Title: Soundodger+
Developer: Studio Bean
Platforms: PC
Price: $7.99
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We've seen a wide variety of music-generated games, from Audiosurf's roller-coaster, color-matching thrill rides to Beat Hazard's dual-stick, retina-melting action. Studio Bean's Soundodger+ puts you right in the midst of the soundtrack and turns music into bullet hell madness.
Originally released as an Adult Swim flash game, Soundodger+ comes to Steam with even more tracks, with music from artists such as Disasterpiece and Jasper Byrne. The hand-crafted campaign drops the player into a circular arena, ringed by a number of bullet-spewing turrets. And once the music starts, you only have one goal: dodge the music. Easier said, than done when dozens of projectiles fill the screen, firing in sync with the soundtrack. Your only advantage is the ability to slow time, but even that crutch is best used in short intervals, as turrets fire even faster while slow motion is activated. The game controls extremely well with a mouse, allowing for the quick reactions and movements needed to thread your way between bullets and through closing gaps.
If you don't to play through the campaign, you can also auto-generate levels based on your own songs and music (only MP3 files are supported at the moment). A detailed level editor allows you to fine-tune and craft your own musical bullet hells to play and share. Soundodger+ will appeal to the fans of games like Super Hexagon or Raidangames' Fireball and while it may get repetitive for some, the evasive gameplay and suberb soundtracks is always challenging and fun. You can purchase Soundodger+ on Steam.
Trying something new today. This PC Spotlight is written by Marco Henkel, a friend and fellow indie enthusiast. The author of the free music blog wasfuersohr, he's also the dedicator creator of the NeoGAF Indie Threads, which I consider one of the best resources on the internet and a fantastic forum where gamers and developers alike share, chat, and discuss indie games. Today he's presenting IGE's 28th PC Spotlight: Spacebase DF-9 --- Title:Spacebase DF-9 Alpha Developer:Double Fine Platforms: PC Price: $25 ---
Spacedate 9118.5: Normal life was settling in after we got the O2 supply and refineries running. Our technician Carl had some spare parts from the refinery construction and managed to build a fusion reactor from these scraps, which is kinda incredible. No one had the heart to tell him that all our machines are, for some strange reason we've yet to discover, running without any power supply, though.
Spacedate 9118.10: We needed some bed rooms, and though totally unnecessary, we decided to build an orbital ring around our station in which the bed rooms are supposed to be located. Construction work started. Carl is constantly repairing the useless fusion reactor. Hopefully, we'll find him something else to do before he realizes that there is no food stored on the ship, except... us.
Spacedate 9118.15: The good news: We got visitors! The bad news: They are trying to kill us. For no apparent reason, as they just told us over the intercom. No one is trained as a guard, so we'll need to rush everyone through a quick 5 minute briefing, give them some weapons and hope for the best.
Spacedate 9118.17: We managed to defeat the intruders, but 4 of our crew died fighting them. Carl is currently still trying to put out the wildfire in the main hall. I need to go help him immediately or we might run out of oxygen.
Spacedate 9118.18: YOU HAVE REACHED THE LAST ENTRY OF THIS PROTOCOL
Spacebase DF-9 is a simulation game which takes more than a few nods from Dwarf Fortress. Before your fear of ASCII makes you run in away in panic, let me tell you though that the newer Dwarf Fortress style simulation games are actually rather accessible (the fantastic Gnomoria would be another example for this). Everything you want to do, can be done with a few simple mouse clicks through very self-explanatory menus.
Build walls -> click the built room -> select room type.
Click build room objects -> select room type -> build objects for that room.
I have a hard time imagining someone would ever feel lost with the way the UI is set up and I think Double Fine did a marvelous job at making it "work" intuitively. There are some kinks here and there, but overall its already surprisingly polished and workable. The developers also put an astounding amount of charm into the game through fitting flavor text and character animations. It is simply endearing to notice how Kevin tries to socialize with the other crew members, only to write down in his personal log later "Wont somebody be my friend? ;_______;". The gameplay itself will be familiar to those who already played similar games. The general premise is to expand your station, which you either do to build defensive measures and a bigger/better infrastructure, or to improve the life of your crew members. Enemies are, once again, the driving force behind the players construction plans. After you overcame the first enemy, your shrinking oxygen supply, you will likely be visited by raiders and pirates who are attracted to your space station. If I didnt mention it yet, the game is trying to kill you. Quite much.
