You even have two separate ways to play: the usual string of linked levels that make up a campaign, and a Combat School mode in which you hit on a hot drill instructor (fruitlessly, as your one-sided conversations just go in circles) and take on nearly 100 one-off training missions based on objectives such as assaulting bases and rescuing POW’s. Training missions don’t compensate for the loss of co-op, although they at least give you a way to pick up and play when you have only a few moments to spare.

I found this game hard to put down once I had picked it up.. the fast moving level and the driving arcade style music keeps you pushing forward, clocking up ever higher scores, even when you are getting killed over and over by the baddies who constantly swarm you from all sides.

Regardless of the platform, it’s good to see Metal Slug back in action with all of the same old intense gameplay that has made it such a hit with shoot-’em-up arcade fans for more than a decade. This may not quite be what fans of the series have come to expect, but it’s at least a good way to tide yourself over until the presumably more full-featured version of the game hits the Xbox 360 next year.

Silver Award