Mutant Storm Named Independent Game of the Year by Game Tunnel

2002 was a great year for independent games. The quality of the game produced has increased greatly. Now with the easy availability of the Torque engine by Garage Games, the graphic quality of games released looks to only get better.

However, perhaps even more important to independent games is the great number of good games that were produced in 2002. Games such as Juno Nemesis and Break Ball 2 took old concepts and remixed them with new ideas that have remade old concepts into something even more exciting and fun to play than the originals ever could have imagined.

2002 also proved that independent games aren't always the simple arcade button mashers you have come to know. Necrotech by Game Thoughts is a full-blown RPG that melded a complicated story-line with above average graphics.

Of course 2002 say its fair share of fun new ideas with Best Friends, Toy Trouble, RoX and especially the addicting sport game BaseGolf that combines both baseball and golf leading the way.

Independents continue to provide games that publishing studios would likely shy away from. Take Pontifex II for example, an interesting and difficult bridge-building game. It is a trully wonderful game that independent gamers can enjoy for hours.

With all the advances, it was difficult to pick out a single best independent game of the year. The choice of Game Tunnel was the Pom Pom game Mutant Storm. This game, built on the old concept of Smash TV and RoboTron is a graphical masterpeice that is challenging to play. Easy to play, difficult to master, Mutant Storm highlights everything that an independent game can be.

And with that we close out 2002, waiting not-so patiently as all the studios rev-up their games for 2003. Will Adellion, a trully gorgeous-looking RPG be released? Will the Torque engine change independent gaming forever? Only the future holds the answers, but for the mean time, enjoy the best of the 2002 games!