Death By Cube
{{Short description|2010 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Death By Cube
|image = Death By Cube cover art.png
|caption =
|developer = Premium Agency
|publisher = Square Enix
|released = January 20, 2010
|genre = Multidirectional shooter
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = Xbox 360
}}
{{nihongo|Death By Cube|デス バイキューブ|Desu Bai Kyūbu}} is a twin-stick shooter released on the Xbox Live Arcade service on January 20, 2010. It was developed by Premium Agency and published by Square Enix.{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Greg|date=January 21, 2010|title=Death By Cube Review|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/21/death-by-cube-review|website=IGN|publisher=Ziff Davis|accessdate=June 14, 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719223908/https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/21/death-by-cube-review|archivedate=July 19, 2019|url-status=live}}
Gameplay
The game uses a top-down visual scheme. Players assume control over the amnesiac robot Leo, controlling his movement using the left thumb stick and aiming and firing using the right thumb stick.{{cite web|last=Todd|first=Brett|date=January 26, 2010|title=Death By Cube Review|url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/death-by-cube-review/1900-6247728/|website=GameSpot|publisher=Fandom|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116114434/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/death-by-cube-review/1900-6247728/|archivedate=January 16, 2021|url-status=live}} Additionally, a dash move can be executed using the left trigger and a shield can be deployed using the right trigger.{{cite web|last=Whitehead|first=Dan|date=February 1, 2010|title=Death by Cube|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/death-by-cube-review|website=Eurogamer|publisher=Gamer Network|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808010855/https://www.eurogamer.net/death-by-cube-review|archivedate=August 8, 2022|url-status=live}} The player must eliminate all of the enemies on the map, many of which are cube shaped, while avoiding getting hit by projectiles fired by the enemies. Enemies that are killed explode into large gushes of blood-like red oil. Some levels have additional objectives, such as defending a base or surviving with only one life. Players acquire computer chips, the form of in-game currency, by performing well enough in a level to receive a bronze, silver, or gold rating. Chips are spent on upgrades to Leo or to unlock additional levels.
Development
Yosuke Shiokawa{{who|date=April 2016}} cited Heavy Weapon as an inspiration for the game.{{cite web|last=Yip|first=Spencer|date=January 22, 2010|title=On Designing Death By Cube|url=https://www.siliconera.com/on-designing-death-by-cube/|website=Siliconera|publisher=Gamurs|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711232927/https://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/22/on-designing-death-by-cube/|archivedate=July 11, 2019|url-status=live}} The team was not big enough to release the game on multiple platforms. This, combined with the facts that the team did not have market information on either the PlayStation Network or Wiiware, led to the decision to make the title an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive.{{cite web|last=Yip|first=Spencer|date=January 27, 2010|title=Director Explains Why Is Death By Cube [sic] Only For Xbox Live Arcade|url=https://www.siliconera.com/director-explains-why-is-death-by-cube-only-for-xbox-live-arcade/|website=Siliconera|publisher=Gamurs|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719223901/https://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/27/director-explains-why-is-death-by-cube-only-for-xbox-live-arcade/|archivedate=July 19, 2019|url-status=live}} The title was created by Square's western branch, as the title was designed with a western audience in mind. According to Shiokawa the final title was "born jokingly" although Shiokawa has admitted to not seeing the humor in it.
