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December
2005 Indie Game Monthly Round-Up
(by
The Illustrious Panel - TIP) |
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Motorama
(December 12)
by IPlayAllday Studio
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Mike Hommel: 7
 In a nutshell, I had to use one of the my 5 "level skips" to skip over the
third of the TUTORIAL levels. So yeah, it's not easy. Levels after that
were more possible, but still pretty outrageous. Prepare to try time and
again before making any progress. In Motorama terms, this game has a
difficulty curve so steep, you'll need to use your turbo to get up it, and
when you do, you'll run out of fuel halfway up. I really like the gameplay,
so it's very disappointing that it doesn't ease you into it and give you a
chance to learn before you hit the brick wall of inconceivable pain.
Seth Robinson: 8
 While we can find oodles of brick breaking games every month there aren't a
whole lot of "2d side-view bike physics" games being served up so it was a
treat to play Motorama. It's good. It's punishing. The absence of
difficulty settings is somewhat offset by being able to skip up to five
levels. You can adjust simulation speed - but this doesn't change the level
timer speed?! Huh. Great online high score system.
Mike Kasprzak: 8
 A slick physics based motorcycle game. The art looks great, and it
plays well. You can pull off some funky stunts with it as well, though
they tend to consist of flips and stalls, but still. It sports some
interesting shaped tracks, to better utilize the gameplay. Very cool.
Russ Carroll: 8
 A very deep game with tons of un-lockable bikes and riders that give it a very long life. Motorama is a good looking game with a really cool dynamic graphic system that changes the time of day throughout each level so that you'll be driving by the light of the sun one moment and the light of the stars the next moment. Only complaint is that it would be great to have a more-forgiving set of controls for beginners. Learning to ride the bike is very difficult, and riding conservatively is certainly rewarded for beginners, but that takes away a lot of the fun of doing flips in the air. |
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Acamar Rising
(December 14)
by Beteo Software and Games
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Mike Hommel: 5
Hmm. It's a 3D first-person space shooter. Your main enemies are rocks.
They are not really a match for your advanced technology and cunning.
Occasionally, non-rocks come at you, shooting, which is a bit more
dangerous, although the way they move tends be rather more hilarious than
vexing. This isn't really a good game, but I don't know that I can point to
any particular problems, other than the rocks-for-enemies theme and a
general lack of polish. It's just more that it fails to distinguish itself.
Seth Robinson: 4
The action in this 3D space simulator is centered around protecting a space
station from asteroids and the occasional comet. The radar is locked into a
static two dimensional layout completely ignoring your ships orientation -
finding things involves spinning a lot. Enemy ships must be magical and
possibly drunk because they use instant direction change, random jerking,
and seizure like movement as evasive maneuvers. I like the graphical
effects and blowing things up but shooting slow moving asteroids level after
level just isn't that fun.
Mike Kasprzak: 6
Shoot asteroids to protect the space station. They brought me out of
retirement for this? Enemies and motherships stop by to discourage my
efforts in protecting the station from asteroids. I never really
understood why they didn't just attack the station, with me occupied
with the asteroids. To help you in your ever so tedious mission, you
have an officer on the station telling you what's going on. He does
have a lot to say, but I have to admit, it was nice to have someone read
the tutorial to me, instead of usual interruption of my button pushing
for literature.
Russ Carroll: NA
Unable to get this one to work past the initial story and ship launch...which is a shame it looks interesting :(.
I did hear the initial story several times, but that really isn't
enough to rate it off of ;). |
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R.I.P.
(October 30)
by White Elephant
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Mike Hommel: 7
This is really a distillation and simplification of
Crimsonland. It's also
got cuter graphics. I like it, and I like having multiple characters with
unique skills. Like all Crimsonland clones, there are two game modes - the
regular levels, and a nonstop onslaught. The onslaught is insane. I lasted
1 minute, and I'm not sure how it's possible to last any longer. And that
was on Easy! Overall, it's a good game. It is tough, I like keeping it on
Easy, but it's fun and simple and mindless. A few glitches and issues knock
it down a peg.
