Earlier today, Amazon announced a new set-top box called Fire TV that's available for $99.
In addition to letting users stream online services like Netflix and Hulu, Amazon is offering games for play.
Users will be able to play mobile games on their TVs in addition to exclusive games created by Amazon Game Studios. The biggest news was the announcement of its first game, a sci-fi tower defense shooter, “Sev Zero.”
Here's the game synopsis from Amazon:
"Earth is threatened by an alien species, the Ne’ahtu. Early in the 22nd century, the Ne’ahtu infected Earth’s energy grid with a computer virus that disabled the planet’s defenses. Before the Ne’ahtu could strike, computer prodigy Amy Ramanujan neutralized the alien computer virus and saved the planet. Now, the Ne’ahtu are back and Dr. Ramanujan is trying to prevent them from another all-out invasion of Earth. Switching between towers (to launch various missiles and grenades) and face-to-face combat (to attack with machine guns), the player’s mission is to join Dr. Ramanujan and defend Earth from the Ne’ahtu.
In Sev Zero, players can jump between environments—start in tower defense mode to build out towers and assess the surroundings, and then beam down to shooter mode for face-to-face combat against the Ne’ahtu. Players can also bring friends and family into the action with the Sev Zero companion tablet app, Sev Zero: Air Support. With this multi-player, multi-screen experience, players help each other thwart the enemies—one player is in Air Support mode initiating air strikes from their tablet while the other player is in face-to-face combat mode."
According to Amazon, the game is the first in a series of titles being built exclusively for the company.
"Sev Zero" is available for $6.99 — much more affordable than any console games which usually retail for around $49.99-$59.99. You need one of Amazon’s $39.99 game controllers to play.
Though Amazon says its not trying to compete with Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One the game strikes us as similar to console hits "Mass Effect" and "Halo."
Amazon also reportedly took a big dig at Microsoft during its Fire TV presentation.
Check out the trailer below:
Here are a few screenshots from the game.
It looks good.
Here's what "Halo" looks like:
And "Mass Effect 3":
Other reactions have compared the game to "Sanctum," a tower defense game from the Steam console.
SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about Fire TV