Shoot Em All is an arcade styled game for Windows Phone where you have to rescue your partner from the bad guys. The game is basically a sniper game that plays like a Hogan’s Alley game, except the targets shoot back.
You are tasked with seeking out the bad guys as they come out of hiding and take them out before they lock on to your position and ruin your day. Shoot Em All has a slight retro arcade feel to it, decent graphics and the need for a quick and steady aim.
Shoot Em All Layout
The main menu for Shoot Em All offers options to start a game, continue an existing game, access the settings, view your high scores (local only) and view the game’s credits. Shoot Em All’s settings are limited to turning on or off the game’s music and sound effects. You will also find options for an in-app purchase ($1.29) to remove the ad-support and rate the game in the Windows Phone Store.
When you start a game of Shoot Em All, an instructional screen will appear as the game loads. You will have a series of bad guys appear from their hiding spots and you only have a few seconds to find them and shoot them. When the timer hits zero, they shoot you.
Shoot Em All’s game play is spread out across multiple levels and five scenes. As far as the gaming screen layout is concerned, aiming controls are located at the bottom left corner of the screen and your fire button sits in the bottom right corner. Your vital statistics run across the top of the screen and include your lives, score, level, targets remaining and a targeting radar.
Game Play
Game play is simple. You will have to find a set number of targets and take them out. Once you do, you will advance to the next level where game play gets a little more challenging as you move through the levels.
The challenge comes into play with the targets ability to blend in with the environment (harder to find) and a time limit to find and shoot them. To help you locate a target, a small targeting radar is positioned in the right corner of the statistics bar. The general direction of the target will be highlighted in red and the time needed to locate and shoot the target appears in the center of the radar.
Shoot Em All's game play affords you twenty chances/lives with each bad guy shooting you costing you a life. You do have a shield available that you can use to protect yourself should you have difficulty lining up the shot. As you see the timer approach zero, tap the shield icon (just below the targeting radar) and a Captain America styled shield will appear for a few seconds protecting you from getting shot.
Points are accrued as you take out the enemy with headshots holding a higher point value.
Overall Impression
Shoot Em All isn’t a bad arcade game to help you pass short bits of time with.
Controls are simply laid out, the goal is straightforward and the game has the potential of being a nice time waster. My only complaint would be that the movement controls need a little fine-tuning. The finer movements to line-up your shot were fine but the lengthier moves (spanning the full length of the playing field) seemed to take forever. It's not a terminal issue but you really can't afford to dilly-dally between targets.
The targets can be well hidden and small in size. This adds to the challenge of the game because it can be tough getting everything lined up in your sites. You do have unlimited ammo so if you get close and the time is about to expire, you can always open up in hopes of getting in that lucky shot.
Shoot Em All is a free, ad-supported game that is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices. You can find Shoot Em All here in the Windows Phone Store.
