A.R.E.S.EX is a better, more badass version of Extinction Agenda. It brings a new powerful character, visual and musical upgrades and additions, and also a good time in classic sidescrolling sci-fi shooting. Even if you have trouble with the responsiveness on the controls, you might have a good time playing though it, again it is a shame that it feels so short as it just bursts with potential.

+ Fun sidescrolling shooting mechanics
+ Great range of abilities and weaponry
+ Interesting boss fights that will test your skill
+ Visually admirable, fluid animations and a well-adjusted OST

- The game deserves much more content

IF you want, you can read more about my impressions at: Gamerscape

"It's kind of like a Mega Man crossed with a run-and-gun game. Not that long and not that hard even on the hardest difficulty unless you're trying for optional things like high ranks, but if it's cheap and the short blurb sounds interesting to you, you'll likely find this an enjoyable game."

That's what I said about the original A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda. That pretty much holds true for EX, but it seemed somewhat more difficult (or I was just being bad at it) and has been reworked to be a good bit longer, with two extra levels, more cutscenes, and a second character with different abilities who you can choose to play through the game with instead. So, basically it fixed all of my complaints.

Given that they're the same original asking price, I would obviously recommend picking this one up instead if you don't have either. About all this game is missing is the goofy skins and the Berserker weapon, and skins are just cosmetics and the Berserker weapon was kind of overpowered anyway! If you do have the original, I think it's still worth it given the discount...!

A.R.E.S EX is an updated version of the original A.R.E.S Extinction Agenda. This game is highly polished and easy to recommend to fans of side scrolling shooters.
My full review is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQj_kDI40mA

When I heard about a new version of ARES I figured what I'd get to play improved on the game I knew and had a like/hate relationship with, it was 60% off and since i owned the original I figured what the heck.

Gameplay: They've moved to 1 currency, essentially everything is now 1, so you have 1 higher cost instead of trying to farm a particular resource for your upgrades. Thats a positive... you now have to find unlocks to unlock your upgrades, thats a second plus... You get a new character thats like a heavy class/tank compared to the original character, and he plays... kinda meh. His special is a shield that uses up energy vs health...

Other changes is that you have infinite bombs/electrical blasts and they are on a CD. Repair kits are also on cooldown and have a 100 resource cost. All can be upgraded.

Graphics: Uh, I don't like what they did with the supporting cast, the characters and bosses look just as great, but what did they do to the women... its like they changed how they wanted them to look and they look awful. The gameplay is still as crisp and looks similar if not better than the original.

Controls: Yup, did you hate Ares, you'll hate this... love it... you'll love this... its not changed, and its still as wonky as when I played it the first time, jumping off the ends of ledges... good luck and do it early.

So that I've writen this game, if you haven't played the original, you may like what you see, if you have... I'd avoid this for awhile, its in a kinda crashy state in which you have to launch the game again nearly every level I think the changes they put forth are positive for the game, but the new levels aren't really impressive, and the new character while plays slightly different, continues to be similar to what you've done before.

Verdict: Pass, and if you want to get a version get the original for now... I might review once they patch all the crashy bugs... but I cannot honestly reccommend as of 10/4/14

This game is a lot of fun! I really like the combat system. Being able to move with the left stick and aim/shoot with the right is really, really nice. The combo system is a nice extra touch, too. The bosses are tough at first, but once you figure out how to beat them they're no problem, which is really satisfying. Looks great to boot.

Definitely an upgrade over the original. More levels, even more awesome music, better presentation, and a new character all make it very worth it to upgrade to this version over the original (for cheap, might I add!).

This game is such fun!

I've played a plethora of platform shooters (ex. Megaman, Metroid, ect.) and, I must say, A.R.E.S. Exticntion Agenda EX is a beautiful game with great rock music! It has all your platforming shooter elements along with special abilities. There are upgrades for your weapons and systems ingame. I've played this game for about 3-5 hours and it just satisfies me. I recommend this game for anyone who have enjoyed other platform shooters.

This should be a good trial for retro-side-scroller-shooting lovers (like Megaman, Alien Soldier, Metal Slug etc.) who can skip the light-weight story and focus on more action-based gameplay (i.e. skill in jumping over the platforms or experience the boss fight with styles etc.). I like the presentation of this game that is futuristic sci-fi as well as heavy-rock style bg music in the good mix to make me enjoyed this game a lot. The result is, this game made me start having a dinner late for an hour.

For ARES fans, this is a polished version of the previous ARES hit. Though the main story and core system are much similar to the previous one, the new polished music and gameplay (that are improved for XBOX) still make you enjoy with this new chapter a lot (like this chapter is the Director cut version, LOL). In addition, the new character "Tarus", adding another style of gameplay that worth trying a rerun through the game. But I haven't complete the game yet, so I can't tell what's more about improvement so well.

What's not perfect for me is, I really want see speed of gameplay to be faster but the team did not tweak this in this version. Hope they will add into a consideration list in the future chapters.

A competent platformer that does not try to modify the genre in any way. Recommended for die-hard fans of action based platformers.
This video should help you make a decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gRdmWVR7JQ

If you're a fan of oldschool games like Super Metroid, Mega Man and Alien Soldier you'll definitely love this game.
Fast paced action, various weapons, upgrades, skills and giant bosses are what makes this kind of games enjoyable.

A review from a Dad on a budget and his podcast Steam on the Cheap.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steam-on-cheap-discovering/id899847567?mt=2

A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX is a 2.5D side scrolling game that feels like a fun mix between a dual stick shooter and Metroid. So far I am really enjoying this game. So far playing it on medium it has had its share of difficulty combined with enjoyable boss battles.
Here is a video of early game play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYImDmnkVjo&feature=youtu.be

The game really is in the vein of metroid in the whole being in a mechanical suit looking for upgrades thing. Also where the upgrades will unlock new areas that were previously unexplorable. Oddly enough I have recieved a few upgrades and have yet to seen an effect on my person.

