Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Never Alone [Kisima Ingitchuna] (PC)


I started playing "Never Alone" with my kids watching. It's a touching little fairy tale (so far) of a girl, with the help of a magical arctic fox, determined to find the source of an unrelenting blizzard and subsequent destruction of her village. Also it has a polar bear in it and my son loves anything that growls.

I've had this one on my wishlist since before it's release interested in the concept of the game and drawn in by the art style.


Along the way there are spirits that will help Nuna on her journey. You can play it as a single player game or as a two player cooperative - one being the fox, the other Nuna.


As you play an owl brings you "insights" which are videos which are almost like bonus content but are embedded in the game; interviews about the lifestyle, culture and history of the indigenous people of northern Alaska.


So far it's been a relaxing and very easy journey, but with the added content and the beautiful scenery I'll definitely be back for more.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Fotonica, Dark Slash Hero & Orbitum (iOS)

Over Easter I downloaded a bunch of games most of which I deleted afterwards - but three made the cut and here they are : 


Fotonica - I already own this game twice; once on PC and once on the OUYA, but it really fits on the iPhone - the one button endless runner is so stylish and well designed - it's no surprise it's makers are Italian. I just find that there are too many numbers getting in the way of actually gaguing a high score and wish it was simplified in that area a little more so I could easily compare to friends and leaderboards and know if the run I am on is a good one or not.


Santa Ragona are also responsible for making the equally stylish and well designed (albeit confusing at times) MirrorMoon Ep and (and I just found this out while writing this) they are making their own card game: check it out.

Also just check out the webpage for Fotonica - it looks so good.



Dark Slash Hero - I played the original Dark Slash when it came out and thought that it was so good: simple controls, pixel graphics and sounds and colours directly from the world of Diablo. Slashing baddies like a Samurai gets you points and at some point there is a boss and on it goes - what is not to like?


But interest in the original dried up for me quicker than I expected - there just wasn't enough reason to keep playing. I left it on my phone as a reminder that this game was really good and that at some point there was going to be an update or maybe a some kind of reincarnation for the OUYA as a multiplayer game. Then suddenly out comes Dark Slash Hero.


Essentially it's the same game except with more of everything and this time around they've given us unlockables to upgrade our hero to survive longer and give him some special abilities. I found the IAP to be a little steep and was going to grind for a while before deleting it - maybe I wasn't alone because they dropped the price of their "coin doubler" upgrade by 50% making the game much more playable and grindable. Still there are some characters that can only be unlocked for €2 each (I think €1 would have been more reasonable) and you can't get them any in game currency (in this case : Souls). Still running in circles with your sword trailing behind you like a Ronin and then slashing up a 20 combo never gets old - that and the zombie moan that I am sure is from Diablo - I keep heading back for more.



Orbitum - is apparently a rhythm-based reflex game. I actually didn't play much with the sound on (playing mostly with one hand while I sat in my son's room humming looping melodies to make him sleep.) so for me it was simply a really clean swirling hypnotic high score game.

It's an intriguing concept that gives you charge of this little particle looping around a black hole that eventually will suck the orbit that you are on in, so you must jump to a higher orbit and avoid it. There are also evil red triangle particles that will destroy you riding on some orbits and green and blue particles which you can crash into for bonuses and special effects. At some point the game goes faster, the colours change to distract you and the red triangles form all kinds of formations.

The real dizzying doozy about this is that while everything is swirling you can only go "up" an orbit, so whatever you pass it passed for good - this calls for some careful planning. The thing I find most difficult is when the game "freezes" and everything stops orbiting (maybe the black hole even stops) and you are the only thing that continues to move. Kills me every time.



Funnily enough, this isn't the only game that I have played lately that uses an orbit as a game play mechanic - 0RBITALIS being another, and if you are counting games that rotate and are circular this might even be the 3rd of 4th game I have played this year. Spinning is the new thing I guess....

The game is made by Happy Magenta, who also made Laser Hell (a game I checked out while playing all kinds of Flappy Bird clones) that was one of my favourites and have made a few other (I hesitate to use the word....) 'clones' that are actually worth playing - but they are all very different from Orbitum, which you should check it out (Bonus : also playable with one finger thumb....!)



Monday, April 6, 2015

The Talos Principle (PC)

I don't need a new game. I don't need a new distraction at all. I am sitting in a new apartment surrounded by boxes and instead of unpacking them and setting up furniture I find myself eyeing this weekend's Steam sale : The Talos Principle.

(screenshot from the Demo)

I've had it on my Steam wishlist so long I can't even remember what it's about and the trailer wasn't really that much of a turn on, but after reading about it I knew why I had put it on my wishlist.

