Home > Reviews
|
Multiplayer Game Reviews
March 28, 2011
 Excuse me Sir! Aleph One
Were you a Mac-gamer 12 years ago? Are you interested in playing the spiritual ancestor of the Halo Series? Then it’s time, dear friend, to download and enjoy Aleph One and play through all the Marathon Games that you can eat.
How This Works:
So you don’t just download the game Marathon. You have to download the Aleph One runtime and then download the files for each game you want to play. Don’t worry, this is 100% legal. Bungie released the source code for it a long time ago, so you’re good. This also means there are tons of user-created maps and scenarios.
There are installers for Mac, Windows and Linux. So, everyone gets their fair try. Trust me, it’s a good time.
Gameplay
You are the last defender of the space station ‘Marathon’. Aliens are trying to take over, but you, and your guns and wits, are standing between them. You relive the battles that have happened in the past by logging into computers and seeing what the A.I. has to say. Seriously, the plot is what makes this a great great game.
 Why yes, sports fan, those are double shotguns. You have to figure out mazes, shoot aliens and flip switches and stuff. On top of that, the music is, in the words of my girlfriend ‘tripping me out’. This game is a sensory delight. You will look up from your screen and realize you have just lost hours of your life, and you couldn’t be happier.
Technical
There’s no jump. Get used to it. You’ll be happier in the long run. This makes certain levels very frustrating. Every Marathon player has been at that point where they’re staring at a hole in the wall, within striking distance of the end, and you would be totally fine if you had a jump but no.
You have a motion detector, a map and a comprehensive readout of ammo and guns. Despite this, the aliens will kill you. Do not despair. Oh yeah, it doesn’t save after every level (there aren’t really levels, only transport points) so even if you finish a level, you still have to save.
Multiplayer
The single player was great, the Multiplayer was epic. Even today it sets the standard for quality online interactions. Seriously, this is LAN party material if I ever saw it. I used to play it before school. God my life was sad.
Final Verdict
Really? Do I really have to give a final verdict for one of the best games that has ever been released? Judge for yourself.
|
|
| Gameplay: |  | | Technical: | | | Multiplayer: | | |
Game: Aleph One | Developer: Bungie
March 24, 2011
 To be honest, Dragon Age II (DA2) took me by surprise. When I played Dragon Age: Origins (DA:O) back in 09, I was glad that we received another RPG in a gaming community that is more accustomed to fast paced, adrenaline filled action games. So naturally, to me, the sequel would improve on the first game. They did, and they didn’t. DA:O was built for the PC gaming crowd, while it’s console partners (Xbox 360 and Playstation 3) had to adjust to its’ more strategic combat, using a variety of camera angles and pausing to issue orders in order to get through more of the games challenging moments. DA2 was built towards the console gamers, a move that many PC gamers were not happy with. They stripped a lot of what made DA:O an RPG and turned it into an Action-RPG. For those who played Mass Effect 1 & 2, you’ll get the comparison. For those of you who have not played any of the games listed here, think of it like the old Star Wars trilogy compared with the new. Sure, everything “fits” in the same story sense, but you can’t just nudge past the feeling that something was traded away from what it was to make it more acceptable. It just feels wrong. If you have not played any of the games and did not watch any of the movies to get the comparison, then I just don’t know.
The game play is, for lack of a better word, streamlined. The world seems small, the giant city of Kirkwall seems sparse, and the locations you can visit become very familiar. Dungeon layouts re-use the same layouts, blocking off doors not in use that they would be in other quests. The same three classes are there for you to pick from; Warrior, Mage, and Rogue, with a variety of companions filling the gap. Combat has been simplified. There are barely any separate camera angles, just enough to get a very small overhead view, mostly you’ll be looking at your characters back. Unless you’re playing on a high difficulty, there’s very little need for strategy. The most strategic thing you can do with the combat at early points, and almost a need in higher difficulties is cross-class combos. Various skills cause one of three different effects based on your class, and other classes can use a skill that exploit that. For instance, a rogue uses a skill that disorients a target, a warrior can use another skill that causes 4 times the regular damage against the disoriented target but gets rid of it so it can’t be exploited continually. What this does though is makes the game feel more fluid during combat. It’s a trade off.
