Death By Cube
A twin-stick shooter featuring an amnesiac robot and cube-shaped enemies.
Death By Cube is a top-down twin-stick shooter that launched on Xbox Live Arcade in January 2010, developed by Premium Agency and published by Square Enix. Players control the robot Leo, using a dash and shield while blasting cube-shaped enemies that explode into red oil. The game was noted for its extreme violence, drawing attention at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show for being exceptionally bloody.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Premium Agency
- Publisher
- Square Enix
- Released
- January 20, 2010
- Genre
- Multidirectional shooter
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Xbox 360
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
In this top-down shooter, players guide an amnesiac robot named Leo. The left thumb stick moves him, while the right one handles aiming and shooting. A left trigger dash and a right trigger shield help avoid enemy fire. The goal is to clear each map of foes, many of which are cubes, while dodging their projectiles. Defeated enemies burst into red oil that looks like blood. Some stages add extra tasks, like protecting a base or surviving on a single life. Performance earns bronze, silver, or gold ratings, which award computer chips. These chips serve as currency to buy upgrades for Leo or unlock new levels.
Development
Square Enix's western division developed Death By Cube specifically for a Western audience. Yosuke Shiokawa, who drew inspiration from Heavy Weapon, explained that the team's small size and lack of data on PlayStation Network and WiiWare led to the decision to release it only on Xbox Live Arcade. Shiokawa said the final name was created as a joke, though he himself did not find it funny.
Reception
At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, a demo of Death By Cube was playable at Square Enix’s booth, drawing comments from several reviewers about its extreme gore. Stephen Totilo of Kotaku Australia noted it demanded more strategic thinking than typical twin-stick shooters, calling it possibly the bloodiest game at the event. According to Metacritic, the game earned mixed reviews. Critics pointed to uneven difficulty, a thin story, dated graphics, and the requirement to replay early levels to unlock later ones. GameSpot’s Brett Todd described the action as briefly exciting but ultimately simplistic and repetitive, with frustrating difficulty spikes and visuals and audio too crude to sustain interest. By January 2011, the game had sold 10,020 copies worldwide, with that figure climbing to 12,131 by the end of 2011.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Death By Cube released?
Death By Cube was released on January 20, 2010.
What platforms is Death By Cube available on?
Death By Cube was released for Xbox 360.
More in Square Enix Games of the 2010s
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