This is not just a run and gun type game either. There are several parts that include tough timing jumps and multiple button pushes. If not you will fall to your death often like myself. I don't know if I like the dieing over and over when the main part of the game is a 2.5D gunner. So far I recommend this game but in a way it is still up in there air and will report back as I get in deeper to the game.

Pros
The controls feel responsive and right.
The artwork is great.
I don’t have to play with the music turned off.
The story so far is actually engaging.
Character ability upgrades keep things fresh.
Checkpoints are nice kinda forgot about them with all the roguelikes out.

Cons
Things you kill come back once they are off screen kinda annoying.
Though as nails when it come to timing jumps and not always in a good way.
Tons of upgrades but some seem to do nothing.
Hope I dont have to do a second playthough just to collect the power ups but seems that way.

Quick edit here. There is a talent tree in game where you can upgrade all your moves and weapons armor ect. This is not covered in the tutorial and I found out about it by accedent. This added a lot of depth to the game. This is a great deal at $10 buck and I recommened it highly. You will get more than 10 hours of game play out of it for sure.


For a full indepth review please check out my podcast where I try out cheap games and let you know if they are worth your money or not.

An update to the original 2011 game adding a new playable character and 2 new levels.
This is also the version to make its console premiere on XBLA.

Clearly Mega Man inspired platform action but with linear level progression. Well designed levels with really cool boss encounters. They do rely on locking you in a room and continually sprinkling in enemies a lot...but it isn't too bad.

Gameplay Video

A very solid Platformer. The controls are tight, the music is great if you're into electric guitars (think Guilty Gear), the level designs are good and theres a decent amount of replayability. A good purchase if your a fan of the Megaman series. I played it mainly with a controller so I can't really speak for how it handles on the keyboard.

what makes a great platformer ?
Tight controls and great level design, this one lacks both but if you need something to satisfy your Megaman fix, then this would be an okay solution. i suggest you buy it on sale cause it is not worth the full price for sure.

I instantly fell for this game...its like MegaMan (playing with Bass/Forte) MegaMan X as far as pacing goes, And Metroid as far as the map for stages go. I love the difficulty of hardcore mode considering I play EVERY game on the hardest difficulty. But on that difficulty starting out it reminds me heavily of how the original MegaMan games used to be and I love that. And going by my avatar you can tell I'm a big fan of the Megaman Series and this game feeds that need i was craving for this type of game. I wish there was more to this game than 7 levels, but I'm comfortable with how this is, I recommend this for any one who's a fan of the MM series and platformers/shooters.

Bad ♥♥♥!!!

a game that is worth the try :)

A.R.E.S. Extincton Agenda EX is a somewhat challenging side-scrolling shooter. The gameplay is great and every weapon and ability you get feels varied and useful. The visuals and music also add to this experience.

There are two different playable characters, and while their abilities, weapons, and stories differ, the levels are exactly the same. Some sections of the levels are easier for Ares, and more challenging with Tarus, and vice versa. This is especially true with chapter 3, which felt like a massive difficulty spike when playing with Ares, but was more like a natural difficulty progression for Tarus.

I played a small amount of the first A.R.E.S. game (maybe the first 3 chapters) so I cannot tell you if A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX is a vast improvement. The one thing that I did like was the simplification of the materials system. In the first A.R.E.S., there were three separate materials that would be dropped by enemies, which in turn could be used to craft upgrades to weapons as well as consumables like health packs and grenades. This was overhauled to feature just one material which was used to craft weapon and ability upgrades and also to use the new health ability.

I would definitely recommend this game to fans of the side-scrolling genre. It is a quick experience, but one worth having if you have $10 to spare.

rather dissapointing, as i thought this was suppost to be an improvment of the original. yes the stroy and art has been updated, but in game still looks the same as ever, upgrading has been reduced to a single type of scrap, to the 3 types from the original. the platforming was overly annoying, in comparrison to the original. various " improvements" felt like downgrades. bombs have become quick refulled items, instead of a tool that must be crafted using scrap you have found, as with repair kits.
the art ingame and in cutscene are clearly 2 diffrent things. considering how long ago the original came out, i really thought the game would look great by now, however it retains the original look even tho in cutscenes ARES has an updated look. valkyl,(your support ) was in the last game, and in this one. in the first she looked like a CG anime character, she behaved and talked like a machine, in this however, she has become a saturday morning cartoon, with a lot more humanity, to say this is a complaint is a slight understatement. i do like the new valkyl and the old; but the old is my fav. she was cool no matter what happened, and she fired orbital death beams for u!.
to say this game is the " EX" is a bit of misscommunication. its more of a redux than anything, and its sad to say it hasnt been for the better. what has been done has taken what i did like from the game and made it a lot harder to continue to like it.
also i think the original has been taken off steam, if so then you have missed out on the best version of this game
( PS i like this valkyl too, just the old one more.)

The original game is superior to this game in several ways. It's disappointing, while there's steps in several areas in terms of graphics and storytelling/cutscenes, some weird decisions were made regarding gameplay changes and enemy placement that don't make sense, mechanics reworked for not a lot of good reason behind it, This, on top of one of the biggest mistakes that a platformer can make; unreponsive controls at times, in particularly with the jump button. That's a major problem, and hits the game at it's core.

Honestly, I love the original, but I can't recommend the remake. Go buy the original A.R.E.S. if you're looking to get a good megaman like shooter.

I have more in a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbkDaO-KrWg

Very cool game! :)