Can the great flow of original LIVE Arcade content continue?

What is the point of Xbox LIVE Arcade? Sure I enjoy reliving classics like Ikaruga, Rez, and Joust just as much as the next LIVE enthusiast, but I believe the real crux of LIVE Arcade is the ability to deliver bite-size original content to gamers. Content that they would otherwise probably never experience.

Arguably one of the first triple-A original LIVE Arcade titles was Assault Heroes. Not only did it give hours of vehicular destructive fun on the cheap, but it provided a visual flair that we, as a public, just were not expecting from a downloadable title. Full 3D, real lighting effects, shading, everything that we expect in a retail game was present in Assault Heroes. Perhaps the best feature was that you could experience the whole game in two-player coop.

Here we are. Several other awesome original titles have come to surface over LIVE's indie-friendly pipeline and Assault Heroes has geared up for another release. Assault Heroes 2, again managed by Sierra-OnLine, continues the great tradition forged by its predecessor.

The fantastic visual presentation is back, and even a bit sharper than the original. Vehicles look shinier. The environment's shaders are higher quality. Over all the look and feel of the game is great. There are some aliasing issues and flat, muddy textures, but they rarely detract from the overall look of the game. Sure with games like Switchball, and Roboblitz, we have seen that LIVE Arcade games can be pushed even farther, but Assault Heroes 2 is no less a visual treat.