Let me make a confession. The first time I played Expendable I didn't like it. The opening CG movie was funny enough, what with it's Aliens meets Matrix-like introduction. And watching as your soldier is systematically hatched, grown, and put in line to fight for his race is quite amusing. But, once the game itself started, and I was left on the scarred battlefield to destroy everything in sight, I wasn't that impressed. The control scheme made it difficult for me to do anything and the cramped upper-screen made me wonder what the hell was going on up there. A waste of time I thought... But believe it or not, I changed my mind.
Now don't look for any surprising plot twists or extensive character development in Expendable. You won't find any of that here. No, much like mayhem shooters of the past like Smash T.V., Total Carnage, and Loaded, Rage Software's newest shooter has only one main goal; Kill everything in sight, and do it in record time.

The game plays simply enough, with one button each for firing your gun, your grenades, and switching between different weapons. You can move in a full 360 degrees (well supposedly) and strafe until your heart's content. You can even choose between the digital or analog pad to steer your hero (personally, I recommend a combination of both. Use the analog for mindless shooting and the digital for more precise shots). Once you have become accustomed to the layout, all you have to do now is follow blinking arrows and shoot things. Unfortunately, accomplishing that is not without it's problems...

That's right kids, there's a MAJOR problem with moving your rifleman from point A to point B. For a reason I do not know why, every other angle seems to be cut from your circular movement. To clarify, it means that when you are in the middle of a turn or trying to pinpoint some of the more pesky targets, your character just won't go there. I liken it to a sort of animation skip, whereas certain angles just cannot be moved to because of a missing frame. Now I know this is supposed to be a 2D problem, but because stopping is so mushy due to your inertia, it seems to have the "skip" effect described above.

Another problem arises when you look at the top half of the screen and see just how cluttered it is. Between flashing credits signs, energy bars, card key icons, and various other doodads that do god-knows-what, you can barely see what is coming at you from the North side of your view. Despite these two major flaws however, I still find Expendable pretty satisfying.

Why, you ask? Well, the first thing you'll notice is just how detailed and visually powerful the game is. Between the stunning textures that litter every object of the landscape, to the mind-blowing lighting effects popping in and out of your television set, you'll be hard pressed to find a better looking title that shares the genre. Each approaching monster and alien looks adequately gruesome, and their animation is at a true-to-life level rarely seen in games of this type.

While the music is practically non-existent in the early going and under-scored later on, the sound effects provide quite a thunderous boom to the speakers. Explosions, gunfire, and the crashes of falling objects help immerse you in the Alien. It surely could have used more tunes though, as I find the somewhat ambient approach in shooting games isn't as audibly powerful as those with an ass-kicking fully loaded score. Oh well, maybe next time.

The best part of Expendable for me had to be all the action. Everywhere you turn, whether you're playing on easy or expert modes, there is always something coming to get you. Aerial crafts whiz by in the background and crash into monuments and buildings, and the ground itself will shake, and break apart, forcing you to go into an all new direction. Acid bleeding creepers, Predator-like hunters, and giant mechanoid killers aim at you with a vengeance. And while the average gamer may make it all the way to the end of Expendable after the first try or two on the easy setting, once you tackle the harder modes get ready for a challenge like you won't believe. Even with the option of having a second player joined along side you, you'll be in a bind to make it passed the first few stages, let alone all of them.

While there was a lot Rage could have done to spruce up the experience, such as add a few more stages, throw in a couple additionalcut scenes, and elaborate on the musical aspect a bit, Expendable is still a pretty good time waster. Although the control issues may leave a lot of people frustrated and bothered, if you sit back and stick with it, you may have quite the enjoyable journey ahead. Good luck soldier.