Seth Robinson: 7
What would happen if you took
Crimsonland, removed the ability to move,
implemented a cool bullet time effect that also slows down audio, and added
exploding rocks? Something like this game, perhaps. I have to complain a
little about the lack of content. There just really aren't enough enemy,
perk, and weapon types to fill out forty levels. That had to be the most
useless rocket launcher I've ever seen in a game. Overall I think it's
still above average in the genre.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
A stationary shooter. In a way, it's what Zuma would be like if it was
all about killing. Spin and shoot, spin and shoot, kill mobs of
baddies. It has an odd system of experience, that lets you unlock
upgrades as you play. There's also the oddity that you play the role of
death. And it's oddly entertaining. How odd.
Russ Carroll: 7
A blatant rip-off of
Crimsonland, but is that such a bad thing? RIP puts in a turret cannon as enemies approach.
Fire away and well fire some more as you move through the levels, get cool weapons and power-ups and listen to guitar heavy music. All in all its a fine package that is enjoyable even if the
Halloween theme seems a little forced and perhaps a detriment in the
end. For anyone who didn't check out
Crimsonland, you'll find this an amazingly cool new game.
Crimsonland fans may find themselves flipping it on for a bit as well. |
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Dumb & Cool
(November 29)
by Drew's Games
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Mike Hommel: 7
Pardon the shmaltz, but this game has a lot of indie heart. Much like
pornography, I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. It also has
randomly interminable load times, a brutally exacting Time Attack mode (with
cool Metal Gear spoofage), nifty split-screen cooperative play, and cute
console feeling. The big downside to the whole affair is the Tomb
Raider-lite control scheme. That really puts a damper on the action fun.
On a similar note, the key choices are pretty obnoxious, and I could find no
way to change them.
Seth Robinson: 4
Try as I might I just can't enjoy this cutesy 3d run and jump at all. It's
a lot of little things. Unresponsive controls, especially the slow turning.
Dumb camera. The only way to pass a level is collect EVERY SINGLE coin,
this combined with the large nature of the levels makes them feel very
tedious. Technical problems like slow loading, failing the Alt-Tab test,
and crashing 50% of the time Escape is hit make this hard to recommend. Fun
cinematics.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
It's odd, but this game has decent cinematography. You really wouldn't
expect that after seeing the screenshots. Even the voice work has it's
moments, though the banter from the main characters is nothing special.
The game itself is a mediocre 3D platformer. The controls are stiff,
maybe even laggy. Still, I have to admit, I'm intrigued by it and look
forward to what these guys do next.
Russ Carroll: 7
A pretty cool 3D platform game that makes good use of its simplistic graphics and movies to
create a solid experience that will reward the time you put into it. My only issue here was the controls, which could use a little work. I found myself struggling at times to go where I intended and jumping was just a touch off (ohhh
how I long for joystick support). Still if you are looking for a fun
3D platform game Dumb & Cool definitely has plenty of style and solid polish that make it stand out a bit from the pack. |
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Alien Stars
(November 25)
by Awem Studio
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Mike Hommel: 7
100% tried and true, completely standard, vertical shooter. That rates it a
little higher than average in my book, because vertical shooters are fun.
There is not one pixel of innovation in this product, but you'll have fun
playing it, and that is quite nice. The lamest thing is the limited energy
for your normal shot (why?!). Other than that, it's a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich - you've eaten it a million times, but you don't stop liking
it. And you wish you could afford to eat something else once in a while.
Okay, now I'm getting into my own problems.
Seth Robinson: 8
Sweet graphics, diverse enemy patterns, mine layers, special weapons, and
bosses at the end of every mission. Having a powerful weapon doesn't mean
jack as the larger guns bring a serious liability - a heavy drain on your
energy meter. It's polished and works well. The variety of levels and
enemy types adds a bit to the typical vertical shooter formula to
distinguish itself from the pack. Having a "For kids" difficulty level is a
nice, if slightly insulting, touch considering it's still too hard for me!
Mike Kasprzak: 7
Another SHMUP to add to the collection. This one looks good, with
quality audio to match. I can't say anything really jumps out at me
about this one, short of the production values. In this day in age,
SHMUP gamers have a healthy selection to choose from. Here's one more
good one for the list.
