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Bringing you a singular look at Indie's newest games every month. |
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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! |
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November 2007: |
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Joystick Johnny |
Joystick Johnny
($19.95)
by Flea Circus Games
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Joystick Johnny is a large collection of games that feel like they'd fit in
to an 80s arcade. Players play through 3 different rooms of
games, attempting to complete each game as quickly as possible in this
race against the clock. After three rooms are cleared, the final battle is played out to destroy the video virus.
The
Verdict:
The
good old days of early 80s, pixel graphics and simple games that
require skill and little thought are back...and that's not a bad
thing.
Joystick Johnny brilliantly captures the feel of an arcade in the
early 80s and reminded me how much I enjoyed games like Venture and
Twin Tigers when I played them in the arcade. In Joystick Johnny
you play a variety of games with unfamiliar names, but very familiar
play attempting to chase down and destroy the video virus. For
anyone who loved the arcade back in the day I'd highly recommend this
game. Homages to games like E.T. (complete with finding a
cartridge of the game in a deep hole) bring back a lot of memories,
but the game doesn't stop there. With a lot of treasures to find
and scoring to drive you on, there is a lot more depth to the game
than the simple fun found in each of the retro games. Most
importantly, the game isn't just a nostalgia trip, it's a good time.
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Darkside: Arklight 2 |
Darkside
($19.95)
by Pi Eye Games
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Darkside is a re-envisioning of
Arklight. While the innovative original game played
something like breakout meets an overhead shooter, Darkside takes a
somewhat more conventional approach. Players coast around the
turning surface of various planets, protecting vital resources and destroying
would-be invaders.
The
Verdict:
Darkside
is an absolute must-play. The weapons are spectacular, featuring
some of the most enjoyable bomb explosions I've launched in a game.
The terrain, which spins under your ship as the planet rotates to
your every move, provides a perfect location for blasting baddies that
gives the game a very fresh feel.
I've heard comparisons to Stardust and Super Mario Galaxy, and while
both are warranted, they take nothing away from this game.
Darkside innovates a little, but like all great games, the thing that
it does best is providing an amazingly fun experience that is a treat
to the senses. Stop what you are doing and download the game.
Now!
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Mutant |
Mutant
($19.95)
by Napoleon Games
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One man can cause a lot of destruction, especially when he has 4 arms
that can auto-track movement and fire away relentlessly with more guns
than any normal human can carry.
A 3rd-person shooter, Mutant allows players to fire 4 guns at a
variety of targets while building up their character with new special
mutant abilities.
The
Verdict:
I
kept waiting for Mutant to go from ok to great. Playing, I was
sure it was going to happen at any moment. The graphics were
fantastic, so fantastic in fact that you SHOULD download the game just
to see them. The action was frantic and there appeared to be so
much depth to the game, I was sure Mutant was going to be one of the
best Indie games I'd played in awhile.
However, Mutant doesn't deliver the goods, at least not currently.
After you learn to deal with 20 keyboard keys to go along with mouse
aiming, you'll come to face new challenges, like figuring out how to
hit the aliens that can shoot at you from a farther distance than you
can shoot at them. The limited ammo issues and even more limited
health packs will become your next problem, and before you have
figured that out, you'll come to realize that it's pretty boring to
shoot the same looking aliens over and over again. At least
unless you have cool guns. There are cool guns in Mutant, and
some sort of character upgrade system, but you'll be in well over an
hour before you find the first new item, and about that time, you'll
be ready to just play something else. With four arms, I'd love
to call Mutant a four-trick pony, but it seemed limited to just one
trick. Mutant is too complicated and unnecessarily difficult
(welcome back creep and save). I'd recommend going back and enjoying
another play through
Alien
Shooter instead.
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Nethergate: Resurrection |
Nethergate: Resurrection
($25.00)
by Spiderweb Software
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Jeff Vogel's newest classic computer Role-Playing Game isn't entirely
new. Nethergate: Resurrection is exactly that, a resurrection of
the 1996 game Nethergate. Redone from the ground up with new
visuals, additional quests and items, and two new dungeons, N:R takes
players back to 60 AD where they can fight at the Celts who are
attempting to become free or the Roman Empire, who must squash the
up-rising.
The
Verdict:
Nethergate:
Resurrection suffers from the same problems that most Spiderweb games
suffer from. The graphics are so primitive that most people
dismiss the games before trying them.
...and that's a real
shame.
Those not trying Spiderweb's games are really missing out, and that
trend continues with this fantastic fantasy RPG in a historic setting.
It didn't take more than an hour of playing before Nethergate:
Resurrection became my favorite Spiderweb game. The
party movement takes a little getting used to, but the story, which is
liberally doled out (if you don't like reading beware!), is fantastic.
I went with the 'evil' oppressing Romans. Though I'm not really
into the evil overlord thing, Centurions make dang cool characters in
an RPG game, at least they do when Jeff Vogel is at the helm. I
really enjoyed discovering the care put into each room (be sure to
always 'look' or you simply miss out). The dungeon exploring and collecting that rare amulet
hidden in a dresser drawer will pull you into each quest, but its the
unique setting and story that kept me coming for more. Of all the Spiderweb RPGs that have floated through our monthly review article
(5?) this is undoubtedly the one I enjoyed the most.
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Ore Explorer |
Ore Explorer
($19.90)
by UR PC Game
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Take on the world as Jack, bombing, kicking and jumping around a
number of different levels, each a carefully laid out logic puzzle to
challenge your mind and skill. Ore Explorer is a plat forming
game that focuses on the puzzling, but doesn't leave out the enemies.