 Customization takes a bit of a back seat as well. You can customize your main character however you wish, except you must be a human. Changing your style past the first few presets also changes how your family looks as well. The preset for both the male and female Hawke though are fairly well done if you aren’t the customizing type. You can change everything about your companion’s equipment except their armor, and to some lesser extent their weapons. Some do well with a new weapon, others never get replaced. Their appearance is what you get. The only exception here is when you finish a relationship with one of the companions you can romance, then their outfit changes to a separate one. It’s only for that one person though and if you don’t like the change, too bad. Instead of refitting your companions with new armor, you find upgrades in a variety of places; shops, crates and barrels, quests. The upgrades ranged anywhere from more armor, stats, or adding a rune slot where you can place an enchantment. The further blow to customization happens in the skill trees. You receive two companions who are warriors, three if you included yourself if you decided your main character will be a warrior. You can make any of them a tank by using a sword and shield. The problem is, only one of them is suited to be a tank since each companion has a personal skill tree. It -can- work with the other one or yourself since all three can pick up the sword & shield tree, but know one person can do it better since their personal tree is dedicated to making them a tank. The real bothersome thing is if you need a healer, you really only get one option since only one of your mages gets the tree to heal. If you dislike that person as a companion, or goes against what you’re playing as, then you either shelf them and go without a healer or be annoyed and deal with it.
 The story, for what it is, is good. It delves into the politics of a city, paranoia, group oppression, and betrayal. The story is actually being told through one of your companions over three acts, who is being interrogated as to the main character’s (your) location. Each act ends and starts with your companion telling his interrogators what happened during the time you left off. Explaining why you disappeared and why this particular group is looking for you delves into the late story and is spoiler filled so just know that things blow up in an important way. The only thing that bothered me is that for all the choices you seem to be given, little matters. You can import your old DA:O save to have some minor tie-ins, but it effects little overall. Only a few things actually happen, story wise. The rest is maybe passed by in a line of text.
The sound I can’t comment much on because it didn’t really stick out to me. The voice acting is well done. As far as the ambient soundtrack goes, I actually could not tell you off the top of my head because I honestly can’t remember if the city or the other areas even had music. It was that subdued. The battle music suits fighting fine, but unfortunately mine was bugged at the time of playing (as were others judging from their forum) where the battle music only cuts in for a second and the rest of the time is just a high pitched echo playing. I know what it sounds like though and it is nice, shame I didn’t get to hear it actually in my game though opposed to having to find it outside of it.
The graphics are fairly good, even on lower settings the game looks nice so that’s a plus for those who can’t run it very high. They aren’t mind blowing but they’re modern, so you wouldn’t feel like you’re playing a game a few years back.
Overall, Dragon age II is a great game. Despite my personal feelings about the switch in gameplay, I can see what they were going for and making it a bigger market on the consoles and that’s just business. I enjoyed the game, and currently running it through a second time. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys RPGs, action or traditional based. Just if you’re coming in from the first game keep an open mind and enjoy it for what it is, not what we might’ve expected/wanted. Change keeps the industry alive, and we have to roll with it.
Game: Dragon Age II | Developer: Bioware
March 16, 2011
 An ugly old man hanging out in his attic in his whitey-tighties. This is just sad.  If you want some positive affirmation, this game is not the place to look for it. Clarence has absolutely nothing going for him. He’s fat, ugly, smells bad, has a boring job, and has never had a girlfriend. This is all about to change. Well, not really. He’ll still be fat and ugly, and will still have the same old boring job. But he is about to embark on his first date ever, since he met a woman online and told her a bunch of lies in order to get her to go out with him. And this is where Clarence’s Big Chance begins.
Ok. I’m going to be honest. I read the description and expected this game to be one of those dating sims. I ended up playing it anyway, and what I discovered was an incredible retro gaming experience, slathered in awesome sauce and topped with a really snarky sense of humor.
Clarence’s Big Chance is a massive 2D side-scrolling platformer, in which Clarence’s daily routine is filled with jumping, dodging, and vintage gaming references. You must help him get dressed, which means old Clarence will spend the beginning portion of the game in his whitey-tighties. Ew.
Clarence also must eat breakfast, requiring him to get into a fridge (which is actually a portal to a gigantic frozen dimension) for cereal, and then get milk from the inside of a gigantic oven filled with flying rotisserie chicken.
 Do not ever buy this brand of toothpaste. Seriously. Yeah, this game is beyond weird. But those of us who grew up in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of gaming remember a time when oddness was pretty much expected from our games. We had classics like ToeJam and Earl and Earthworm Jim. Ahh, those days were golden.
