Metal Rambo Solider Fighting

The game is video game action is insanely intense and boasts a great co-op mode

If you know what you're getting, Metal Rambo Solider Fighting can be a hell of a ride.

In both the seven-level solo/co-op campaign and the single-player-only combat training mode where you fight dozens of quickie one-off battles,

you go up against the evil General Morden's regular troops plus his new cadre of future soldiers wearing helmets with antennas.

Not that you need to care about any of this story stuff.

All you have to understand is that you've got to kill everything in sight while jumping around and activating the odd platform.

Gameplay is identical to the previous Metal, which in turn ripped off earlier scrolling shooters, such as soldier shooting.

The only real difference between the Slugs series and its predecessors is a reliance on murderous tank vehicles called slugs.

Whereas something like Super C forced you to mostly blast it out on terra firma,

here you frequently get the chance to wreak havoc while driving tanks, mechs, and even giant mechanical ostriches.

Difficulty in the campaign is just brutal when going it alone, even if you play on beginner with unlimited continues,

because the levels are geared for co-op play either locally or over the smooth and lag-free Xbox Live connection.

One enemy shot takes you out, so you can easily find yourself stuck in a rut of getting killed over and over again in difficult sections of levels.

Despite this level of difficulty, it can be hard to walk away,

especially when buddying up with a friend to take on the campaign as a team in co-op.

Everything gets a touch monotonous at times, because Metal Rambo Slug Fighting doesn't mix up enemy assault waves as much as it should,

but the pace is always snappy even when the never-ending stream of enemy soldiers, tanks, mortars, and choppers makes you want to cry uncle.

This is one of those nutso shooters that hit you with so much running and gunning that you never get the chance to think long enough to decide to stop playing.

The game's brevity also keeps you going, as you can finish the seven brief levels in a single 60-minute session as long as you're playing on easy or in co-op.

So you just keep going until you're done, which is long after you realize that you're doing the same thing over and over again.