Ex Zeus

2003 video game

EU: May 1, 2003

PlayStation 2

EU: October 20, 2004

Wii

NA: October 5, 2007
EU: April 1, 2008

iPhone
2009

Android
2010Genre(s)Rail shooterMode(s)Single-player

ExZeus (also known as Counter Force for the Wii release) is a video game developed by HyperDevbox Japan. Despite the company's name, it was founded by Carlo Perconti, one of the founders of the France-based video game company Toka who moved to Japan and set up a game development studio in Tokyo. It was released in 2003 for the arcades running on a Tsunami Visual Technologies TsuMo arcade cabinet^[1] and was later released for Microsoft Windows as shareware.^[2] In 2004, a PlayStation 2 version was released, but only in Europe. Then in 2005, the game had a re-release in the arcades, this time running on Sega NAOMI GD-ROM hardware, and only released in Japanese arcades.^[3]^[4] It was later released to the Wii under the working title of Shoot Out,^[5] later changed to Counter Force, and released in 2007. It was ported in 2009 for the iPhone by Octopus Studio, under the name ExZeus. An Android port by Octopus Studio was released in 2010.^[6]

Reception

IGN gave the Wii version a positive review, praising its accurate infrared controls, graphical design, and "deep-rooted sense of nostalgic fun". However, they scored the game a 4/10 based on its price, saying "If it was on Wii Ware for $5, we’d have a hard time not nerding out entirely".^[7]

Re-Release

In August 2021, Video game publisher Ziggurat Interactive announced through their official YouTube channel that they would be re-releasing ExZeus and ExZeus 2 as ExZeus: The Complete Collection for PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch in Summer 2021,^[8] with porting completed by developer Sickhead Games.^[8]

References

^ "TsunamiVisual.com is available at DomainMarket.com". TsunamiVisual.com is available at DomainMarket.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
^ "ExZeus - PC game". Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
^ ExZeus kit Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, CoinOpExpress.
^ "System 16 - Sega Naomi GD-Rom Hardware (Taito)". www.system16.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
^ "Codename Revolution - It's your world". April 28, 2023.
^ HyperDevbox reveals ExZeus, coming soon to Android Archived February 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Eurodroid.
^ Bozon (29 January 2008). Wii version review, IGN.
^ ^a ^b "ExZeus: The Complete Collection announced for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". gematsu.com. August 4, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.