Russ Carroll: 7
A good dose of retro-styled overhead shooter goodness. Alien Stars reminds me of all of the great shooters on the Turbo Grafx. (now there was a system for overhead shooters!) The graphics are 2D and somewhat
reminiscent of the
Demonstar series. Some 3D particle effects would have been welcome here, but the game is solid without them. Only complaint is that you get punished by switching weapons, going from super-powered fighter to trying avoid EVERY enemy on the screen. Also you are overly punished for dieing, losing massive amounts of all of your power-ups in addition to your main weapon. Still a good game that will make shooter fans happy. |
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Theseus - Return of the Hero
(December 20)
by Sigma Team
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Mike Hommel: 8
Mindless violence, too short by far, fun. Since it was so incredibly short
I can critique the final boss fight: it sucked. Bad. Really stupid.
Another problem: a major element is going inside buildings to find hidden
stuff, only you can't see yourself when you do, which is annoying and
confusing. I also found a way to make it crash once by walking into
forbidden territory. In general though, it's really fun, and there's not
much more to say about it. It's exactly what you expect. Good game.
Seth Robinson: 8
From the team that brought you Alien Shooter comes Theseus. Make no
mistake; it's also very much an alien shooter. The mouse and keyboard
control combination makes leaving a trail of fleshy destruction easy. If
you've never played this kind of game, let me just tell you it's about
holding down the fire button and drilling anything and everything as you run
the opposite way to avoid being swarmed. Graphics are top notch (they'd
better be for how slow the initial load time is!) and the level variety is
decent. It's not a huge game but with three difficulties and a survival
mode there is a lot of mindless killing fun to be had.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
Well, ok. This game is "powered" by another game. Alright, I can deal
with that. So, what we have here is a game involving shooting aliens,
and rescuing hostages. It's a good looking and sounding game. An
interesting feature. While the graphics appear pre-rendered, it seems to
utilize a Z buffer. Why this is interesting, a parachute in one of the
levels cleanly intersects your character as you walk through it. It
looks cool! I can't say I've seen other 2D games do this, and given
this day and age with all our fancy video hardware and what not, it
certainly makes a lot of sense. As for the game, it throws tons of
enemies at you. So many enemies, that you seem to develop paranoia as
you anticipate a new swarm coming from around the corner. Entertaining
game.
Russ Carroll: 8
Trying to follow in the footsteps of
Alien Shooter, which in my mind is one of the best games of all time, is no easy task. Theseus plays a lot like a mod of the original game...a very good mod with original weapons and music in addition to expanding the game play to rescue missions and adding new weaponry like the tank. However, I had trouble getting past the fact that the contrast between the player and the environments made it hard to see what was going on. Good, but a couple of steps below great. |
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Shattera
(November 15)
by Strong Games
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Mike Hommel: 6
At first there's excitement. is it something new? Then the disappointment.
No. It's close to being something new, with the little human paddle and the
wacky fun-time physics, but it clings like a drowning man to every single
thing that's wrong with Breakout games. Every level is either a
mind-numbing slow whack, one brick at a time (with bricks taking anywhere
from three to ten hits each), or absolute chaos with ten balls and thirty
power-ups (and don't forget the instant death one!) flying everywhere. There's
a power up in this game, the boomerang, that just leaves me thinking "Why
isn't this a game about throwing a boomerang at stacked bricks?" It would
be different.
Seth Robinson: 7
This isn't the first fully 3D brick breaker that uses a realistic physics
simulation but it's definitely the best I've played. I think what sets it
apart is the way large structures made of bricks are weakly jointed together
so you can knock out the legs and see them shatter to pieces as they hit the
ground. Being able to kick the ball up in the air on command allows for
some interesting level strategies. Some smallish complaints: Multi-mon
mouse problems, uninteresting levels, clutters your desktop with a web link
without asking.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
Arkanoid it is. This one's "cool feature" is its physics. A 3D
arrangement of blocks, that clump together, break apart, and collide all
nice and physics like. It's also a "Soccer Arkanoid", where instead of
a paddle, you have a person kicking the ball. Yes, and we have this
suspicious looking guy from some ancient civilization (that I refuse to
name, for risk of being wrong). And he does a little dance for you on
the title. I'm sure that's a selling feature for someone.
