The game could use a melee attack and shotgun, but their absence isn’t a problem, especially when you have mechs and wolves. Other than the pistol, each weapon will be used frequently throughout the game and has its own unique advantages in combat. You have five weapons, pistol (which you can dual wield), machine gun, a rail gun that goes through walls, a plasma rifle, and a grenade launcher.

Even the nuances of its the combat make it a better shooter than Contra and Gunstar Heroes. The game isn’t always showboating, however. This is the sort of over the top action we rarely see in games these days, outside scripted, non-interactive moments in first-person shooters. One stage starts with a giant robot breaking the bridge that you are standing on, sending you cascading down a cliff side while you return fire, and it ends with you surfing on a metallic plate from the robot, gunning down parachuting enemies and missiles while you narrowly escape an avalanche. The controls are now pitch perfect, the levels are colorful and varied, and the game, as brief as it is, is packed full of memorable moments. Intrusion was pretty good for a Flash game, but the additions and refinement that this sequel brings makes the original completely irrelevant. It gives the player so much more freedom in action and helps make Intrusion 2 a fluid and fun shooter from beginning to end. Instead of shooting diagonally, awkwardly trying to position yourself in the right area to hit the enemy, you can jump up and accurately aim. Intrusion 2 has it and the game makes a perfect case for why fluid, non-restrictive mouse/thumbstick-controlled aiming is so much better. There is a certain control scheme that I love but has, for whatever reason, been unpopular throughout the years. The graphics, design, and presentation are great, if not better than much of what you’ll find on Xbox Live Arcade. What doesn’t show is that this is a solo effort with only music being handled by someone else. Its sole developer, Aleksey Abramenko, worked on the game for three years, spending upwards of five months on the final boss alone. Intrusion 2 is the sequel to a 2008 Flash game. It is a meeting point between old game design and new, with every other moment punctuated with some of the most thrilling level and boss design to grace the genre.Īs improbable as it may sound, this game made by one guy not only stands up to the classics, it is every bit as good as Gunstar Heroes and Contra.

Yet, Intrusion 2 is none of these things.

These days the genre is used for flawed experiments, genre mashing, and ‘80s arcade tributes. There are few modern games that can stand beside those classics. Many classic arcade shooters have aged incredibly well due to their addictive jump-shoot-dodge cycle complemented by varied level, enemy, and boss design. As it turns out, running right and shooting dudes is still pretty fun.

Intrusion 2 game