The best thing about the game is that it tweaks the age-old formula in a few interesting ways. As you progress, you liberate workers from businesses, and these workers fight alongside you. And you have to do your best to keep your comrades alive, because they also serve as your extra lives: When the revolutionary you’re controlling joins Stalin in hell, you switch to another member of your flock, and it’s game over when the whole crowd has bit the dust. You can also direct your followers to attack specific enemies (à la Overlord or Pikmin), and the game takes advantage of modern “twin stick” controllers to let you aim your long-range weapons, including Molotov cocktails, in any direction you want.

I hate to admit it, but this has the makings of a good game. The problem is that the rest of the presentation is thoroughly underwhelming.