Russ Carroll: 9
When you first start playing this game you immediately think you understand it. South American Indian kicks ball into blocks...and the blocks are react to 3D physics...nice. Then you start to realize how good it really is...pick your angle, kick the ball into the air and have it come down on the blocks instead of hitting them from the side. Use your boomerangs to knock out a few more. Shattera makes full use of 3D graphics and physics to create a game that doesn't make you think arkanoid when you play it. Once I got the
camera angle right, so I could see my legs, I stopped missing balls and had a blast. |
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Egyptian Addiction
(November 21)
by Big Toe Software
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Mike Hommel: 6
Match-3 games too tough for you? Try Match-2! This game upset me because I
love the graphical style, but it's completely ignored and hidden behind the
boring balls you have to clonk together. I also found the actual puzzle
offered to be more annoying than interesting - there's no way to lose except
to run out of time, so the roadblocks it puts up (mainly walls that
constantly shift) just slow you down, leading to a lot of frustrating
moments of "come ON! Just move already!"
Seth Robinson: 8
In this game you push around marbles to match colors and clear the board.
Wow, when I say it like that it sounds like a snoozer, but trust me, it's a
cool and different experience. The way game boards fluidly change during
play causing delays push the game more in the arcade direction than puzzle.
You don't need to memorize level solutions, just play instinctively. The
"Challenge Mode" with its groovy (but limited) power-up system works
terrific.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
A clever little arcade puzzle game. The developer did a fine job with
the presentation. To contrast most puzzle games, it's a dynamic puzzle,
meaning some levels actually change shape as you play. While the
playfield is always a fixed size, the elevation of the squares changes
in the later levels. There's even switches you can hit with your active
piece to cause changes. About the only thing it has going against it,
is you'll actually need fast reflexes to beat the harder puzzles, thanks
to the time limit. I suspect, most casual gamers wont be seeing many of
the later levels, not unlike other casual titles like Zuma. Either way,
it's pretty slick.
Russ Carroll: 8
A
fascinatingly different approach to a puzzle game that integrates its
Egyptian theme amazingly well into this graphically intense game. Puzzles are logical in nature, but the logic is barely
noticeable (a good thing in my book) due to the need for players to be constantly moving at a high speed in order to solve the problems. Triggers are used throughout the boards to move pieces to different heights, with the definite feel of having unleashed a booby trap in an
Egyptian tomb. One of the better presented indie games I've ever played
with stunning visual backgrounds, definitely something to take a look at. |
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Funkiball Adventure: Lost Legends
(December 15)
by Funkitron, Inc.
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Mike Hommel: 8
Ironically, the most standard looking of the Breakout games is the one with
real innovation and fun! Speaking of looks, this game has among the best
looking menus I have ever seen. coupled with in-game graphics that are,
simply put, not. Odd juxtaposition. But anyway, the gameplay is solid.
Never tremendously slow, and never an insane rain of power-ups. The ability
to whack the ball is a nice touch, and my favorite element is the set of
goals on each level to pursue, although I wish they varied from level to
level. This game does a good job of giving you reasons to play. I'm
looking forward to going back and getting more stars.
Seth Robinson: 8
This brick breaker doesn't have fancy 3D animations, nor swanky physics -
but it's the best of the month because its fun factor is colossal! Why?
Well, a lot of things: perfect pacing - never a dull moment, tons of shiny
things, lots of neat new mechanics like being able to slap your ball for
extra power, connecting ball speed to brick breaking power, multiple level
goals, slide-down huge vertical levels. Almost a nine, but the lackluster
music and graphics hold it back a bit. Brilliant sound effects though.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
Arkanoid it is. This one's "cool feature" is its control. With a click
of the button, you can thrust your paddle forward, giving the ball more
momentum and destructive strength. Wow! About time! Not that I'm
claiming to have had this idea before, it just strikes as such a great
next step. That, and it really surprises me that I've not played
another one that did this. By holding the mouse button, you can charge
it for a harder hit. Nice.
