Though you begin with only a basic hand gun (you'll have to tap X constantly to keep up your rate of fire) it's easy to come across new weapons by defeating enemies and freeing hostages. Taking place across five missions, you choose from one of four heroes (though don't expect any different gameplay experience between the four) and spend all of your time shooting and dodging. This is a balls-to-the-walls 2D side-scrolling shooter. Gameplay Make no mistake, Metal Slug 3 is about as complex as 2 + 0, but it's a lot more fun than any math equation. With that in mind, does Slug 3 equal its $40 value? I have to judge Metal Slug 3 against the rest of the Xbox library. This is an arcade game, but I'm not reviewing an arcade game - I'm reviewing this as an Xbox title. Not only is it not the latest Slug ( 4 and 5 are out in the arcades), it offers only marginal improvements over the arcade version with some extra modes, but little else. So comes the problem with reviewing Metal Slug 3 a four-year old arcade shooter. But if not for arcade ports, mindless shoot-em-ups - where two buttons are all you need to survive - wouldn't be available to hungry gamers who just want to stay on the couch and not go to the arcade. However, the problem with porting arcade games to Xbox is that the graphics, sound, and depth rarely translate well.
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![metal slug for xbox one metal slug for xbox one](https://www.unboxingdeals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/metal-slug-3-xbox.jpg)
Most Xbox games are the antithesis of the arcade classics, so seeing a good old fashioned shooter come to the 'box is a delight. Over the past couple of years, we've entered a gaming era where developers feel they must make use of every button on the controller and offer gameplay gimmicks to sell their products.
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In fact, it wasn't until the Dreamcast and the amazing Soul Calibur that console games began surpassing the quality offered in an arcade cabinet. Only a few years ago, console and arcade games were comparable graphically.