The Digest: Like all Indie games, Creed Arena uses a basic premise for the game.  This works well as the focus is solely on game play.  The dual shooter views come in handy, but they usually cater to the particular weapon you’re wielding.  While it is a solid first attempt by developer Safari Studios, there are certainly improvements to be made.

THE FACT SHEET

RELEASE DATE:  January 1st, 2010
DEVELOPER:  Safari Studios
Platform:  Xbox LIVE® Indie Games
GENRE:  Shooter
PRICE:  400 MS Points

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:
Creed Arena is a sci-fi shooter that allows the player to switch between top-down and
first person modes. The player fights other gladiators in front of thousands of spectators
with the goal of becoming the most popular fighter in the tournament. When enough
fans are won, your “crowd rage” is unleashed, an intense rampage that makes you
bigger, faster and more powerful. The game includes unique weapons such as the
lightning gun and plasma cannon, 16 arenas and intense action in solo, co-op and online
muliplayer.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• 16 unique arenas, each with a different challenge
  • Switch between top-down and first person modes
  • Solo Championship – become the most popular gladiator in the tournament
  • Splitscreen Co-op – play through the game with a friend
  • Online Multiplayer – try to get to the top of the global popularity chart
  • Splitscreen Online Multiplayer – 2 people can play online together

Creed Arena takes the age old gladiator story line and recycles it here.  The current ruling class rose to power through the very Arena you must battle in.  Your goal here is to top that very same feat, battling other warriors to gain the following of the people, as you plan your coup d’etat.

Since you’re a gladiator, the entire purpose is to gain the support of the fans watching you battle.  Close, quick kills are the fastest way to build up a fan base.  When an opponent is close enough, you automatically try and melee attack him instead of shooting him.  This is an element that I believe needs some work.  I consistently found my melee attack not registering, even when it appeared as if I got off a solid hit.  If you manage to pull off a Melee kill, it gives you huge gains, as the crowd lusts for these brutal kills.  You build up Crowd Rage after you gain a number of fans in a short span of time.  The equivalent of a steroid rage, it makes you bigger, stronger and faster.  Take advantage of these power boosts as they are brief, but powerful game changers.

The dual shooter views in this game was a particularly innovative feature that I found quite useful.  While neither view is particularly strong, they both compliment each other well.  I found myself only being able to play using the over the shoulder view in short spurts, as I got a headache after playing for an extended period (this is not necessarily the fault of the developer, I used to get headaches playing Golden Eye back in the day).  Luckily the top down shooter mode is there for a quick switch.  However, I found aiming to be far easier using the over the shoulder view, which gave me some problems in the long run.

With a variety of weapons in play, you’ll have to base your strategy around each of their strengths.  The main tools for battle consist of a machine gun, shotgun, plasma cannon and lightening gun.  With the Plasma cannon, you are given the option of charging it up and shooting a much more powerful projectile.  I found this gun to be a personal favorite, as I noticed I racked up kill counts much quicker when armed with it.  I found some weapons, such as the plasma cannon, to be better suited for the over the shoulder view, while others better for top down.  The lightening gun falls into the latter, as it’s great for taking on groups of combatants.

There are unique features incorporated into the different arenas that really set them apart.  With a mix of elevators and teleportation/launch pads, it helps keep things fresh as you learn to take advantage of the unique arena designs.

Animation is pretty poor throughout.  Granted, while I hold this aspect in a much higher standard because of my background in animation, I found that everything looked rather awkward.  None of the movement looked fluid.

I was unable to play the online Co-Op mode, as there was no one else available to play with.  So, while I can’t comment on this issue, it is nice that you’re able to play online with other people.  You’re also given the option to co-op locally if you have an extra controller and willing participant.  If you’re on your own, there will be multiple matches where a computer controlled team mate is provided for you.  While you are paired together, your ultimate goal is to become the top Gladiator, so you’re still competing against your teammate.

Conclusion: Creed Arena is a solid attempt by the two brothers at Safari Studios who created this game.  For their first foray into this arena (no pun intended), it is a valiant effort.  However, there are a lot of issues that need to be ironed out.  Hopefully they can take away from this experience to bring some more exciting games into the Indie platform.