At first glance, Mutant Storm Reloaded could understandably be mistaken for the other Xbox Live Arcade shoot 'em up, Geometry Wars. After all, both titles share not only a similar gameplay concept (survive against an onslaught of enemies) but also the exact same control scheme (use the left stick to move, the right stick to fire in the pointed direction and the right trigger to set off a bomb, of which there is a limited number, that destroys nearby enemies).

However, there are some notable differences. Whereas Geometry Wars is all about surviving as long as possible against wave after wave of enemies, Mutant Storm Reloaded mixes up the formula a bit. Sure, at the end of the day, Mutant Storm Reloaded is likewise about surviving as long as possible, but unlike Geometry Wars' marathon-style gameplay, this survival challenge is broken into a multitude of stages, 89 to be exact. And moving further away from Geometry Wars' static rectangle, these stages come in all shapes and sizes, this variation combining the ever-spawning enemies of various types and sizes to keep things from getting stale.

Each stage has both a set time limit and a set number of enemies that will appear within it over said time limit. Once the enemies are all destroyed, the player advances to the next stage. If the player isn't able to destroy all the enemies within the time line, a giant monster, notoriously difficult to avoid after it shows up, will haunt the player until they either die or complete the stage.

As the player works their way through the stages, a counter in the lower-left hand corner of the screen increases as enemies are slaughtered. Each time this counter racks up 100 points, the game advances its difficulty level. Represented by different colors of belts, similar to those found in martial arts, the series of eight difficulty levels start at white and end with black. When a new difficulty level is achieved, the player can then start future sessions at that belt, removing the tedium of forcing the player to endlessly repeat their past accomplishments. Likewise, Mutant Storm Reloaded also tracks a player's progress though the 89 stages, with the ability to restart future sessions from every tenth stage.

Unlocking new difficulty levels isn't as simple as it sounds, though. Each time a player dies, the counter is significantly reduced, sometimes even go so far as to bump the player down to a lower belt. Thankfully, the lowest the game can bump the player down to is their starting difficulty level, so if the initial difficulty is set at green, no number of deaths can lower the difficulty below that. But as higher difficulty levels bump up the number and type of enemies that appear in each stage, the player has both more to risk and gain. On one hand, the higher number of enemies means the counter will advance that much more by the end of the stage, but on the other, it also means the chances of dying are that much higher. Operating in the much the same manner is the score multiplier, earned as the player kills enemies, reduced by one level as a penalty for each death.

Luckily, getting hit by an enemy doesn't automatically mean death. Enemies drop a variety of powerups, including a shield that will protect the player from one hit and a temporary seeker missile attachment that hunts down enemies. On the same note, beating the 89th level of the game doesn't mean it's over, with the game then looping back to the first level at the next difficulty setting.

Additionally, Mutant Storm Reloaded offers Tally Mode, which challenges players to make their way through each stage without losing a life. A two player option is also available across both modes.

Mutant Storm Reloaded is available through the Xbox Live Marketplace on an Xbox 360, with the full version runs priced at 800 Microsoft Points (currently $10). As with all Xbox Live Arcade titles, a free trial version can also be downloaded through the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Helpful Hint: Most enemies take multiple hits to destroy, so go after the biggest (and generally most dangerous) enemies first.