Intrusion 2

This is some of the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, and it will go down as one of the best side-scrolling shooters of all time.

Fast paced action, gargantuan bosses and a chaotic physics make for a run'n'gun fresh game and packed with solid ideas.

In summation, riding wolves. Huge, awesome guns. Shoot stuff and marvel at just how much Intrusion 2 makes Adobe Flash, arguably the worst gaming platform in the world, actually look good. The one major complaint I have is that the game is fairly steep at ten bucks with a rather short playtime.

A preposterous pleasure. [Oct 2012, p.97]

Intrusion 2 is an addictive run 'n' gun, strong in the genre's distinctive elements and with a lot of variety.

perfect, It was part of my childhood, wonderful and fun, it was probably inspired by Metal Slug.

Unfortunately this game has been severely overlooked and under publicized. It's a masterpiece up there with metal slug and contra. The ambition is extraordinary especially in the boss battles which take on epic proportions, in the way God of War bosses feel. The gameplay is splendid, responsive and intuitive, enhanced by a physics engine which feels advanced for an indie title. My biggest problem however was with the controls. Your character has a specific jump height which doesn't change depending on how long you hold down the button. Secondly, you jump by pressing the up button. I often jumped by mistake by tilting the stick. When you lose it should feel like your fault, not the control scheme's.

A generic looking 2D run and gun game with amusingly derpy physics. The boss battles are pretty good but everything else is kind of boring.

I went into this game with high hopes expecting to be playing a more modern and improved version of an old favourite, Metal Slug. At first the game felt like it was doing well, nice artwork, different weapons, various enemies, but the further into the game I got the more it felt like it was just trying to show of it's physics and rag-doll capabilities. Corpses soon went from awesome rag-doll deaths to annoying pick up blockers. The controls started to become even more clunky as the game progressed, the automatic grabbing of ropes when jumping past them got me shot a couple of times whilst trying to dodge attacks. Not to mention the wolf riding, sure it looks good on the trailer and in thumbnail art, but when you hop onto one of those things you just wish it would die so you can get back to being a bad-ass with a gun rather than a guy struggling to turn his mount around whilst flying robots shoot at his stationary behind. The wolf controls just felt bad, you become a sitting duck as soon as you hop on one of those things. Okay all be it you can move a lot faster on a wolf, but only if you go straight in one direction and don't have to manoeuvre over around anything like, lets say, a heap of rag-doll corpses... Which of course there are always going to be. At first you think it's a game with mechanics that will add a lot to your experience, but they end up taking away the core part of any game, enjoyment.

I found myself largely unable to play this game which is a pity because it had potential. The controls are the major problem with the mouse often lagging far behind where I want to aim and keys occasionally not realising I've released them until several frames afterwards. Couple this with objects getting wedged under the clutter of physics objects and things become a little frustrating. The music is repetitive and eventually irritating whilst the actual game-play is slower than I'd want from a platform shooter. The guns are variations on a theme with little difference between each. The graphics are pretty good with enemies having a variety of animation. Ultimately (and unfortunately) if you're looking for something with the charm of Metal Slug or the action of Abuse you're going to have to look elsewhere.