Russ Carroll: 7
This is a very feature rich arkanoid game with a solid premise. You play through the somewhat-themed levels looking for
stolen items, which you collect. Collecting secret items helps to unlock special levels and you are scored on each level, giving you a challenge to come back and beat your own score. The
spring-loaded paddle system, very reminiscent of the
Break Ball series, was well-used in the game to make it feel like I was in more control of the outcome of the game. The only real negatives here is that there isn't anything that made me get too excited and the
in-game graphical theme seemed rather bland. Good game though that is a bit different for Breakout/Arkanoid fans. |
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The Mastermind
(December 20)
by Total Gameplay Studio
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Mike Hommel: 6
I enjoyed a lot of the elements of this big strategy game, but the downsides
are not few: very bad English which ranges from amusing to making the game
difficult, a clumsy and awkward interface, and frankly an inability to do
much! You get 2 actions per turn, but often have to save those up over
several turns to do something that costs 8 or 10 actions. It may be that it's
just meant to be played that way, not taking actions on every turn, which
also eases the awkwardness of the interface. but not much.
Seth Robinson: NA
Technical problems, couldn't give it decent round-up, no audio, crashes.
Please people, include the uninstall icon!
Mike Kasprzak: 8
This was a really cool game, albeit the version I played was buggy.
Some un-fun crashing while I was playing, and blackjack stealing my
money. And no, I'm not just saying that because I lost a few thousand
dollars from it. Aside from that, the game is great. It's all about
being a criminal mastermind. Smuggling and hiring thugs to sell drugs
on the street. Acquiring money from "cooperative" business owners. All
the way to planning and executing a bank heist. Or hey, even making an
honest living from the profit of the businesses you own. Really there's
a lot here. It's a very entertaining game.
Russ Carroll: 8
A fascinating and extremely well-thought out game (that unfortunately crashes occasionally and suffers from English issues). In this strategy game you work as a crime boss who is trying to take control of the streets. You work on your wealth and
prowess by amassing money through crimes, purchasing businesses and setting up illegal crimes. The game play is turn-based and requires a few too many clicks to accomplish everything each turn (collecting money from each business can become a bit of a pain). The interplay between the different crime lords, your hired
gangsters and the business side of things is really interesting to play and to try and get a handle on. Definitely takes a lot of time to really get a feel for how the game plays out, but it is captivating enough to keep you playing!
A couple bug fixes and this game is close to a 10. |
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Time Breaker
(December 22)
by Spell of Play Studios
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Mike Hommel: 6
Okay, so it's Breakout, but the bricks move. Does this affect the game?
Yes. It makes the images cuter, and I guess it slows the pace down a
little, since you miss bricks more often. Shattera, below, does something a
little more unique with the Breakout premise, but as with that game, this
really boils down to the same old Breakout action. I like the looks of the
levels, but breaking them is totally the usual. Although it is slower than
usual, because there are very few multi-balls in this game.
Seth Robinson: 7
Quite a few brick breakers these days use themed levels made of 3d blocks
but here we take it a step further by adding simple animations while keeping
2d collision detection. The result works very well. I was going to
complain about the game's slow pace but after switching to "hard" mode it
was just about right, albeit still a little stingy with the multi-ball
power-ups. While the visuals and movement are fun the gameplay itself
doesn't break any new ground.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
Arkanoid it is. This one's "cool feature" is that it uses a 3D
arrangements of blocks that spin and rotate in 3D space. However, the
collision between the ball and these blocks is with its visible position
as a 2D image. I'd be impressed if that didn't sound confusing, but if
it intrigues you, do check it out. Now it's not just a global rotation
of all the blocks. There are often many sub parts with rotations and
motions, thus creating some interesting almost Katamari weird levels.
It's quite cool to see. The game has some good audio, and is visually
looks good, shines and everything. Nice.
Russ Carroll: 6
Probably my least favorite of the break-breaking games this month (though it was certainly an above average month!). The 3D boards are really cool with movement that is something to look at. Fish swimming around seaweed and rotating trucks make for some good visuals, though notably the backgrounds and interface
imagery don't maintain the same quality look. I enjoyed some of the new power-ups, but found myself feeling that the play was a bit tedious. Instead of trying to hit that last brick for what seems like eternity in Time Breaker you try to hit
erratically moving bricks and continually watch them move out of the
way just as your ball gets to them...which is my new least favorite
thing in an arkanoid game. |
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Pow Pow's Mini-Golf
(December 16)
by Outside the Box Software
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Mike Hommel: 7
I am not exaggerating when I say this game took over 20 minutes to load.
