant to be an instant pick-up-and-play experience, and that it does well. There are no cinematics, and the only story you will get is when viewing the Help and Options menu. Select your mode, select your ship, and your immediately playing. When starting out, I first thought much less of the game then what I do now. This was due to the fact that not a lot of people had downloaded it yet, and therefore I couldn’t get into any of the hot multiplayer action that was always talked about in press releases. Today after signing onto Live though, more people had it and I had a much easier time of getting into larger scale battles. The games are smooth as can be, and I have had zero lag in all my time of playing it.
Awkwardly themed Game Almighty rounds out the trio with a less positive review that still sings some of the game's praises. They give Arena a 6.5/10:
In the end, Wing Commander Arena is a fine pick-up-play shooter, but you can't help but think about what could have been. It offers a lot of options for your 800-points and 16-player team battles can be quite enjoyable, but there's just not enough meat on its bones to constitute a satisfying meal. Its the kind of game you'll probably get sick of after a week, but if that's worth 800-points then go for it. At least it's not another pointless retro release.
Full reviews: Vito's Verdict, XBL Radio and Game Almighty.


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Original update published on July 27, 2007
 
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Just to let you know, if you want more, you should check gamerankings.com
It will give you the list of all the major reviews so far. We even use it as some kind of reference in the game industry (along with MCV but I think it's mostly for Europe and I think it only talks about sales, at leats in the printed version... and they don't seem to care about WC Arena).

Anyway, here is the page for WC Arena on gamerankings: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/938445.asp

It much closer to reality in my opinion.
 
That last one just sounds like the reviewer doesn't like Xbox Live Arcade more than anything else. That last line is a dead-give-away.
 
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