ExL Studios Blog

Chances are you have already heard of this new shoot’em up. Duality ZF is a 2D shooter being developed by Xona Games. Xona Games is an indie game team with twins, Jason & Matthew Doucette as members. Originally created for Dream-Build-Play 2008, Duality ZF ended up going through multiple enhancements and being pushed back until Summer 2009 with the price of 400 Microsoft Points. Why 400? Because the game went past the file size limit for 200 point games. Trust us, 400 Microsoft Points is worth this masterpiece.

Over the months that Duality ZF has been in development, its popularity has grown. When it releases it will probably be the most popular indie game available on Xbox Live. Its innovative, groundbreaking style is reminiscent of an Xbox Live Arcade game. The only difference? This game provides a lot more content for a lower price than many Arcade games available on Xbox Live.

Duality ZF offers optional dual play functionality. What is dual play? Dual play gives players control of two ships at once.  This means that four players (local multiplayer only) can each control two ships for a maximum of eight ships onscreen at once! Add unlimited difficulty modes and six game modes (home, arcade, survival, score rush, bullet hell, and boss rush) and the game offers tremendous replay value. Even upgrading weapons offers replay value!

Weapons are highly upgradable, offering 32 stages of power ups with the ability for the weapons to morph from spread to laser and back. In between these two weapon systems there are hybrids. What about power up stealing?

“You CAN steal power-ups. They automatically seek out the weakest player, and are color coded to quickly determine if it’s yours or not, but it doesn’t prevent you from stealing them. In fact, if there’s a power-up near you, you likely should grab it to make use of it immediately. The next supply ship that spews power-ups will send them trucking to the weaker player who missed out last time. The power-ups are collectively intelligent and will spontaneously change destinations to achieve optimal arrival times, as you move about the screen. Also, if you grab one that’s not yours, the others will adjust targets to compensate. These are all subtle touches that work nicely, and allow you to concentrate on annihilation.” - Jason Doucette (co-creator)

There is no limit to how many ships can be at maximum firepower. All eight can be maxed out simultaneously.

There are four control modes (solo play, dual play, multidirectional, and g-mode) that are supported by every game mode. Each game mode also supports one to four players. The game modes also include full 8-stage campaign modes, as well as single-stage challenge modes. What is the difference? The campaign modes are long games while the challenge modes are short games.

What happens when the six game modes are multiplied by the four control modes which are multiplied by the four team sizes (1-4 players)? You get 96 online scoreboards (individual and team scores). Multiplayer games are scored collectively as a team and players try to strive to beat other teams around the world. This is streamlined by the fact that scoring is based on enemy domination and nothing else. No secret areas or tricks, just skill.

Visit the official website here: http://dualityzf.com/

The following pictures and videos can say more about the game than I can!

Duality ZF – April 2009 Trailer (Xbox 360; Shoot’Em Up; Shmup; 2D Shooter)

Duality ZF – March 2009 Tech Demo (Xbox 360; Shoot’Em Up; Shmup; 2D Shooter)

This has been an ExL Update. Thanks for reading!