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Reception
{{Video game reviews
| MC = 56/100{{cite web|title=Death By Cube|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/death-by-cube/|website=Metacritic|publisher=Fandom|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205162741/https://www.metacritic.com/game/death-by-cube/|archivedate=December 5, 2023|url-status=live}}
| AVC = B{{cite web|last=Teti|first=John|date=February 8, 2010|title=Death By Cube|url=https://www.avclub.com/death-by-cube-1798218985|website=The A.V. Club|publisher=G/O Media|accessdate=November 19, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208075722/http://www.avclub.com/articles/death-by-cube,37954/|archivedate=February 8, 2010|url-status=live}}
| Edge = 6/10{{cite magazine|author=Edge staff|title=Death By Cube|magazine=Edge|publisher=Future plc|issue=212|date=March 2010|page=97}}
| JXV = 13/20{{cite web|author=miniblob|date=February 3, 2010|title=Test: Death by Cube|url=https://www.jeuxvideo.com/articles/0001/00012246-death-by-cube-test.htm|language=fr|website=Jeuxvideo.com|publisher=Webedia|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028040749/https://www.jeuxvideo.com/articles/0001/00012246-death-by-cube-test.htm|archivedate=October 28, 2020|url-status=live}}
| OXM = 6/10{{cite magazine|title=Death By Cube|magazine=Official Xbox Magazine|publisher=Future US|date=April 2010|page=83}}
| TX = 7.7/10{{cite web|last=Price|first=Tom|date=January 20, 2010|title=Death by Cube Review (Xbox 360)|url=http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1840/Death-by-Cube/p1/|website=TeamXbox|publisher=IGN Entertainment|accessdate=January 25, 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106085824/http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1840/Death-by-Cube/p1|archivedate=January 6, 2012}}
| rev1 = Teletext GameCentral
| rev1Score = 7/10{{cite web|last=Hargreaves|first=Roger|date=January 2010|title=Death By Cube (360)|url=http://www.teletext.co.uk/gamecentral/features-reviews/81e8bd2d345229438e1f59ddd1ef6d69/Death+By+Cube+(360).aspx|website=Teletext GameCentral|publisher=Teletext Ltd.|accessdate=July 19, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125132929/http://www.teletext.co.uk/gamecentral/features-reviews/81e8bd2d345229438e1f59ddd1ef6d69/Death+By+Cube+(360).aspx|archivedate=January 25, 2010}}
}}
Prior to its release, Death By Cube was set up for demo play at the Square Enix booth of the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, where several reviewers commented on the game as being exceptionally bloody.{{cite web|last=Ekberg|first=Brian|date=September 25, 2009|title=Death By Cube Hands-On|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/death-by-cube-hands-on/1100-6230403/|website=GameSpot|publisher=Fandom|accessdate=July 19, 2019|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130125184314/http://www.gamespot.com/death-by-cube/previews/death-by-cube-hands-on-6230403/|archivedate=January 25, 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Totilo|first=Stephen|date=September 26, 2009|title=Death By Cube Impressions: One Of TGS' Bloodiest|url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/09/death-by-cube-impressions-one-of-tgs-bloodiest/|website=Kotaku Australia|publisher=Allure Media|accessdate=June 14, 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114225021/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/09/death-by-cube-impressions-one-of-tgs-bloodiest/|archivedate=January 14, 2010}} Kotaku Australia{{'}}s Stephen Totilo praised the game for requiring more strategy than other twin stick shooters, and remarked that "This little game might well have been the bloodiest game at the Tokyo Game Show".
Death By Cube received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Critics took issues with multiple aspects of the game, including wildly fluctuating difficulty levels, a threadbare plot, poor visuals, and that additional levels had to be unlocked by grinding through the initial levels. Brett Todd of GameSpot summarized the game by saying that "While the action can be gratifyingly frenetic for a few minutes here and there, the overall game design is simplistic and repetitive, the varying difficulty is incredibly frustrating, and the look and sound of the game are too primitive to hold your attention for long."
Since its release, the game sold 10,020 units worldwide by January 2011.{{cite web|last=Langley|first=Ryan|date=January 27, 2011|title=In-depth: Xbox Live Arcade's 2010 Sales Revealed|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/in-depth-xbox-live-arcade-s-2010-sales-revealed|website=Game Developer|publisher=Informa|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727003213/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/in-depth-xbox-live-arcade-s-2010-sales-revealed|archivedate=July 27, 2024|url-status=live}} Sales of the game moved up to 12,131 units by the end of 2011.{{cite web|last=Langley|first=Ryan|date=January 20, 2012|title=Xbox Live Arcade by the numbers - the 2011 year in review|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/xbox-live-arcade-by-the-numbers---the-2011-year-in-review|website=Game Developer|publisher=Informa|accessdate=January 4, 2025|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325034553/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39713/Xbox_Live_Arcde_by_the_numbers__the_2011_year_in_review.php|archivedate=March 25, 2019|url-status=live}}
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References
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