There are signposts that are there to guide you through the game, but mostly they just poke fun of how hopeless poor Clarence is. My favorite lets you know you can gain extra height when jumping on beds. It puts it like this: “You can bounce on beds, you know! Hold SPACE while jumping on them to bounce higher into the sky, like some kind of extremely ugly eagle which is a virgin. And fat. So very fat.” So harsh, yet so hilarious!
Clarence’s Big Chance features inside jokes that long-time gamers will appreciate. For example, the plumbers have black mustaches (Mario, anyone?) Burglars even wear green helmets that they retreat inside of once you stomp on their heads (so much like the koopas from Super Mario Bros.)
To top it off, this game has a great soundtrack. It may get a little repetitive eventually, but these songs are extremely well-written homages that sound exactly like they were written in 1991 for the Sega Genesis. Perfect for a game like this.
And this game is seriously huge. It features at least as much gameplay as the original Super Mario Bros. And it’s absolutely free.
If you didn’t get to experience what gaming was like in the early 1990s, I feel a bit sorry for you. But Clarence’s Big Chance pretty much sums up the experience as well as any game could. Seriously. If you like retro games at all, do not miss this one.
 Sure, Clarence is still making bad choices. But thank God he's finally wearing clothes! Game: Clarence’s Big Chance | Developer: Psuedolonewolf
March 14, 2011
 Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World was an awesome game. I’m probably a little biased because it’s one of those wonderful click and combine games. You know the kind, the ones where you find item A in one room and item C in another room, combine them and make item B, which you need to open the door to the next puzzle. I love those kinds of games and usually they have to be pretty awful to turn me off, butt his one isn’t by any means awful. It’s a clever game with a simple premise.
You play the game as Kaptain Brawe, who kind of reminds me of that blonde captain from Futurama. Zapp Brannigan. In the demo, he has a second in command who is also a lot like Kif, in the sense that he’s fully aware of the fact that his commanding officer is a dimwit, but covers for him with a bit of annoyance and good humor. They’re fun characters.
The game play itself is nothing new. Like I said, you find items and use them to get places. When you have a game like this, which is so much alike others, you really have to focus on the aspects that are different. Is the story good? Are the characters engaging? Is it funny? The answer to all of these questions would be a resounding “Yes!” The world that develops around you is not only pretty, it’s interesting and interactive. If you’re not laughing over Brawe’s stupidity, you’re laughing at the descriptions and various items that liter the world they’ve created, just to be amusing.
Another leg up this game has over the competition is the fact that it has two options. You can play it for fun and the likes and laugh over the silly monologue or you can play it without it and really challenge yourself with the item puzzles. I played both and found them acceptably different. You still get the same game but with a steeper learning curve, which is always awesome.
All in all, I thought this was a fantastic game. You find a little bit of everything here. There’s humor, challenge, and fun, dynamic characters that work hard to make sure you enjoy your time. The price is a little higher than the other games I played this week but it was well worth it. Even though the screenshots I’ve got posted are the developer snaps (I’m having a weird problem taking screenshots in games, they always turn out black or white) they’re a good representation of what the game world is like. It’s lush, pretty, and done with a great eye to detail. Well worth it.
Game: Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World| Developer: Cateia Games
March 13, 2011
 Excelsior Corporation Inc.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a button pushing company from the ground to a multi-level, money earning machine. You do this by hiring, upgrading and not-sucking.
Gameplay
If you’ve played SimTower, this will seem familiar. However, there are some crucial differences. First, you place offices that are blank slates. Each office has 4 slots, each slot holds an employee. You click a certain employee from the menu and place him at a desk.
Your basic employee is a worker. A worker presses a button. At the base level, every time he presses a button, you get a dollar in revenue. Now, you can hire a supervisor who walks around, smacking workers in the head. After that the worker works harder. Now, if you want to leverage that money, then you can hire some accountants. Each one earns 5% more per push of each worker.
 workworkworkworkworkwork Would you imagine that getting hit on the head would improve moral? No, it doesn’t. You have to worry about your workers’ happiness. For every 20 employees, you get a cat. Cats improve happiness. You can also buy HR employees that do something or something.