The
Verdict:
Do
you remember back in the days of platformers where the level design
included spacing platforms as far away from each other as you could
possibly jump, requiring precise movements, despite the fact that your
character controlled like Dilbert in ice skates?
Would you love to play a game like that again? For my part the
answer was a simple no and the annoying sound effects didn't serve to
convince me that I was going to miss much by walking away from this
game when I did. The addition of logic
puzzles didn't improve this game, but it was at least an interesting
inclusion. There are a slew of better logic platformers out
there including the excellent
Granny and solid
Snowy Treasure Hunting series. Granted they're a bit more
Load Runner based than Ore Explorer, but they're also more fun to
play.
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PlayDetective: Heartbreakers |
PlayDetective: Heartbreakers
($19.95)
by Kayo Games
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An adventure game where you play as a detective, PlayDetective:
Heartbreakers thrusts players into a world of deceit and infidelity.
Using a variety of methods including video, photos and eavesdropping
on phone conversations, you attempt to unravel the case and discover
the true nature of your significant other's 'friends.'
The
Verdict:
One
of the buggiest games I've ever played PlayDetective: Heartbreakers
has an interesting approach and some innovation in the game play from
mini-games to lie detector tests. However, the bugs from
disappearing text, missing buttons and game crashes, keep it from
being recommendable in any way, at least in its current state.
Notably, even when cleaned up, I think there is a limited number of
people who would enjoy this game. The gumshoe feel is great, but
the focus on finding the cheating husband, wife, boyfriend or
girlfriend leaves one feeling a little jaded about life.
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Penguins Arena |
Penguins Arena
($19.95)
by Fro Games
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The ice caps are melting. Global Warming has hit the south pole
and only one course of action exists. You must kill off the
other penguin tribes by snowballing them into the water where they
will be eaten by killer whales.
The Verdict:
I
was somewhat disappointed in Penguins Arena. On the one hand,
there are times it feels as fun and funny as Raving Rabbids, which is
a good thing. At other times it feels like a totally pointless
FPS that skips on the depth, but seems to have lost all strategy and
fun in the process.
Players can work in up to four teams of three, throwing snowballs at
each other to knock the Penguins off the ice. The gameplay is
fast and the matches are over in seconds. Being hit by a single
snowball can send you flying out into the water and end your game.
While that works if you are the one throwing the snowballs, with 11
other people on the small maps and not many places to duck and cover,
you often will be killed before you have any idea that someone might
be shooting at you. Since everyone else typically dies seconds
later, you don't have to spend a ton of time waiting for another
match, but even with power-ups and team play, I found little to keep
me playing for more than an hour. It is a nice blood-free FPS game that kids can
play though (if you were looking for that sort of thing).
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Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa |
Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa
($8.95)
by Telltale Games
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Sam & Max return to their office to find their goldfish acting
suspiciously and a Maimatron trying to destroy them. Soon they
find that the Maimatron was a gift from Santa, which sends them on a
quest to the North Pole. There they discover a possessed Santa
who has given up on the whole joy and peace thing in favor of
destructive toys and random firing (bullets and elves!). Sam & Max set out on a quest
to find the four wooden horseman of the apocalypse in hopes to save
Christmas!
The
Verdict:
Being
a series, Sam & Max is a bit harder to rate than your typical game.
It's like trying to rate a single episode of the Simpsons. While
some are better than others, for the most part it's fun just to watch.
That said, this, the first episode of the second season, really lacked
the charm of previous episodes I've played. I think my biggest issue came in
the combination of Satanism and Christmas. The combination may
be funny for many, but for me it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Whether or not it is in bad taste for you is certainly a personal
piece, but I think regardless, there are better Sam & Max episodes
available. (Like the classic
Abe Lincoln must Die!, which happens to be available for free at
the moment...)
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Storked |
Storked
($19.95)
by Graduate Games
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A puzzle/logic game, Storked puts players in command of a variety of
penguins in their efforts to deliver an egg safely to a baby basket.
Each penguin has its own special ability, which will be needed to
solve the variety of challenges thrown at players.
The
Verdict:
I
liked the backgrounds in the game quite a bit, and the penguin theme
with different abilities seemed fun, but the game just didn't really
grab me like say
Professor Fizzwizzle. The logic puzzles quickly left me
scratching my head wondering what they were trying to get me to do.
A couple of collision bugs that dropped my Penguin through a wall and
out of the world didn't help.
The level is a nice feature, allowing you to torture your own friends
with devious puzzles that only you can solve. For a slow
thoughtful day, Storked might be worth a look.
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Wicked Defense |
Wicked Defense
($9.99)
by Ixchel Studios
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Tower Defense games seem to be coming out every month at the moment.
This month's game is Wicked Defense. Set in a more cosmic
location, it features set paths and a variety of towers with varying
abilities from offense to support. The game adds mana to the
typical cash gathering. While most of the towers can be
purchased for just cash, upgrading the towers requires a combination
of cash and mana.
The Verdict:
There
are a ton of tower defense games available for the simple reason that
when done right, tower defense is a blast. Wicked Defense is a
fantastic looking game that plays pretty well.
My only complaint with the game is that the strategy doesn't feel
wide-open. Right from the beginning, there seem to be a limited
number of strategies to survive un-touched through the first few
levels (I restarted a number of times just to test out this theory).
The randomness of the waves on each level creates a lot of replay
value and the price is absolutely right for the game. It's by no
means a mind-blowing new experience, but Wicked Defense does get the
formula of Tower Defense right. After playing it once
you'll immediately give it another go, and another, and another...
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By: Russell Carroll Posted: Saturday November 24, 2007
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