Another Mediocre Top-Down Space Shooter

My first thought when I noticed Mars Conflict was, "Great... another top-down arcade space shooter. I wonder, is there an easier genre of game to make with Game Maker?" Since every one of these games have almost identical gameplay (occasionally one will come along which is original, but this rare), they rely on graphics, background story, and a nifty interface to distract us from the fact that beneath the surface is pretty much the same game engine we've been playing for years. Now, I'm not saying that these games aren't fun, because Mars Conflict was actually pretty entertaining. I'm just tired of seeing the same thing done a million times... and this game had no special twist that set it apart from the others.

GRAPHICS
The graphics, though pretty nice looking if I looked at them individually, looked weird against the background. You may disagree, but I know I'm not the only one who thought this. The effects were good. 4/5

SOUND
The sound was pretty standard. 3/5

GAMEPLAY
Like I said before, it's basically what you've seen plenty of times already. Any differences are very minor. The two best things about the gameplay are that you control everything with the mouse, and the secondary weapons you pick up are pretty satisfying to use (I especially liked the rocket packs). 3/5

STORY
The story is pretty decent. It reminded me a little of Wall-E, lol. 4/5

INTERFACE
Nothing special. 3/5