Indie gamers are the future and it's good to see Xbox supporting the group. So, when I was presented with the opportunity to review Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard, I didn't hesitate.

The concept behind Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard is a simple one. You are a scythe-waving nun aiming to put the damn back where they belong. Aside from a sharp sword you also sport a variety of upgradable guns. Each has its own special touch to killing the dead (is that possible?). Let's break this down....

The Positive

While TB didn't have the depth of the mainstream gaming audience, it certainly has some flavor. The upbeat mojo that the music sports helps along a very violent, bloody side-scroller that doesn't apologize for taking the heads off of the dead. For a younger audience, maybe early teens, this might be appealing. Twin Blades moves fast and it strikes hard with the ante constantly getting raised thanks to different dead folks and more armored enemies.  The two ways to go in this game are slice up their heads/bodies or blow their brains out with heat that your nun is packing. The simplistic controls are only rivaled by the simplistic upgrade system that Twin Blades sports. Killing the dead earns you points, which in turn earns you more upgrades.

As Dan Aykroyd says while advertising the Bass-o-Matic, "It's just that simple."; and it is.

Each level is grouped into three and every three equals out a day. There are a lot of days to cover, so there is plenty of action here.

The Negative

While Twin Blades certainly does have a simple gameplan in mind and fast moving gameplay, regretfully it lacks typical elements of a side-scrolling game. The game itself is based off of points. Had this been anything else than a slaughter house side-scroller, the point system would have been enough to love the game. As you go through the game you begin to want more than just killing different types of dead folk. Sure you get upgradable weapons and sure you get tougher dead folks, but I personally need more to take out. I need goals, I need different boards (not the same three over and over again). Basically, as simple as this is going to sound, I need more to do. Twin Blades feels like a game unfinished, as it really doesn't take the players too far. Sure it's only 240 MS Points on XBL, but there are a lot more games that offer quite a bit more for that type of price.

The experience and excitement just ends too quickly.