|
|
What's New in Indie |
|
Each month GameTunnel Editor-in-Chief Russell
Carroll plays dozens of new downloadable games, and then opines away
to bring you the best and worst of what's new in independent gaming. |
|
|
Scoring Scale |
 |
 |
 |
|
A game to check out if you have nothing
better to do during lunch |
A game worth
breaking a date to play (and it'll be more fun anyways!) |
Call your boss, close the shades
and turn on a great game! |
|
|
March 2008: |
|
Jasper's Journeys |
Jasper's Journeys
($19.95)
by Lexaloffle Games
|
"Jasper's cat has been nabbed by a nasty witch who intends to use him as an
ingredient for her incredibly evil potion!" Jasper's Journey is a platforming
game through 15 levels as you take on the role of the purple-haired Jasper in
his adventure across many enchanted kingdoms.
The
Verdict:
Jasper
is the latest in what has been a revival of old-school side-scrolling
platformers done in beautiful pixel art. Unfortunately none of the
screenshots do the game justice, but since the demo is only 2 MB, you
can download it and see it for yourself faster than you can finish
reading this sentence.
...and you really should check the game out. It's far more challenging
than you'll realize at first, which unfortunately is the game's only
drawback as it limits your ability to do much exploring, and exploring
is really the key to doing well.
Gems that you collect will be used in shops to purchase potions to
improve your attack power, and other useful items such as additional
health (shields) and saves. (be sure to use all the save slots! After
losing all your shields [health] to an End Boss you'll start the next
level in a near death state - which will leave you wanting a do-over).
The game has interesting levels with many paths that criss-cross all
over, providing lots of "aha" moments as you figure out how to get to
treasure troves that at first seem unreachable. Fun and occasionally
brutally challenging, Jasper's is journey that comes highly
recommended.
|
|
Avernum
5 |
Avernum 5
($28.00)
by
Spiderweb Software
|
After a rebel tries to assassinate the Empress you find yourself assigned to the
dark caverns of Avernum in a hunt to bring the villain to justice. The
underworld of Avernum is filled with rogues, vagabonds, misfits and others who
happily stay out of the Empire. With spies and assassins at every turn, must not
just find the Empress's would be assassin, you must also stay alive.
The
Verdict:
It's
hard not to be drawn into the world of Avernum. Though I prefer the
above ground sites of the Geneforge series, the depth of every
Spiderweb game makes it hard to put any of them down once you've
started. The story is unfolded at each step, with Jeff Vogel's amazing
Dungeon Master skills (+42) creating a world that is easy to get lost
in. There's hours upon hours of game play that makes the price tag a
real barging.
If you dig RPGs and can't help but get excited when you are picking
out your skills as you level up, you should definitely block out a
weekend and give Avernum 5 a play, you'll be happy you did.
|
|
Harvest: Massive Encounter |
Harvest: Massive Encounter
($24.99)
by Oxeye Games
|
A return of Tower Defense to its roots, Harvest is a real-time-strategy game
where players build up their home base against the on-coming hordes of attacking
aliens. Players link together defense systems while maintaining enough energy
and money to build up the base.
The
Verdict:
For
anyone who has gotten tired of Tower Defense and wants something a
similar, but at the same time quite new and different take on the
genre, Harvest is not to be missed.
The game focuses on players starting small and then enlarging their
base by adding buildings. The building types are few in number,
including power generators and directors, resource harvesters, and
defensive towers and missile turrets. The towers can be linked
together, which becomes very advantageous in some situations as you
may have aliens attacking from the north, and many towers to the
south.
Linking the southern towers to the northern towers gives the northern
towers an energy and range boost, making them far more effective.
Harvest is very visual in helping you know what is happening, I
particularly enjoyed being able to see how much power was flowing
around the screen, which makes a big difference as to how to proceed.