Without extensive reading I was already bumping into quotes like : "a game that is every bit as smart as it purports to be" - "thought provoking narrative that delves with class into profound philosophical questions" -  "a soul-searching experience" - "it changed me" .... apparently this is the real deal....

I wish I had more time to play games and really delve into their worlds and get lost. If I am going to spend my time on them then I would love if it was something entertaining and thought provoking and if it 'changes' me in the meantime....

(screenshot from the demo - where can i get this as a screensaver?!)

The point is that often I find myself frustrated chasing highscores and playing though the same RPG stories or climbing up and down some online competitive FPS ladders....sometime's I crave meat, not just potato chips.

So, I downloaded the demo - thanks guys by the way since my computer is failing to run Alien: Isolation properly I was glad to have a demo to test first before I bought the game to find out that it also doesn't work - it turns out the demo, the writing, the mystery got me hooked and I had to get it.

I downloaded it over my excruciatingly slow internet connection (thanks Deutsche Telekom!) and it only took 6 and a half hours! So I didn't get to take a look until tonight.

(screenshot from the full game)

The game is made by Croteam - from Zagreb, Croatia (you know, "the mecca of video games" *wink*) You might know them from the series Serious Sam, they've been around since 1993 yet somehow still managed to stay indie and not get bought by EA or crushed by Activision.

This game is published by Devolver Digital (as it seems that almost everything is that I am playing or want to play is these days) and the story was written by Tom Jubert of 'The Swapper' and 'FTL' and Jonas Kyratzes of 'The Sea Will Claim Everything.' Not too shabby. 

The story and the gameplay is unfolding slowly but leading to some interesting comparisons to games like Portal, the Stanley Parable and even Myst. I have even read mention of a Animus comparison from the Assassins Creed games. If you like any one of those then you should take a look at The Talos Principle.



Friday, April 3, 2015

Heavy Bullets (PC)


I played Heavy Bullets before Devolver Digital got involved and thought it was already a striking and sexy - although a little rough around the edges. Now that its been given a full release - its great and I highly recommend it. I guess the stand-out point of Heavy Bullets (apart from sound and graphics) is your sole weapon; a six shooter. You also have to retrieve the bullets after you fire them, making every shot feel important. All the enemies are destroyed with one hit but this doesn't mean it's easy as every corner you turn could be your last. I found myself turning each corner and breaching each doorway like I was playing Rainbow Six!


(Yes, that little line mentioning Broforce did make me return to Broforce only to get my butt kicked so hard by that game that I stopped after 1 hour again....)

I've put in about 18 hours already into Heavy Bullets and only been to the end boss once. I really do love video games that unabashedly look like video games. It's not trying to realistically recreate a world or weather or a motion captured actor's face; it's just a cool game. I found myself wanting to play this game really BIG - and will probably get a friend to bring over a projector eventually so that I can.

The world looks like an 80's Miami Vice club version of Wolfenstein and it actually made me quite nostalgic for a slew of games : Descent mostly (the secrets in that game!) but also basement sessions of Wolfenstein on my first PC and made me pine for the days where I religiously played Halo online.... ah the good ol' days.


The idea of a world inside a computer really fits into my whole 'Tron' phase that I am having at the moment too. (Check out the show Tron: Uprising - it's worth a look). I also would recommend playing with headphones and turning the game up really loud - using the audio clues in the world gives you a heads-up on enemy and vending machine positions. Just a quick thought : How cool would this be with the Oculus Rift?


The one headline I read about Heavy Bullets upon it's release really helped me to enjoy and understand the game: 'A Spelunky FPS.' If you treat Heavy Bullets like a rogue-like then you are really going to understand the mechanics and the gameplay a lot more and if you play it with that in mind it's extremely exciting and each death is devastating.


Every attempt at the game sets you back at the beginning but you can feel yourself learning something with every failure. This balance is what makes Heavy Bullets so enjoyable - you die for sure but it's not going to be in vain as you will have learned something about the map, an item or an enemy so that each session leads you a bit deeper....just like Spelunky. Unlike Spelunky however, you can really take your time with this which is a nice touch.


There are vending machines scattered throughout the labyrinth that you can use to store items, buy upgrades or deposit coins for your next run. The items are sometimes downright quirky but even the ones that you may first deem to be useless soon prove to be otherwise as you understand them better.


The session length really suited me at the moment (at about an hour) and added to that was the bonus that you boot the game and are thrown right into the action without any distractions or relearning of items and inventory - it's distilled FPS fun. Check it out - in the meantime I am going to take a break because I made it to the end boss but I am a little burnt out on it for now.