I Long for Combat

...as one of the units in Starcraft says. If you long for combat, you'd be hard put to find a better game than Crimsonland, which is a pure, fast, intense third-person gorefest. Story? Pah! Who needs story when there are things to shoot, with a wide variety of high-powered weapons and 50 levels to conquer. Shoot, grab the powerups, retreat when necessary, and shoot some more.

Blow Things Up Real Good

DevastationZone Troopers is not a deep game--but there is a lot to be said for picking one thing and doing it well. And DZT does precisely that: it's a Ramboesque third-person shooter (in nicely rendered 3D) where you run around, gun blazing, and blow things up real good. Cathartic fun, in other words.

"Diablo Lite"

Evil Invasion is in the mold of fast, frenetic overhead-view third-person shooters like Crimsonland or Robotron, but with a difference: rather than gory combat with futuristic weapons, this game is set in a fantasy world, the "weapons" are magic spells, and there's an RPG-like character advancement system. You can think of it as "Diablo Lite," if you will; more retro graphics, and not as much depth, but a similar aesthetic. Good gory fantasy fun.

2005 IGF Winner for Excellence in Audio

Global Defense Network is, uh, a rhythm shooter. If that's possible. That is, as fast-paced electronic music plays, you shoot various objects whizzing about the screen--as you might in a shooting gallery, except that there are a wide variety of potential targets that behave quite differently. As you play, you unlock new levels, with new music, new targets, and new weapons for you to use.

A Hit on Xbox Live Arena

Heavy Weapon is a sidescrolling shooter in the classic style; you control a tank, blazing away at enemy aircraft moving overhead and trying to bomb you into oblivion. In Mission mode, there are 19 levels (each with its own boss), and there's also a Survival mode with no pause in the onslaught. Scads of weapons and powerups, as you might expect. On the whole, good brainless fun.

Drivin' an' Shootin'

The first thing you notice about Mexican Motor Mafia is that the music is seriously kick-ass--as is the introductory sequence, carried in graphic novel-like images and text. It is also definitely not for the tots; your brother is executed, gangland-like, in front of his small children. You have to go after the killers, of course.

The actual game is a top-down driving-and-shooting game, something along the lines of the original GTA. You use the WASD keys to tool around, aiming with the mouse and blasting away at enemies, driving into towns along your route for new ammo, equipment, better cars, and so on.

An oblique-overhead third-person shooter set in a science complex overrun by genetically engineered baddies, Project Xenocone is fast-paced, challenging, and tense enough to satisfy fans of horror shooters. Maybe a little too challenging, in fact, given the lack of saves except between levels.

One unusual feature: the monsters are apparently immune to regular bullets, but luckily you quickly acquire a special gun that can harm them. However, half can only be killed with red energy, and the other half with blue; you fire one with the left mouse button, and the other with the right, and can run out of one kind of ammo before the other. This adds another edge-of-the-seat aspect to the game, particularly given the low light levels prevailing in the overrun complex.

RIP-Snorting Overhead Shooter Returns for More Carnage

The RIP series is the king of third-person, overhead shooters--fast, frenetic, nicely balanced, and with intuitive UI and a host of weapon types. With each outing, Elephant Games seems to get better.

The first two games (RIP and RIP Strikes Back) featured three oddball characters--Death, Halloween, and Rock 'n Roll--each with slightly different characteristics; they're in RIP 3 too, but if they're too silly for you, you also have a choice of more typical, merc-like characters.

In any event, if you're a fan of games like Crimsonland or Alien Shooter, you'll find a lot to like (and blow up real good) in RIP 3.

Note: While each of the three games are available independently, you can also get the RIP Trilogy, all three for a somewhat reduced price--a good deal, if you don't have at least one of the three already.

Fast-Paced Arcade-y Shooter with Online Play

Robotopia is a cheerful sidescrolling shooter with a color palette remniscent of the arcade, in which you control a robot who can fly, zapping a huge variety of opponents and bosses. The single-player game has scads of challenging levels (ten in the demo); you level up over time and can purchase new weapons and equipment, for an RPG-like experience. And once you've gotten good at the controls (see below), you can go online* and battle others in deathmatch, "capture-the-flag" or "bounty-hunting" play.

Classroom Doodles Come Alive in a Top-Down Shooter

Like everyone else, no doubt you've doodled little things on lined papers during boring classes. Maybe you doodled hearts and ponies, but more likely spaceships or airplanes. Matt Lucas apparently doodled soldiers and guns, at least by the evidence of this game: the graphics are pencil sketches, the background lined notebook paper.

Gameplay is simple, old-school shooting action; move your soldier with the WASD keys, shoot with the left mouse button or throw a grenade with the right, grab power-ups by walking into them. As you move across the map, you encounter enemies; if it moves, shoot it. Later on, you get to control a tank, and a helicopter. Simple fun, and the nature of the graphics is always charming, and sometimes rather humorous.