It's a great game, but it should be noted that it is very difficult,
and since the last thing you do on most levels is die, it can feel a
bit punishing. Still, after getting knocked down, it's hard not to get
back up and try again with a new strategy forged during your last
fall. Harvest is excellent, another must-play game this month.
|
|
AtomHex |
AtomHex
($5-20)
by Mark Incitti
|
From the creator of the famous Geometry Wars clone that BizarreCreations had
removed because it was just a bit too good a duplication of the game, comes a
new shooter that focuses on color-match shooting and enemy's combining together
to form new challenges.
The
Verdict:
I
fired up this game and figured it was going to be another Geometry
Wars game, and while there are some similarities, this game is an
evolution of the old Robotron game play into a cerebral shooter, with
deep strategies and stunning gameplay that left me shocked that the
game hasn't already become a sensation across the net.
The basic premise is built around two object types: atoms and hexes.
They float around the screen, with the helpless atoms awaiting your
destruction and the hexes awaiting your collection (after first
eliminating their shields).
It gets interesting when an atom and a hex combine. When that
happens, the new structure starts releasing enemies. The more atoms
connect to the hex, the more powerful the enemies that are released.
If you can grow a hex to having 6 atoms around it, you enter subatomic
mode, where you can earn an additional point bonus...if you survive.
So the basic goal then is to grow up a hex with 6 atoms, but there is
another complication. You can't destroy atoms once they have
combined with a hex unless you are the color of the hex (green, red,
blue, etc.).
While playing you are moving all around the screen (if you don't have
a dual-analog joystick don't bother playing btw) blasting away at
atoms and hexes, changing colors to try and keep the hex/atom
structures from getting too large and releasing higher level enemies,
while at the same time working to grow one hex/atom structure large
enough to reach subatomic mode and then survive to do it again!
The games are a bit long, which is probably the game's one drawback.
The Radiohead styled purchasing (pick a price from $5-20) and XBLA-styled
achievements are wonderfully done to keep you hands in pain for a long
time! MUST MUST PLAY!
|
|
Planet Defender |
Planet Defender
($19.95)
by Share-Games
|
Defend your planet with a sophisticated turret gun that it stationary in space.
Armed with missiles and lasers you take on enemy aircraft through 16 levels and
3 skill levels.
The
Verdict:
Planet
Defender was a nice little surprise for me this month. The
graphics are sharp and clean and become wonderful when you blow up
enemy ships! The movement of the turret and ability to change your
zoom created a good base that I really enjoyed.
The only draw-back to the game is that it doesn't vary the formula too
much. There is variety in the backgrounds, and in some of the
enemies, but for the most part, after 4-5 levels you'll be finished.
The entire game is probably just over 2 hours long on the easiest
skill level and certainly more challenging on harder skill levels.
It's easy to like the game, but for turret love, you should check out
Gunner 2. Still, it was a nice surprise, and a fun play
for an evening.
|
|
Spandex Force |
Spandex Force
($19.99)
by KarjaSoft
|
Holy Super-Hero game Batman! Spandex Force puts players into the fray as a
fledgling super-hero working his or her way up the chain as they try to do good
for the citizens of the city, defeating enemies in Match-3 battles and saving
cats through other puzzle mini-games.
The Verdict:
Spandex
Force is very similar to last year's smash Puzzle Quest. The game is a
mix of RPG and puzzle games. Like Puzzle Quest, you'll battle bad guys
using your special abilities that you improve through leveling up your
character and purchasing better items.
Unlike Puzzle Quest, most of the game is not played in versus puzzle
play, but in single-player puzzles. The puzzles are varied, with a
good variety of slide, click'n'drag, driving and bust-a-move type
games (to name just a few) to keep things interesting (no Match-3
encounter monotony here).
There is lots of tongue-in-check humor which mostly hits, and though
the graphics seem to struggle to find a consistent style, most of what
you see on the screen is fun to look at. For a guy like me who spent
way too much time at the Comic book store growing up, spandex Force
was a LOT of fun.
|
|
Rainbow Web 2 |
Rainbow Web 2
($19.95)
by Sugar Games
|
A puzzler with a twist, Rainbow Web has players making strings of 3 or more
droplets on spider webs, using some unique properties to create a logic game
that is a bit different than most.
