Arena Meets the Press

The first professional web review of Wing Commander Arena is in... and it is glowing! TeamXbox wins the award for fastest review. We'll see what elder statesmen like Gamespot say in the next few days. In the meantime, we can't help but smile at this summary:

All-in-all, Wing Commander Arena is what an Xbox Live Arcade game should be about- fast-paced pick-up-and-play action with a dash of depth. If you can live with being lost in space, and in only one plane of such a vast expanse, then download Wing Commander Arena post-haste.

Update: a second review is in! Ars Technica is also very positive:

As mentioned, there are a good number of different ships from the game's two factions, each of which is fitted with four different weapons and powers. The default control takes a little getting used to—moving in one direction and shooting in another is a little disorienting at first, though ultimately really satisfying—but is simple enough and becomes a blast once you get accustomed to the game's pace. It's all a bit more accessible to the mass market than a more traditional space sim would have been. The only downside? No live action FMVs. Well, that and the general lack of licensed content from the Wing Commander franchise used outside of the manual. I sincerely hope this game doesn't become the next Shadowrun but, judging by early reactions, I'm afraid such will be the case as the purists cry foul over this "dreadful abomination."

The Best Just Gets Beta

The fan-favorite Standoff mod for Wing Commander Secret Ops is looking for beta testers to help perfect Episode 4! It sounds like fun, but it will be a real tough job... they have some pretty strict requirements:

We need someone who has a sharp eye - you need to find ships that spawn facing the wrong way, misspelled words, comms sent by Pilot A but voiced by Pilot B, etc. You also need to look for holes in our missions. "What happens if I skip this navpoint" or "what if I blow all my torpedoes but fail to take out the capship". You will need to test the game as much as possible (as opposed to reporting a bug and then waiting for it to be fixed or not play anymore until next tuesday because you've already done your job for that week ), and we need you to respond quickly if we need a particular problem ironed out before we move on with a mission, or something like that. And we need to know what it is you're reporting, so you need to be able to communicate decently. No leetspeek.