2007 · HyperDevbox Japan · Light gun shooter · Shoot 'em up

Counter Force

In 2102 C.E., a giant asteroid enters Earth's orbit, and inside is a horde of aliens led by the entity Diadora, unleashing an invasion on mankind. Hiding deep underground, the surviving rebels create three experimental robots, Sophia, Calista and Dynamis, to combat Diadora's army, the objective codenamed "Operation ExZeus". These three robots are humanity's last hope.

Released: 3 October 2007
Platforms: Android Arcade PlayStation 2 Wii Windows
Genres: Light gun shooter Shoot 'em up
Developers: HyperDevbox Japan
Publishers: HyperDevbox Japan
Modes: Single-player
Country: France
Age ratings: GRAC ALL

About

ExZeus (also known as Counter Force for the Wii release) is a video game developed by HyperDevbox Japan. Despite the company's name, it was founded by Carlo Perconti, one of the founders of the France-based video game company Toka who moved to Japan and set up a game development studio in Tokyo. It was released in 2003 for the arcades running on a Tsunami Visual Technologies TsuMo arcade cabinet and was later released for Microsoft Windows as shareware. In 2004, a PlayStation 2 version was released in 2004 as a budget title by Conspiracy Entertainment exclusively in Europe.

Then in 2005, the game had a re-release in the arcades, this time running on Sega NAOMI GD-ROM hardware, and only released in Japanese arcades. It was later released to the Wii under the working title of Shoot Out, later changed to Counter Force, and released in 2007. It was ported in 2009 for the iPhone by Octopus Studio, under the name ExZeus. An Android port by Octopus Studio was released in 2010.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

IGN gave the Wii version a positive review, praising its accurate infrared controls, graphical design, and "deep-rooted sense of nostalgic fun". However, they scored the game a 4/10 based on its price, saying "If it was on Wii Ware for $5, we’d have a hard time not nerding out entirely".