However, I am on dialup. It took about 2 or 3 minutes for a broadband
buddy. The gameplay is good, simple and elegant mini-golf. It's always fun
to level up too. There were quite a few minor glitches and bugs I
encountered, though. And the strangest thing - you actually have to walk
around the course, you don't just get plopped at each hole. That's weird.
And a waste of time.
Seth Robinson: 7
A freebie online shockwave 3D mini-golf game that actually lets you walk
around the course and chat with another human player. What can I say, it
feels like real mini-golf. Some technical problems mar the experience,
ultra slow typing, can crash Firefox, and zbuffer problems on my Radeon
video card. It's neat how you can gain experience and levels but I kept
losing it; you can't quit and save mid-game? Despite the problems it's
still the best web-based game mini-golf game I've played.
Mike Kasprzak: 5
The Pow Pow franchise continues, with an online minigolf game. Well, I
wish I had more good things to say about it. The game itself seems
rather unstable and buggy. After a hand full of Z fighting, odd orbits
around the ball for aiming, and instability in Firefox, it was a comfort
to see the netcode working quite reliably. The game plays alright.
It's a little different to have to hunt down the ball before you can hit
it, and manually walk to the next course, but it does add something to
the social aspect of multiplayer. The game also has a sort of
experience and leveling system in it that allows you to improve your
player. Though, given that it's a game of skill, improving the player
this way seems to unfairly to less skilled players whom actually need an
advantage. But hey, it's free, and you can play with and taunt your
friend forced to be the female player with pick up lines, and other
charming banter.
Russ Carroll: 6
I think of games as making me able to do things I couldn't do or couldn't do well in real life. I've never understood games that take things that I do relatively well and make them quite difficult. Pow Pow's Mini golf extends the cool Pow Pow franchise (which sadly just hasn't hit the mark for me yet despite how much I want it to). I ran into various technical issues with the game, having it crash, freeze and create many visual issues on the three computers I tried it on
in both OpenGL and DirectX modes. That is unfortunate, as the game certainly offers up a visually fantastic game of mini-golf that has a lot of long-term life to it with
an experience point system and cool apparel to get from treasure
chests on the course once you've played a good bit. The physics seemed a bit off to me, but otherwise a pretty decent game. |
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Morning's Wrath
(October 1)
by Ethereal Darkness Interactive
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Mike Hommel: 6
The controls and movement are super clunky in this game, to significant
detriment. It's nearly impossible to click on what you want to, especially
if the screen is scrolling. Which is a shame, because other than that, it
seems really interesting. It's a big RPG, with all kinds of random items,
and the ability to put spells together from runes (although they turn out
awfully generic, I daresay). Not bad, if you can get past the horribly
stilted movement and combat.
Seth Robinson: 6
This Diablo'ish isometric tile based RPG has a lot going for it: large
areas, interesting spell system, great music, fun dialog, and an attractive
heroine who bends over a lot. But what's with the game balance? In three
hours my stats were maxed out (level raises come fast 'n furious every 1000
exp), all enemies a one hit kill, yet I'd only solved less than half the
quests! I can look past the small issues but it's hard to continue playing
when the game is reduced to wondering around looking for puzzle pieces,
impervious to harm and unable to gain more experience or make use of items.
Mike Kasprzak: 7
This one's Diablo'ish. Controls seem a tad clumsy, as things are tough
to click on. Well, not so much tough, as the clickable zones for
selecting items or enemies seems small, so you easily miss and cause
your character to walk around them instead. And perhaps I'm just bitter
from losing my progress, but it would have been great if the game had
some sort of auto save or a place to revive when you die. It's no
Diablo or Fate, but it's alright.