You’ll also need to hire janitors and researchers. Janitors clean during the night so your employees don’t get mad. Researchers, well, research. The game technically ends when you have completed the tech tree. So, yeah, invest in reasearchers.
Technical
Beyond the placing of employees this is a pretty complex game. You can upgrade office space. On top of that you have to worry about transportation (you can install a firepole or a skyhook or even a vacuum tube). Unlike SimTower there isn’t a limited # of elevator shafts so go crazy. Seriously you can have tubes right next to each other. You can’t see anything though so I wouldn’t recommend that.
In the end, this game is all about balance. You can even show off your towers to other people. You know what I found out from that? All towers look alike and are boring.
Final Verdict
Great game. It has a pause button and you can change time so this really feels like you are god. Enjoy it because it makes businessing seem like it is really easy.
Game: Corporation Inc | Developer: JCooney
March 10, 2011
 This hamster has some sweet upside-down ninja moves. If you can read a game title like Ninja Hamsters Vs. Robots and not immediately do whatever it takes to get your hands on the game, I don’t know what kind of horrible person you are. Hamsters are cute, Ninjas are awesome, robots are just plain cool, and all of them together should be nothing short of incredible. Unfortunately, Ninja Hamsters Vs. Robots proves that even a formula doused with this much awesome sauce can yeild a slightly uninspired result.
Sure, this game has all the pieces you’ve come to expect from the genius called Nerdook: cute cartoony characters, a clever sense of humor, and music that may not be the greatest ever but is certainly catchy and sets the perfect mood. However, the gameplay is sadly shallow, especially after following I Am an Insane Rogue AI. I know Nerdook’s games are usually pretty simple, but this one feels even more stripped down than usual – to the point where it ceases to be interesting.
 Robots require logical explanations every step of the way. The basic premise is that the Insane Rogue AI (from I Am an Insane Rogue AI, in case it wasn’t immediately obvious) has already killed all the humans and taken over the world. The task of bringing it back under the control of non-AI beings falls into the hands of hamsters. Hamsters who are trained in the ninja arts.
Robots parachute from the sky, and by clicking them you send the little ninja hamster to attack. You earn points by collecting sushi, which you can spend on upgrades for your cute little guy, making him an even better ninja. At the end of each stage, after taking down a number of waves of bots – a number which increases every level – you must fight a boss that looks like a silhouette water tower with a single red eye.
Bottom line: had this been built by anyone else, I may have given it higher marks. But Nerdook generally puts out such awesome and addictive titles that Ninja Hamsters Vs. Robots set my expectations pretty high. It’s not a bad game by any means, but we all know that Nerdook can do better. Perhaps this game was designed specifically to be compatible with Kongregate’s new Android app, and that may have been stifling to its true potential. (To be honest, the game is actually more fun on an Android device than it is on a computer screen.) But don’t feel too badly about skipping this one, unless you absolutely must know how the whole Insane Rogue AI taking over the world thing ends.
Nerdook still holds a special place in my heart, though, and I eagerly look forward to his next masterpiece.
 The Sushi Chef tries to inform you of the differences between reality and the video game world. This is so you don't send your pet hamster to a terrible death by dressing it up like a ninja and sending it after an army of killer robots. Game: Ninja Hamsters Vs Robots | Developer: Nerdook
March 8, 2011
 I'm looking for a quest! Uncharted Waters
If you are from East Asia, then you have probably heard of and lost your life to this game. If you are from the West, you have probably been waiting to dedicate your life to sailing around in a boat.
Gameplay
Uncharted Waters takes place during the Age of Exploration; when real men sewed jewels into their frocks, women were earthy and children had grease on their faces. In this game you can adventure, be a soldier or trade.
Although it’s boat based, there are sea-areas, land-areas and towns. You can also choose to be English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Venician. You also get to choose whether they are adventurer, merchant or a soldier. These classes aren’t binding, but it’s going to be a hassle if you want to change them.
Like in Civilization, each nation has its own perks, I won’t go into them, but there is a fair amount of similarity between the real life versions and the on-line versions.
 Better luck next time sucker! You click where you want to move. Double clicking turns your ship in a certain direction. Like all good MMORPG’s there is an area where you can accept quests. Once you finish them, you report back and collect your reward. If you’re too far away, you can get a female to report back for you, which is suh-weeeeeet.
