IGN.com got a hands-on preview of "8-Bit Rebellion".
"This week, I got my hands on the upcoming iPhone title inspired and co-created by the six-piece rock outfit Linkin Park. Entitled Linkin Park: 8-Bit Rebellion, this side-scrolling action/beat-'em-up hybrid looked, sounded and controlled surprisingly well. Unfortunately, you shouldn't be fooled by the title. Though the members of Linkin Park are apparently gamer-advocates of the old-school, 8-Bit Rebellion doesn't quite live up to its name. It looks more like a 16-bit, or even a 32-bit offering. Mega Man 10 this is not. But that didn't detract from what was a solid, albeit brief, demo experience.
If there's a single game that inspired 8-Bit Rebellion, it has to undoubtedly be the NES cult classic River City Ransom. From what I saw, this game has River City Ransom written all over it. That's not to say that the title doesn't bring any originality to the table, but it was clearly created in the same vein as that Technos-developed gem. And for those of us who lived through the NES era, or who have old-school sensibilities and are familiar with that title, you'll know that that's a great choice in which to draw inspiration from. If Linkin Park: 8-Bit Rebellion turns out even half as good as River City Ransom was, it could be a success.
The story of 8-Bit Rebellion is fairly loose, but then again, stories never really drove games like this in the first place. The members of Linkin Park have crafted a song that was stolen by an evil mega-company called Pixxxel Corp. Conveniently, the heads of that corporation split the song into six different segments, which were strewn around the unique environments that the player must traverse in order to recover the missing track in its entirety. All the while, bad guys attempt to stop your progress as you jump around from level to level.
The main character is controlled by tapping on the right or left side of the horizontally-held iPhone, while various weapons (sword, flamethrower, etc.) are engaged by tapping the center of the screen. There are leveling and monetary systems in the game, meaning that you can earn experience points to make your character stronger, and collect currency to purchase not only new gear for your character, but also other collectibles, including furniture that can be placed inside your own personal abode.
Because this game is about a band, Linkin Park fans will be pleased with the soundtrack. MIDI-like tracks of famous Linkin Park songs are available to listen to both in-game and independently, as well as MP3s of those same songs. So whatever mode of audio the gamer chooses to utilize will be available. For beating the game, players unlock an all-new, unreleased Linkin Park song entitled "Blackbirds." There are even clever in-game rewards for having Linkin Park tracks on your device already, mostly in the form of in-game achievements.
8-Bit Rebellion contains both Facebook and Twitter functionality. You can create an in-game friends list to connect with other players, to the extent that as your list grows, in-game AI characters will actually be replaced by actual friends. There's an in-game messaging system, too, so that you can contact people who are on your friends list. You'll even run into other gamers who are currently traversing whatever sector you're currently in. All of these features seem to be at the heart of the experience; the developers have gone out of their way to make sure interactivity is an integral part of their product.
Linkin Park: 8-Bit Rebellion doesn't have an official release date yet, but expect the game to be available for download in the coming months at or around $5."