Originally releasing in 1980, Warlords was ushered into the arcades with much anticipation allowing four players to play simultaneously. Not only did it find success in the arcades, it went on to become one of the most popular titles to be released by Atari not named Pong as it’s often featured on “Top 100 lists” for arcade classics. Now, 28 years later (wait a minute – this sounds like a sequel to 28 Weeks Later) and Warlords has found its way into the homes of millions via the Xbox Live Arcade.

Coming with two versions of the game – Evolved Mode and Classic Mode – players have the option to play the visually upgraded Warlords or the Warlords from yesteryear. The Classic Mode is the original arcade game with not many enhancements to the title, meanwhile the Evolved Mode is the practically the same game with a new coat of paint thrown over it. The Evolved Mode has visuals that look better with a glossy shine to them, but for the most part, the graphics resemble what a college student did in his free time for a class project. With lots of flashy colors, it’s what many should come to expect with an update to a classic arcade title from the ‘80’s.

The objective of Warlords is to deflect and bounce fireballs at your enemies’ castle walls with your shield to destroy their concealed leader. Having the opportunity to play against four people, there will - of course - be four teams separated by color. The last player standing will earn his or herself 1 point and put them on the path towards victory.

Outside of deflecting fireballs, the only other tactic to advantage of is to capture fireballs and catapult them at your enemy.  Players are able to do so by holding down the A button until they are reading to send it towards your enemy. But, as you’ll learn within thirty minutes of playtime, there’s not much here in terms of depth. Basically, the gameplay comes down to deflecting shots at your enemy or capturing the fireballs to build up force before firing them away.

Problems ensue when your hand-eye coordination is put to a test with the Xbox 360 controller. Warlords is apparently lacking an intuitive control scheme as the response time between the game and the controller is on the slow side. Before you’re able to react, you’ll have several fireballs hitting your walls and you’ll become increasingly frustrated at the lack of control the game provides to the user. When the attacks speed up, especially in the Full Throttle mode, the Xbox 360 controller isn’t the optimal choice to play Warlords as it will miss the fireball due to imprecision.

One of the attracting features that Warlords presents is the ability for players to use the Xbox Live Vision camera to showcase their pretty mugs online, but running into people who actually use the XBL Vision is almost as rare as people playing Warlords online. If you aren’t into the online multiplayer, there is a local offline component to venture through with friends.

With never having played the original while it was in the arcades, it’s hard to compare how it has transitioned to the Xbox 360. But what is apparent is that the game isn’t kind to new users as it’ll whip you into shape being tag-teamed by the enemy AI throughout the game. The best suggestion for preparation is to be ready for an onslaught of attacks centered on taking you out first from the computer.

Gameplay: 6.0
With keeping it simple, Warlords isn’t a title that is hard to understand. Defend your castle and deflect the shots at your enemies will almost guarantee victory.

Graphics: 6.7
The Evolved Mode removes the medieval theme with a more futuristic version, which is a no-no since it’s tremendously drab.

Sound: 4.9
Bringing down the excitement of the game, the sound effects are dull.

Difficulty: Medium
The enemy AI will whip you into shape if you are lazy with your defense. They’ll have you begging for mercy if you don’t pay attention.

Concept: 3.5
Updating a classic arcade game is nothing new in today’s video-game landscape.

Multiplayer: 5.2
Running into lag isn’t enticing, but at least the developer added in Xbox Live Vision support.

Overall: 5.1
This Atari classic can be purchased at the expense of 400 Microsoft points ($5). With feeling dated, I recommend looking elsewhere for your ‘80’s nostalgia; Warlords especially isn’t the way to go if you must fill that need.