Technical
This game was first released in 1995 (the normal version) and has been On-line since 2005 in Asia. It is only this year that us stinking Americans had access to it. Honestly, you can’t tell that we’re half a decade behind. The arena is sprawling, and, although you can take quests and stuff, you’re on your own for most of it.
It’s smooth and the controls are super easy. Seriously, I am almost always stymied by basic controls, and I had no problem here. It’s not too bad to look at either.
Multiplayer
Yes, there is PVP. PVP is awesome. Seriously, it’s boat battles. You can outfit your boat to ram other people.
You can also trade, and there is a chat client that is pretty slick. You don’t really need to be on a team or be part of an alliance to make it in this game. Like a rake in the ages of yor, you can stake your claim in the open ocean, feel the wind in your hair and bask in the ethereal glow of pixelated piratical bliss.
|
|
| Gameplay: |  | | Technical: | | | Multiplayer: | | |
Game: Uncharted Waters Online | Developer: KOEI
March 7, 2011
 Why yes, I have played Lemmings. Thanks for asking. I have to admit, I love trivia. I mean I LOVE it. Embarrassingly so. And, as you can probably tell, I love video games as well. So what better way to celebrate my love for both of those things than with a trivia video game about other video games.
Geek Mind isn’t exactly a trivia game, I suppose, but it’s close enough that I really can’t think of a better category for it.
The premise is simple: there are 60 seconds on the clock. You are given a single screenshot (or a piece of cover art in some cases) from a random video game, and you must type the title of the game. If you get the answer right, you get some points and some time added to your clock. In the beginning, correct answers are worth 100 points and 10 seconds. (One restriction: the clock will never exceed 60 seconds. So if you get a correct answer at 56 seconds, you will only earn 4 seconds.) However, as your score increases, so does the difficulty. You will gain more points per correct answer, but you will also gain less time. And if you are stuck, you can either get a hint or skip the image completely, but skipping an image will subtract 25 points from your score and burn precious seconds as the next image loads up.
 Trust me. I know my ducks. For as simple as it is, this is an incredibly addictive experience. Every I increased my high score, I had to play one more round to increase it even more. And every time I lost, I had to play one more game in order to not feel so bad about losing. So, as you can imagine, “one more game” became “dozens more games” very quickly.
There are a few things that really impressed me about Geek Mind. First of all, no matter how many times I played through this game, I was always given at least some images I hadn’t seen before. Sure, there will be repeats once you’ve played long enough, but there will almost always be new ones. (Trust me, I put quite a bit of time into this one.) Secondly, there were always multiple ways to write an answer that would give you a correct score. For example, Final Fantasy VII can also be written as Final Fantasy 7, and Grand Theft Auto can be written as GTA. However, you must know how to spell each game title, and most of the time you must know which number the game is in a series. (Take Bomberman, for example. Typing Bomberman will not count as a correct answer if the game is Bomberman 2.)
If you think you know a lot about video games, Geek Mind is here to prove you wrong or right. It includes the mega hits of yesteryear and today, as well as some obscure indies, so even the brainiest gamer will be challenged. (Seriously. Expect to name everything from Pong to Red Dead Redemption.) But be warned: if you’re anything like me, you will definitely spend an incredible deal of time on this one.
 I admit. I only added this photo to show off my score. I am a gaming genius. Game: Geek Mind | Developer: Dom2D
March 4, 2011
 Secrets of the Magic Crystals was a confusing game and I don’t just mean the game itself. The entire process of playing it was confusing by itself. I wish I could just scan my notes and have you guys see the confusion that was Nina S. while she was playing this game. As I doubt my bosses would be pleased with that I will do my best to explain how this went. {Editor’s Note – Actually I think it would have been kind of amusing.}
The first fifteen minutes of playing any game I usually just read the description, look at the screenshots, and kind of mentally prepare myself. If I’m about to play an action game I might listen to some pumping music or jump around like I’m gearing up for a fight. Yes, I realize this makes me a big dork but I don’t care, I get into my games! This was a family game, so I wasn’t really expecting much by action, so instead I kind of chilled out. I picked it because it has a Pegasus on the cover and I’m a sucker for Greek Mythology. Fine, wasn’t expecting much.
