They say you cannot judge a book by its cover, so I guess sometimes you cannot judge an Xbox Live Arcade title by its demo. Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is one such title. What seems dull at first look became an addicting romp through a colorful world of action packed adventure.

The first two levels included in the demo give you some idea of the weapons available, the enemies you will face and the gameplay that you will experience. I cannot explain exactly when I started to like the game, but I do know that a large part of it is the RPG element of upgrading your weapons and character through loot and experience points. Enemies drop three different types of 'money' which can be used for armor, weapons and secondary items between missions. The XP you earn allows you to improve the stats for your Rocketman (or woman). I played enough to fully upgrade my Rocketwoman , and it is quite a joy to blast through endless waves of enemies when you are at your quickest and toughest.

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You begin the game with a simple character customization screen. I chose to design a Rebel (human) female with a slight resemblance to my favorite adult actress of the 80s. I completed the homage by naming her Canyon. As I stated before, the first levels were kind of underwhelming, but blast your way through them quickly and you'll soon be treated to some more varied level design and interesting enemies (and some highly powered weaponry!) later in your adventure.

Between missions (and oftentimes during, as well) you are treated with a campy sci-fi story in comic book stylization. The colors are bright, the plot is cliché and the dialog is cheesy, with your character even referring to a supporting cast member as an 'NPC' at one point. All scenes can either be skipped frame by frame or in their entirety, a wise move by the developers that definitely adds to the replay value. Speaking of replay value, this game supports either local or Xbox Live multiplayer, so playing with a friend or a stranger (or three) adds a new dimension once you've maxed out your character's statistics.

The gameplay has a very easy learning curve, reminiscent of the arcade hit 'Smash TV': Left stick to move, right stick to shoot. Moving in one direction and shooting in another may seem slightly awkward at first for someone unfamiliar with this style, but it is quickly mastered. One potential design flaw that may have been intentional is that the two action buttons cause you to remove your finger from the gun trigger. The designers may have wanted to force you to stop shooting in order to perform a task, much like you would probably have to do in real life, unless your IRL multitasking skills extend to accessing computer consoles WHILE shooting baddies. Another pet peeve to some may be the choppy forced scrolling, but I quickly got used to.

All in all, Rocketmen: AoE is going to appeal to action game fans that enjoy cheesy sci fi and Smash TV style gameplay as well as fans of the collectible card game by Wizkids of the same name. The price of 800 XBL Marketplace points may seem a little steep at first, but the addictive gameplay and inexplicable psychological need to to max out your character will probably have you wasting many hours, and perhaps many hours more when you take the multiplayer into account. If the demo doesn't win you over I won't be surprised, but if you have 10 dollars to spare and take a chance on it you may find yourself being won over quite easily after a couple of hours of blasting Martians.

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