Spacebase definitely already works as a means to experience a story, because it makes you attached to what you are building, the people you are guiding and will make you experience loss, be that in the form of expensive materials being destroyed or lives lost. However, it currently does not work all that well as a "game", not because there is no way to win (which is very common in this genre), but because the game doesnt have enough options to create a balance of fairness and because it is missing longevity. You will learn to overcome some odds while creating your space station, but the odds are still massively stacked against you, because the player has not enough means to prepare for any danger. At its fundamental level, Spacebase currently has 4 different rooms with 1 object each and the desire to play Spacebase is largely driven by a creative desire to create a decent looking space station with people running around and to discover random relicts, other space ships and space stations which are filled with secrets. And those secrets are deadly, and usually come in the form highly trained raiders that take out half of your crew. Experiencing that once is fun and makes for a good story about heroic deaths, however experiencing that twice with no way to do anything about it is frustrating, because the current version of the game doesnt allow for learning from past strategies or mistakes and you are likely to die from the same dangers over and over again:
There are some more technical issues like path finding and glitches, but while I do think it is fair to tell the potentially interested customer about the shortcomings of the current version of the game, it also needs to be considered that the game is currently in alpha and therefore missing a lot of features and polish that we are going to see added over the next few weeks and months (years?) as it is currently far from being feature complete. A very good example of that would be how the game ends when you die. You will idle in space without any sort of screen telling you that your crew died. In fact you might not even have noticed that that the crew died if you were busy watching another part of the ship. If you want to get an idea of where the game might be heading in the long term, here is a long list of interesting features they are currently considering: http://spacebasedf9.com/devplans
This game shows a LOT of promise and has some very talented developers behind it that will likely not disappoint their customers in the long run, even if the early weeks might be a bit rough. Should you immediately go out and buy it? Probably not if you feel ripped off if you don't get enough content on day 1. Don't if you aren't prepared for the occasional bugs and instabilities. But if you aren't too tight on cash at the moment and like what you see and like the idea of revisiting a constantly changing game, offering new opportunities after every update, then join me and Double Fine on our way to conquer die in space.
Title: Neurokult Developer: Woodland Barbarians Platforms: IOS Universal Price: $1.99 ---
Neurokult falls into a rare group of games: easy to learn, difficult to master. The controls are incredibly easy, but the gameplay is a fast paced reflext testing action with a cyberspace twist.
Your goal is simply to hack into neurospace by "derezzing" different colored orbs as they move across the screen. You can tap orbs individually or drag to link combos. Bigger combos mean higher scores and keeping your energy meter up. Letting too many orbs pass off-screen costs you in energy and eventual failure. The twist is that you have to switch between different colors and avoid activating various hazards such as bombs and saw blades. All these elements combine to make a fast paced, reflex/finger-testing game. Neurokult quickly ramps up into a hectic addictive rush as you look for the best ways to clear the screen and avoid hazards. There's a level based campaign that gradually introduces new obstacles and even bosses as well as an unlockable endless mode. A pulsing soundtrack nicely complements the onscreen action.
Neurokult is a fun challenging game that's worth your time. Even better, it's a premium game with no IAP. You can purchase Neurokult for $1.99.
Title: Kenshi
Developer: Lo-fi Games
Platforms: PC
Price: $19.99
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When I first saw Kenshi, I thought it was some kind of Japanese samurai simulator. Then I noticed the industrial landscapes. the technology, the other incongrous aspects. Kenshi isn't set in Japan. It may not even be set on Earth. Across this expansive desert landscape, you choose where to go, what to do, and create your own destiny
Perhaps the closest analog to Kenshi would be the medieval sim Mount & Blade. Like that game, you start Kenshi with relatively nothing, maybe a sword and some credits if you choose a certain origin, but still you're on your own in this weird futuristic-industrial wasteland. The game is simple to control: right click on an area to move your character there, left click to interact with NPCs and objects. Different menu options modify your movement and other factors. Combat isn't a direct affair; you can set defensive modes but fighting is very hands-off. Kenshi's focus isn't on the combat though, it's on starting from nothing and building something. Recruit other travelers, build your tribe, wander the craggy dunes. Settle down, build a fortress, a trading post, a settlement. Construct defenses, walls, armories, research labs, power sources, taverns. Defend your homestead from invaders, expand your influence, make alliances, make enemies.
Kenshi offers a large variety of possibilities and potential, but there were still some glaring flaws, the most critical being the camera. The camera is extremely finnicky and just overall hard to control. It doesn't stay locked on to your character and is just a pain to constantly adjust and move around. The menus felt clunky and difficult to navigate, which is a problem when a lot of the game is controlled through selecting options and choices through menus. Furthermore, the game desperately needs a longer, structured tutorial to explain the game's numerous facets.
Kenshi is still in alpha and still very much a work in progress, but is a game with incredible promise and potential. The most recent update added audio and a soundtrack, armor crafting, new origin options, and other features. A lot more is planned for the full game, ranging from various faction like police and cannibals to dynamic weather and new environments to survival elements such as hunger and thirst and AI improvements. You can purchase Kenshi from the developer's site and Steam.
On reviews scores and ratings:
--- As a gamer, I share the same inclinations as others: that need to race to the bottom of a review of that highly anticipated game from your favorite site and check the score. I'm proud when a game gets the score it deserves and frustrated when a reviewer doesn't see the inherent greatness and rates a game poorly.
