App Name: Xelorians
Description: Xelorians is a space shooter game for Android that takes place on Earth and your objective is to defend the planet we’ve all grown to love from the onslaught of a foreign race from another planet. It’s very similar to the arcade game Raiden which was released back in 1990 where you take down enemy ships through shooting and also blowing them up with various other weapons.
How it works: The game is very simple and easy to get started. When you first load up the app, you’ll want to go to “Options” and specify your nickname, that way you can see how you stack up with other players. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to play. There’s currently 1 episode and a bonus episode to choose from, the bonus episode you having to unlock.
In Episode One, you have 6 different stages. Each stage has a difficulty setting of very easy, easy, normal, and hard. If you’re feeling frisky, go for normal, though we suggest starting out on very easy or easy to get used to the fast paced action.
Once you start playing, the controls are super simple. Simply use your finger to move around the spaceship and make sure to watch out for the blue and red fireballs, the red especially which are from the larger ships and follow you. Also, try to shoot, not run into the spiked mines.
There’s several different things you can pick up while playing. The yellow diamond shapes which happen to be crystals, enable you to get weapon upgrades. The more you collect, the more awesome your weapons. I saw anywhere from rockets to a plasma gun to a cool zapper that explodes your enemies with a jolt of electricity.
You can also pick up rockets which are ideal for the much larger ships, powerups that destroy enemy bullets, and streamers which basically wipe out all your enemies currently on the map.
Opinion: The game is an absolute blast to play. As I said before, it’s very similar to Raiden and is very action packed. There’s never a dull moment and you’re always on your feet. Being able to switch up your weapons from a multi-blaster to rockets and more, makes it a lot of fun. Just make sure you watch out when you hear the siren followed by the danger sign because that means some of the bigger and/or more aggressive ships are coming.
One of my favorite features is when you hit one of the circles of things that are good and everything goes into slo-mo for a few seconds. Great for when you’re in a tight spot. I also like how easy it is to pause the game which you can do by simply taking your finger off the screen.
- Speed (5/5) – The game loads and runs very fast. No hiccups even on a two year old device.
- Features (4/5) – Xelorians doesn’t necessarily leave anything to be desired, though there could be some added functionality such as ship upgrades. Then again, this is all personal preference.
- Theme (5/5) – Rock solid design and graphics. Nothing groundbreaking, but looks and feels really good.
- Overall (5/5) – With fast performance, solid features, and great graphics, this game is a must have if you’re into shooting games.
Pros:
- Blazing fast
- Great graphics
- Fun, fast paced experience
- Unpredictable in a good way
Cons: This is a tough one because the app is really good, however, if I had to choose one thing, it would be the limited amount of levels right now. Some users who get really good at the game may find more to be desired, though Episode Two: Red Baron is coming soon which will bring even more fun levels to users.
Conclusion: All in all, a really fun game at a great price. I don’t play a whole lot of games on my phone, but can honestly say that this will be one of them that I’ll play quite often. With an average rating of 4.8 in the Play Store, people are definitely enjoying it and if a space shooter is your thing, you probably will as well.