After about half an hour of playing I was ready to switch games and call this one a bust. The game tells you what you are doing. Constantly. It tells you that this is the Barn and that is where you take care of animals. It tells you that this is the Corral, and that is where you train your animals. Still, it doesn’t explain some of the more questionable aspects of the game. It doesn’t tell you how to increase your horses abilities. It doesn’t tell you what the POINT of buying items is, and it doesn’t tell you how to get items to make horse shoes. It stresses things that you could have figured out yourself and completely neglects things that needed to be explained. Bah.
About an hour in, I’d gotten over my initial annoyance and figured out some things. I was still rather annoyed by the process and I had no idea what the stupid timer to the left was for or what the weather changed, but whatever. I was playing with my Pegasus and my Unicorn and having a relatively good time. Even though it was monotonous and simple, I decided to give it another hour.
…
Two hours later I looked up and realized I was still playing this game. My husband came in and CHECKED on me. He was actually concerned. And he had a right to be. Now, I realize that a lot of casual games are built primarily to waste time, but my Goddess. Where did the time go?! I realized that I’d spent a disturbing amount of time repeating quests and grinding money, but I was happy. My horses were healthy and awesome and I kept pushing them to win races, find me items, and pull heavy objects.
Now, I don’t know if I would recommend this game. It was simple, annoying, and grindy, but…there was a certain magical charm about it. It WASN’T a GOOD game, but for what it is meant to be…it’s incredible. Does that make sense to you? Good, now we’re both confused.
Game: Secrets of the Magic Crystals | Developer: Artery Games
March 2, 2011
I got Magicka while I was sitting in a room full of people, bored out of my mind. It was one of those days. I started playing it and was immediately impressed, mostly by the cute graphics. They’re not too complicated, but they really get the job done. Besides that, I like the choices the developers made. They could have vied for the more dungeon-esque type art style, which would have worked just as beautifully for the gameplay, but instead they kept it simple and fun. It’s an easy thing to overlook if you’re just in the mood to play a game and not dissect it or anything, but I appreciate those little things.
Now, there isn’t a lot of complexity with Magicka. You have to remember some basic spells and use them in combination to get through various trials. Re-reading that sentence, it sounds rather boring, so let me be a little clearer. The game isn’t complicated, by way of use. The tutorial is fantastic, and anyone can play it. That’s why it makes such an ideal multiplayer. You can play it with a bunch of adult friends or you can play with others.
It’s one of the few games I’ve noticed lately that has a local co-op option, which just blows my mind. I won’t lie, just the fact that it has local co-op already gives it a fairly high number of points in my system, just because a lot of the bigger name companies are getting rid of this. This feature is why I got into games in the first place, when I was little it was the whole reason I even bothered to leave my cove of books and drawings. Local co-op is what games are all about for me.
Another thing that Magicka has going for it is the fact that it’s funny. It’s meant to be kind of a satire of the games we’ve been playing for years. Couple that with a story based on mythology, challenging fights, and interesting levels, and this is really the kind of game I want to have around when I’m sitting around with a bunch of friends.
I love this game. It’s got a good, solid premise and is executed wonderfully. The price just can’t be beat and it’s fun. Yes, damnit, I said fun. Hours of entertainment seems to be easy enough to come by these days, but fun? Fun is a marvel.
|
|
| Gameplay: |  | | Technical: |  | | Multiplayer: | | |
Game: Magicka| Developer: Arrowhead Game Studio
March 1, 2011
 I was really excited about playing Dungeons because of the promotional video. They really did it up and did it well. Naturally, I was hoping that the time and effort they seemed to put into the video would be well reflected in the game itself. I went in thinking that if it was even half as good as what they were promising me, I’d be absolutely set.
The basic premise of this game is to be on the other side of the gaming universe. Instead of playing a hero who is traveling through a dungeon and scooping up gold, you’re the demon guy who set up the dungeon and is trying to kill said hero. Only, it’s much more difficult to keep a dungeon in top running condition than you would have thought.
The opening for this game was beautiful. There’s no two ways about it. The rendering was lovely, the voice acting superb, and I love the little things, like the respect for the 4th wall. It really sucks you into the story and allows you to submerge yourself into game play, while still coming up with an easy to understand tutorial.
Now, I did say the tutorial was easy to understand, because it is, but don’t get me wrong. This is a fairly complex game and after two hours of playing I still hadn’t managed to get through the demo. It wasn’t monotony that dragged everything out, here. Instead it was the sheer wealth of “stuff” to do. If I wasn’t clearing walls, or chasing down heroes, I was protecting my dungeon heart, trying to figure out what everything did, and playing with spells. It’s one of those games where you can skate by without trying everything, but you really, really….really want to.
