Looking like an old-school space shooter, Xenoraid appears to be deceptively simple and one-note, but if you take a closer look, it tries a whole bunch of new things and mostly succeeds. The game, which has just been released for the PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4, has you fighting an alien invasion force, keeping this galaxy free from otherworldly scum and their stupid flying saucers. As wave upon wave of enemies comes at you, you only have a small squadron of fighters to defend your planet with.

While there's only ever one ship onscreen, you actually have four of them in your squad, and you can swap them out whenever you feel like it. However, there's a downside to that: if one of your fighters explodes, it is gone for good. Inbetween levels, you get to upgrade and repair your squadron, which is pretty cool and leads to some experimentation with different setups. If all of this sounds too complicated and you just want to fly around and, you know, shoot stuff, there is a survival mode with online leaderboards to keep you busy.
When moving, your ship tilts ever so slightly to the side, causing your shots to not just go straight ahead. This takes some getting used to, but it can also be an advantage if done right. Pressing down on the fire key won't help you much, as weapons can overheat, rendering them useless for a bit and forcing you to switch fighters. All of this makes the game rather difficult at first, but once you master the slight learning curve, you'l...