Twin stick shooters were arguably invented by 1984's Robotron but it was probably Geometry Wars that first succesfully mated the game type with home consoles, and so brought about the numerous titles that litter the genre today.
Death By Cube, unfortunately, is characterised by guess work. Success comes down to either being very lucky, or very experienced, and I doubt many have stuck long enough around to benefit from the latter. On the plus side, the graphics are pleasantly fluent, and it's obvious that the gameplay would have worked out just fine, had a few programming hiccups been avoided. Square Enix can be excused for a few flops to their name, and this is one of them.
WorthPlaying writes: "When Square Enix started on its initiative to make more titles for the digital download market, most gamers expected that it would go with its usual repertoire of small RPGs and strategy games. At first, the company obliged with player's expectations by releasing Crystal Defenders, a port of their tower defense title for cell phones. After that, however, they started announcing titles in genres that seemed to be better suited for their newly acquired Taito label. The first was a puzzle title called Yosumin Live, and it had mild success. Next came 0 Day Attack on Earth, an isometric shooter that wasn't exactly well received by critics or gamers. The latest release on Xbox Live Arcade, Death by Cube, is another genre that people don't usually expect from Square Enix: a twin-stick shooter. While the game plays much better than the previous effort, it's still rather difficult to enjoy."
Examiner.com
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