Russ Carroll: 8
Morning is one fireball of a woman. After killing her would-be husband (her first victim) at the beginning of the game, she goes on a rampage (all to save the kingdom of course). Morning's Wrath is a solid RPG game that makes up for the occasional lack of polish with a solid storyline and fascinating areas to discover to go along with a
different approach to the typical spell system. Though I rarely have time to play them, RPGs are among my favorite games and Morning's Wrath reminded me of why. A must check-out for any RPG fan. |
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Minions of Mirth
(December 13)
by Prairie Games
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Mike Hommel: 8
One of my favorite jokes is unintended by its teller: "I'm going to create a
huge MMORPG, all I need are some programmers, artists, musicians, and
designers! Who wants to join?" Well, joke no longer! This is an amazingly
impressive piece of work. It's buggy, incomplete, quirky, and really
complicated to play (all of which is more or less true of commercial
MMORPGs), but it's basically a homemade version of World Of Warcraft. The
characters can even dance (sadly, they all dance the same). It's being
constantly updated, so it's always getting better, and it's not bad right
now! But don't be fooled by the title - it is NOT funny.
Seth Robinson: 8
M.O.M. is a role playing game that tries to be all things to all players.
Single party, multi-party, single player, massively multiplayer (no monthly
fees!), mix and match whatever you want. The torque-based engine and the
base gameplay itself reminds me of the original EverQuest - ridiculously
complex currency system, waiting for spawns, constant patch downloads, slow
"zoning". Tons of unique features such as un-lockable playable monsters,
tri-classing, and customizable player servers make it easy to forgive all
faults. It's pretty amazing, really.
Mike Kasprzak: 6
The MSORPG is here. That's right, the massively single-player online
role playing game. The game plays like an MMO, but you're all alone.
You can however interact with other players via a sort of built in IRC
client. I'm rather fond of the feature actually. Unfortunately, the
rest of my time with this game was rather discouraging. It's not as
buggy as some games we get, but it had problems with my DVORAK keyboard
layout, thus making my experience less than ideal. The game seems quite
open and complex, and I'm sure engaging for a certain RPG gamer
mindset. But it really seems too open, and that appears to create
usability issues. Small things mind you, but they really got to me. As
a taste, the character name entry dialog doesn't limit the number of
characters you can type, but instead prompts you after you attempt to
save that it's too long. There's also no sync between character
portraits and the characters race, so my lizard man can look like a pink
skinned human. Not to mention, you can make many or as few characters
to populate your party. Sure, all very "open" design decisions, but
these in particular make getting starting more awkward than it needs to be.
Russ Carroll: 8
This game succeeds where so many Indie RPGs have failed by simply being completed, but it certainly goes way beyond that point, providing a
compelling game graphically, despite the obvious usage of the Torque engine (is it me or do all the Torque games look the same when it comes to land mapping?). Massively online multiplayer games are not really my thing. I've avoided them for various reasons and
was happy to spend most of my time in the single-player mode (much
more my style). Both single-player and multiplayer offer a wide-open
feeling game style with various quests and things to do...lots of
things to kill...really this is something of a masterpiece of a game
with just a few quirks to work out to make it perfect (easier battles,
collision issues). |
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The
Illustrious Panel:
Mike Hommel -
Hamumu
Mike Hommel is known for his hilarious and bizarre games.
Though his site claims that all his games are just 'dumb fun' you'll
find that they are some of the more interesting games around, and will
eat hours away from your life without you realizing where they all
went.
Seth Robinson -
Robinson Technologies
Seth has spent the last fourteen years making odd games, including
designing and programming many independent titles such as the BBS hit
Legend Of The Red Dragon, the multiplayer Flash based web game Funeral
Quest, IGF finalists Teenage Lawnmower and Dungeon Scroll and the cult
classic RPG Dink Smallwood.
Mike Kasprzak - Sykhronics
Coming from a game console background, Mike's responsible for bringing
to the market such oddities as Secret Agent Barbie for Gameboy
Advance, The Emperor's New Groove for Gameboy Color, and several other
top girl branded games (not that he's bragging). In indie land, he
seeks redemption. Mike's best known for his "cute but not girly"
hamster blasting game, PuffBOMB.
Russ Carroll - Game Tunnel
Russell's first taste of action in the Independent Games industry came
doing visuals and some audio work on several independent games for
BCSoft games. While so doing he became aware of the need for a Game
News and Review website dedicated to Indie games and launched Game
Tunnel in 2002 to fill the void. |
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By: The Illustrious Panel Posted: Tuesday January 24, 2006
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