The game is a lot like civilization in the fact that you have to learn to balance everything you have with everything you need. You also need to manage your time well and keep an eye on all of the various points of entry to your dungeon. It’s not easy, trying to expand on one side of the  game while figuring out how you’re supposed to guard against heroes and other annoying trespassers, but it’s definitely a good kind of frustration.
Still, even with as much as I enjoyed the game, I didn’t buy it. I realize that the price tag isn’t all that steep for some games, but this is supposed to be an Indie game and I’m a bit wary of spending that much on one. Then again, it’s my understanding that these guys have quite a few popular games out, so maybe this tycoon-style game is a testament to all their glory. A good game, overall, and if I see a good sale I might pick it up.
Game: Dungeons | Developer: Realmforge Studios
February 27, 2011
 Now, I’m not too fond of action games. I don’t know why, exactly, it’s not like I have anything against them, it’s more that I can rarely get sucked into them. I know there are plenty of action games with fantastic stories but I can never find one that is balanced in just the right way for me to actually care about the characters and want to kick ass. This previous assumption was not only blown away by A.R.E.S. : Extinction Agenda, it made me want to go back over the games that I’d already played and see if I missed anything.
My first impression of the game was a rather stunned “Wow!” I wasn’t expecting to be so pumped up from the short opening but I really was. The music choice was incredible (which remains a constant throughout the game) and the art works well. It’s a clean kind of gritty that makes me happy to be blowing crap up.
 Now, in A.R.E.S., you’re playing as a special suited individual who is sent in to investigate the happenings of a ship that was taken over. There are hostages somewhere, an important Doctor in particular, that you have to save. Unfortunately, standing between you and the hostages are a number of rogue and dangerous machines. Your course of action? Blasting through them, naturally.
I was a little worried as I moved through the tutorial, as the instructions are written as much for an Xbox controller as a keyboard. I’ve found that when this is the case, there is sometimes something lacking in the keyboard version. Like they really want you to play it on the Xbox, but since you’re going to use a keyboard they kind of threw something together. That isn’t the case here, the keyboard instructions work just fine and the game runs smoothly without any weird finger stretches required.
 The game also allows you to upgrade your guns and suit. You do so with the bits and pieces of the robots you destroy on your way through the game. I thought this was interesting, especially because you can also use these bits and pieces to make healing packs, which…you know, I kind of needed quite often. I found myself really enjoying this game but I still have a bit of trouble remembering that fire is bad and I shouldn’t stand in it.
All in all, this game had me pumped. I was so freakin excited about shooting things that were shooting at me I literally ended up cheering by the time I killed the first boss. Well worth a look.
Game: A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda| Developer: Extend Studio
February 26, 2011
 Spin time! Hooray! Wait, is that good? If you could bring dinosaurs back from extinction, like in the film Jurassic Park, what would you do with them? If you said, “Put them on a treadmill, have a disco party, and add Wheel-of-Fortune-type mini-games,” then boy do I ever have a game for you.
Treadmillasaurs Rex is a game in which you play as the T-rex, pretty much the king of the dinosaurs. Awesome, right? Well… Not really, since this entire game is spent on a treadmill.
Personally, if I were a T-rex, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t stand for this kind of treatment. I mean, being forced to run on a treadmill while dodging spike balls and lasers really sounds pretty un-T-rex-like. I’d much rather be out trashing buildings and brawling with my mortal enemy the triceratops. Or maybe some velociraptors or something.
 Spikes. The fastest way to re-extinct-ify the T-rex. “But wait,” you say. “This isn’t just any old treadmill. It’s a party treadmill!”
True. I suppose Treadmillasaurus Rex features a party treadmill. And there is a Wheel-of-Awesome which spins every now and again. But that wheel is filled with some pretty nasty things. Some of the things listed on this wheel are “right laser” and “left laser,” which move the lasers that confine you even closer. And “wind” just causes there to be more resistance. Every once in a while, you power up with “party +1″ and “confetti +1,” but those things are hard to enjoy when you are running for your life. But at least you get to count the amount of calories this poor creature is burning. (Yes, this game actually makes me feel sorry for the T-rex, that poor old king of the terrible lizards.)