But now as a reviewer, I've found that I can't and won't score a game. Over these few months and in hindsight of other occurrences in the gaming hemisphere, I've come to the conclusion that applying a score, a rating, just does a disservice to the product. A game isn't a singular entity, but myriad variables working in sync to deliver an experience. How can a single number or ranking possibly represent the entire spectrum of that experience, from the wonderful highs to its frustrating lows and every aspect in between? Truth is, it can't.
When I first started this blog, I considered scoring the games I write about. But I found that once you start down that path, you're no longer considering the game in terms of the experience, but within those self-imposed boundaries. What separates a 7 from an 8, or the 9 from 10? What superficial aspect could possibly separate a 9.5 from a 9.75?
Consider games like Alpha Protocol or Fallout New Vegas, both which were riddled with technical issues upon release. In that decisive moment, how do you weigh the pros and the cons? Do the bugs and glitches tarnish the product as a whole? Do you place the narratives, those taxing moral choices, the wonderful emergent moments, above those issues? Is it really worthy of a 7,8,9,10? What are the designated context of those numbers? What constitutes an arbitrary "Average", "Great", "Masterpiece"? I feel it's better and more beneficial to the gamer to forgo the scores and ratings and just discuss the game, which is why I post impressions, not reviews. Consider Eurogamer's "controversial" review of Uncharted 3, which rated the game an 8 out of 10. Now personally, I felt the issues discussed in the article were perfectly valid, but reading through the comments, it seemed pretty apparent that most were fixated on the score, not the actual content of the review, and on the fact that because others had rated the game a certain score, then a lower score couldn't be valid. I've seen people compare entirely different games, in entirely different genres, not because they share any similarity in gameplay or tone or story, but because they share the same score. And I recall the controversy of hard-working developers losing bonuses and even jobs because of their game's Metacritic score. By designating a rating, all that a game is - all its promise and potential, its emotional resonance, all the elements that generate the experience - is reduced to just another number.
Title: LogiGun Developer: Sodium Eyes Platforms: PC Price: $9.99 ---
Yes, LogiGun features a woman solving a series of increasingly difficult puzzles. Yes, you use a special gun (four, actually) to solve those puzzles. Yes, there's an AI presense that occasionally taunts you. But don't overlook LogiGun because it has some Portal inspirations. LogiGun has its own style and will test your brain with its own gauntlet of varied challenging puzzles.
LogiGun doesn't reveal its hand all at once. The tutorial rooms ease you in with some switches and pressure-activated buttons and blocks, introducing you to the guns you'll wield throughout the game. Your character has quite arsenal of puzzle solving tools: a wrist mounted electronic zapper, a grapple hook gun, a gun that creates a pair of platforms to jump on, a gravity gun that can attract or repel objects, and a flame-tipped crossbow that can activate switches and arc around corners. Certain factors limit your use of the tools and add complexity to the conundrums; for example, the platform gun can only be used while on solid ground, which forces you to preemptively think about their placement.
LogiGun takes these elements and tools and throws a wide range of puzzles your way, requiring you to use these guns' functions in inventive ways. Explosives, barriers that only allow certain objects to pass through, gas that restricts platforms, and more build upon the already complex challenges. Furthermore, the game only offers the slightest hints to guide you. Gamers who enjoy figuring out solutions for themselves without handholding will feel right at home with LogiGun.
There are some flaws. It can become cumbersome to switch between your various gadgets and the jumping is floaty, but thankfully the game's emphasis is on the puzzles, not difficult platforming. LogiGun's clean visuals round out the package, with smooth animations and atmospheric lighting that give the game a unique look.
LogiGun is a quality puzzle platformer that puts the emphasis on brain-teasing challenges. You can buy the game from the developer's site or Desura and vote for it on Steam Greenlight.
Title: I Am Box Developer: Jan Ivanecky Platforms: iPhone Price: Free ---
Another day, another hidden gem found! I Am Box was released about a month ago and subsequently overlooked and buried in the usual landslide of apps and games. Which is unfortunately, because I Am Box is a fun challenging game worth your time.
The game is simple, very simple. You rotate your square clockwise or counter-clockwise by holding either side of the screen. Colored triangles close in from various angles, each corresponding to a specific side of your square. You must orient your square so the triangle connects with the correctly-colored side. Simple controls, simple objective, can't be that hard? But I Am Box's colorful minimalist design hides its true form: a twitchy reflex testing action game that throws these kinds of challenges at you:
Like in Super Hexagon, Pivvot, Duet, Impossible Road, your initial attempts won't last more than a few seconds. I've barely lasted thirty. And like those games, failure merits an instant restart and throws you right back into the fast paced action. I Am Box challenges you to study what's coming and react in mere moments and the result is a fun stylish game that you should definitely try.