The
Verdict:
Rainbow
Web 2 is exactly the kind of game that offends the sensibilities of
many hardcore gamers, which is sad because it is exactly the kind of
game that they should check out.
Instead of being a me-too match-3 game, the dynamics of the spider-web
make the game are a breath of fresh air in the often stale world of
retreaded puzzle games. The colored droplets originate from the center
of the web, which combined with the variety of radial shapes and match
possibilities makes Rainbow Web really a lot of fun to play.
I could do without the hidden object mini-game and the cheesy
voice-work, but the core game is exactly the type of thing that should
be praised for finding a new puzzle-game concept that is fun to play.
It's original and good and well-worth sitting down to.
|
|
Snoogles |
Snoogles
($14.95)
by Retro Souls
|
Guide two colorful [I know what you are thinking, and no, the gnomes aren't
colorful in THAT way - ed] gnomes through 40 puzzling levels of switch
standing and block-pushing.
The
Verdict:
I
tend to avoid logic games because frankly I'm not any good at them. It
always feels like they've created the levels in the most diabolical
way in order to stop me at the last step of a puzzle. After
playing for 5-10 minutes to get to the last step, my desire to replay
the whole thing to undo some mistake I made way at the beginning is
REALLY low.
Snoogles doesn't do that, and that is probably why I enjoyed it so
much. The levels are challenging, but you always feel smart as you
finish them instead of dumb. The game is dripping with colorful
happiness, which despite the repetitive music makes everything feel
all the more upbeat when you are stumped. Easy to recommend for
puzzle-lovers...and for at least one non-puzzle lover.
|
|
NOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion Zombies |
NOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion
Zombies
($14.99)
by PowerUp Studios
|
The streets are filled with Zombies! Playing as Mot you work your way through 25
levels, picking up new companions as you leave a trail of zombie goo in your
wake.
The Verdict:
NOMBZ
has several issues that make it fall short of the wonderful graphical
style and Danny Elfman-esque music.
Initially you play a single character who has a very weak weapon. The
weak weapon makes killing Zombies a lot less fun than it could be. The
levels themselves feel fairly repetitive, with a lot of the same
sights passing you buy every few seconds.
After you add additional characters the game does pick up some, but it
is still more entertaining to run to the exit and make a last stand
there as the 10-second timer counts down than it is to fight your way
through the Zombies.
Unfortunately the weakly-armed main character and repetitive game play
makes the game feel like a difficult and repetitive chore. With some
balancing, a stronger character and some additional graphic work to
make the gameplay camera less jerky this game could be a lot of fun,
but it's not quite ready to challenge last month's
Zombie Shooter.
|
|
Full Contact Debate |
Full Contact Debate
(freeware)
by Full Contact Debate
|
Take the Presidential race into your own hands. As a member of either Team
Democrats or Team Republican, you will become the face of new politics as you
choose your favorite candidate and battle to the bitter end in a game of capture
the flag and return it to your own base.
The
Verdict:
Every
time I play a freeware game I try to go in with really low
expectations, and most of the time I walk away with those expectations
unmet. Full Contact Debate continues that trend.
The game is ok, but most (all?) of the novelty is in the theme. Once
you get past that, you are left with a limited multiplayer game with
empty servers, poor graphics, chunky physics, and not enough going for
it to recommend it over one of the many free MMOs out there or a great
simple combat game of capture the flag like
Dawnspire.
Full Contact Debate is an interesting idea that suffers the same fate
as most freeware.
|
|
By: Russell Carroll Posted: Tuesday April 29, 2008
|
Action
Adventure
Arkanoid
Fighting
Platform
Puzzle & Casual
Hidden Object
RPG
Shooter
Simulation
Sports
Strategy
Download Games
