Dual-stick shooters are everywhere you look on the Xbox 360, so any new entries in the genre face a daunting task in order to get noticed. The folks at Coreplay and Black Inc. seem to be well aware of that, and they believe their upcoming Ion Assault has what it takes.

Like most games in this genre, Ion Assault puts you in a sci-fi ship and lets you run around a square-shaped map while blasting away at various enemies and obstacles. The primary change Ion Assault offers is its ’particle system’; this isn’t just a graphics feature, but also your main way of fighting. Your ship in Ion Assault doesn’t have infinite ammo, but rather must draw it from the environment in the form of various particles you absorb. These same particles can also be a shield for you, in situations where dodging alone may not be enough.

Beyond the particles-as-ammo system, Ion Assault offers a fairly good feature set. There are the obvious ones such as offering a variety of passive power-ups that take effect immediately but only last for a short time, alongside ones you must actively use. Likewise you probably won’t be too surprised to discover that some enemies are pretty big, requiring you to destroy them piece by piece. These sort of things are typical enough.

More noteworthy would be the dynamic difficulty, with the game adjusting its pace to match yours. If you’re only clearing out targets at a slow rate, the game will provide fewer of them on the assumption you don’t feel like being overwhelmed. On the other hand, if you’re clearly on some kind of score attack run and trying to rack up the points, Ion Assault will gladly oblige you and add several more obstacles to deal with. The developers have suggested this is a way of keeping the game interesting for all types of players, which seems like a good idea.

Multiplayer is also offered, both versus play and co-op. Versus play over Xbox Live is confirmed, though we’re still waiting to hear from the developers as to whether online co-op is available. Ion Assault in any event does seem like the sort of game that can be enjoyed alone or with friends. Admittedly I have limited hands-on experience with the game, but I like what I’ve seen so far.

The publisher has indicated they are aiming for a late September release and that the price will be 800 Microsoft Points ($10 US). So we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to see if Ion Assault lives up to its claims, and the price point seems reasonable.

Additional media, including game play trailers, available at: Ion Assault official website