Quite frankly, Treadmillasaurus Rex was designed for one specific type of person. Fortunately, I’ve never met that type of person. That is to say, if you are a normal person who is into normal things, skip this game. If you have fun dressing up animals and forcing them into extremely strict workout regimens, you might actually get some satisfaction from this. You sick freak.
 It's a calorie-burnin' party up in here! Game: Treadmillasaurus Rex| Developer: Armor Games
February 24, 2011
 I played Hacker Evolution for a few long, painful hours.
The game is a simulation of hacking. That’s pretty straight forward. I don’t think it was made to be easy, and it’s not. You have to remember a number of commands, which isn’t all that difficult, especially if you do what I did and just keep a list scribbled out on the desk next to you. Your mission is to stop some kind of global computer meltdown. I believe it’s a kind of Skynet problem, but honestly, even after the second hour I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. You hack into ATMs and the like in order to get money and upgrade your tech, which allows you to hack deeper without getting your Trace too high.
Now, I’m not a hacker. That much is obvious. Most days I can barely figure out how to install complex systems. It’s pretty sad, all in all, but I’m comfortable with my level of computer knowledge or lack there of. At the same time…I saw the Matrix. I thought Swordfish was an awesome movie, and so when I saw a game that promised to let me “learn” to be a hacker for a little bit, I was beyond excited. What I didn’t take into consideration was that hacking isn’t a game. It’s a skill that is developed slowly and carefully, one that is dangerous and not always rewarding. And that is exactly what this game is like.
Hacker Evolution looks good. It is a very pretty game, especially considering the fact that you’re staring at text for most of the time.  Still, the color options are harsh on the eyes. Again, this isn’t something I would have nitpicked on, but when the entire game is all about staring at the screen and trying to remember a bunch of codes, it’s a bit of a problem. The music audio in the game isn’t anything too ear-catching, but I suppose it’s not supposed to be. You need to focus in order to be a hacker, after all.
The game allows you to make your own levels. This is usually a good thing, and can really take a fantastic game and stretch all that hot, gooey goodness to the max. Unfortunately, if you have a lukewarm game play to begin with it just kind of…limps along.
This was a complex, interesting game but I wouldn’t recommend it, per say. It’s a good way to burn out a few hours, but it felt more like work and less like fun.
Game: Hacker Evolution | Developer: Exosyphen Studios
February 23, 2011
 Guide the humans through this war-torn landscape. Giving a numbered rating to a game like ImmorTall is always difficult. ImmorTall contains almost no gameplay, yet is still a beautiful piece of art with a deep message and a poignant story. On the one hand, this game knows exactly what it wants to do and simply does it brilliantly. On the other hand, besides the fact that players have very limited control over one of the characters, this is really just a flash movie that plays out in a matter of minutes. Yet those few minutes are incredibly powerful. If I give this game high marks, readers might be disappointed when the game ends so quickly. But a low score really would undermine the emotional impact this game actually has. A medium score would suggest that ImmorTall is mediocre, which simply is not true.
So ultimately, I decided to judge this game based on how well it presents itself. The silhouette-based visual style looks great, and the wide aspect ratio sets up the perfect frame for the details. The music completes this scene, meshing wonderfully with the look and the story of the game. I decided to give ImmorTall some high marks, with a low score in the ”gameplay” category. That seems fair to me.
 A crashed alien pod. How interesting... The story in ImmorTall is intriguing. Players take command of a tiny alien who has crash landed on Earth. This little guy is given some food and grows pretty tall, also becoming invincible. Or so it seems. The alien meets some some humans that treat him kindly, and when war comes to the home of these people, the alien protects them by standing in front of the bullets.
The story is brief but asks some serious questions about humanity and war. Sure, we love to glorify warfare in video games, but this video game challenges that. What is the point of all this fighting? Who are the real winners and losers in this war? Sure, these questions are hardly new, but the video game is a rare medium to ask them.
ImmorTall is painfully short and offers very little control or in-game rewards, yet packs an emotional wallop and a gorgeously simplistic visual style. You don’t really play ImmorTall so much as you experience it. True enjoyment comes from sitting back and soaking it in, pondering its message long after the game is finished.
Bottom line: go play ImmorTall. It’s only a few minutes in length, so making time for this one shouldn’t be a problem.
 "He seems friendly enough. Feed him an apple!" Game: ImmorTall | Developer: Pixelante
« Newer Posts — Older Posts »
 |
