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SSX Review

Pros

+ Unbelievably satisfying snowboarding

+ Deep and varied trick and riding system

+ Enough tracks to keep you coming back for months

+ Online events that will make you play 'just one more time'

Cons

- Questionable voice acting from pilots

- Characters and world lack SSX's exotic personality

- Complete lack of local multiplayer

Straight out of the gate let's make one thing clear. Is SSX identical to its previous incarnations? Hell no. But is it thrilling, and insane, and completely addictive? Hell yes. A lot has changed in the world of SSX, mostly for the better. Don't get me wrong, I loved the previous SSX titles, grew up with them, and still occasionally play them, though EA Canada have taken everything that's come before and made it faster, more thrilling, and without a doubt more spectacular.

You'll start the SSX World Tour by being thrown out of a helicopter at 7,500 metres, and that sets the tone for the entire game. Gone are the days of narrow snowboard cross tracks, and neon lit billboards. You're given nine, massive real world mountain ranges, with 153 drop points to board upon and a thinly woven narrative to take you across the globe. Whilst World Tour mode might be your introduction to the new 'Team SSX' this isn't the core focus of the game, more an extended training mode, to guide you as you experience the wonders that SSX has to offer.

Explore and Global events are the true substance of SSX. Explore mode allows you to race, trick and survive the mountain. The first two will be common ground to returning fans; simply racing against other riders and placing a high score, whilst survival is exactly what it says; nature is out to get you in a big way, and you have to brave the elements, in a hope to reach the checkered page in one piece.

This is where the new gear system becomes a massive factor. In order to better adapt to the conditions and events, you're given random loot to purchase. These range from the standard affair of boards and suits - some with perks - to other pieces of additional equipment and mods. Sure some of these have limited uses; for example the solar panel equipped body pack is only useful in the coldest depths of the Antarctic, but using the wingsuit always feels awesome.

That is what really defines the experience of SSX, it's awesome, and (without wishing to draw on video game cliche) epic. The trick system is still the central node of an amazingly satisfying SSX experience, it's simple; tricks earn you boast and boast equals speed. You start off a run 'just' pulling off grabs with sextuple spins and flips but at the end - presuming you can ride without bailing and keep your flow - you'll be pulling off tricks that separate you from your board and allow it to spin around you as if you have your own gravitational pull. It's nigh on impossible not to feel godlike whilst you're pulling off Über tricks - even if you're not placing first and earning scores in the millions - the tricks will still bring a cheeky smile to your face.

On top of the instant gratification you'll get from insane tricks and beating the game's AI, in Explore and World tour modes there's also the addiction of Global Events. In essence these provide an arena for you to gamble credits (which are used to buy gear) against other players worldwide, with the payout being dependent on your time, score or number of meters survived. You place a drop cost to enter an event (though some are free, but pay out less) and you'll receive a percentage of the overall number of credits 'bet' on that event, based on which scoring bracket you finish in. Not only does it encourage you to get better, but will have you replaying events over and over. It's a hook which will grab you for hours, and makes even replaying the same drop unbelievably exciting, as your payout bounces between loss and profit.

For all the positives found in SSX, there are a few areas which are strangely lacking. For one the complete lack of local multiplayer, whilst you can compete against ghosts, EA Canada have completely left out what for me was the most gripping element of previous SSX titles. Being able to open up a few beers, and be shocked at the times and scores that the people next to me on the couch where placing, was what gave pervious SSX games longevity, and will be sadly missed.

The characters and world have also taken a hit, though both are elegantly designed, they're sparse on personality and lack the flair and exoticism seen previously. It almost feels as though the series has grown up, and left their quirks behind. Whilst characters still spout one liners, and have a back story, they just don't have such exuberance, which to a point dilutes the feeling of what made SSX unique.

Talking about one liners. Your helicopter pilots, are, well, eccentric, but in the same way that your creepy uncle is, making them grinding, rather than funny or engaging. Whilst they may not affect the overall experience in any measurable way and can be turned off, their punditry is more than a little irritating.

In essence, SSX is everything you could ever want, or need from a hyperrealistic snowboarding game. The core riding experience is exciting ,regardless of whether you're a newcomer, or this is your sixth outing, and the Explore and Global events will keep you coming back for months. Sure the characters and tracks may not have the wackiness of previous SSX games, but the gameplay, which is more intense than ever more than carries the slack. SSX may not be what's expected for fans who are caught up on the ideal that SSX should never change, though for anyone new to the series, or who values gameplay over a few minor personality tweaks. you'll almost undoubtably love pretty much everything SSX has to offer.

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Snowboarding Games: The Classics

With EA's SSX reboot hitting stores today in Europe, and having been out for a few days in the US, we thought it was time to look back at the snowboarding games of yesteryear. A lot has changed since the PSX and PC days, some of those games were down-right-awful, though there have been some true classics, and a surprising array of approaches to the sport.

Cool Boarders 2 Original Release: NA - November 11th, 1997 EU - January 9th, 1998 Developer: UEP Systems Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Platform(s): Playstation Cool Boarders was one of the first commercially viable snowboarding games, and it really had everything you could want from a game of that era. There were five modes; competition, half pipe, freestyle, big air and board park, and for the first time the series, true AI competition rather than merely time attack. Though this game was controller throwingly hard in places, there was more than enough tricks and tracks here to keep you entertained for a long time. Now Available on: Playstation Network

1080° Snowboarding Original Release: NA - April 1st 1998, EU - November 30th 1998 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform(s): Nintendo 64 When Nintendo break into a new genre they don't do it feebly, so when they released 1080° Snowboarding in 1998 it was a big deal, some people even called it "the single best snowboarding game out there". For what it lacked in tracks and a sparse aesthetic 1080° made up for with pinpoint precision handling and a deep and fluid riding system. 1080° did tricks, riding and the general experience of strapping on a board and hoping you made it down to the bottom of the slope brilliantly. Now Available on: Virtual Console

ESPN X Games: Pro Boarder Original Release: December 15th, 1998 Developer: Radical Entertainment Publisher: Electronic Arts Platform(s): PC, Playstation The X Games were massive in the late 90's, so the logical approach would be a cheap video game cash in, right? Surprisingly ESPN and Radical Entertainment did the sport justice. With 8 player multiplayer and a soundtrack which fit the mood of a generation, Pro Boarder really hit the spot. It featured the regular slew of events seen using snowboards at the X Games and had the best riders of the day as playable characters. For many ESPN X Games: Pro Boarder never entered their sphere of interest, though it was a truly overlooked Playstation Classic.

Supreme Snowboarding/Boarder Zone Original Release: October 13th, 2000 Developer: Housemarque/ Acclaim Publisher: Atari SA Platform(s): PC Supreme Snowboarding was best seen as a realistic snowboarding experience, with just a little bit more flair. As a snowboarding game it felt like the real thing - well, if you replaced board with keyboard - it was praised as one of the most accurate snowboarding games of its day. Supreme Snowboarding featured fast, tight snowboard cross courses as well as wide open piste to practice tricks, which all came together to be an accessible, but life-like experience.

SSX Tricky Original Release: NA - November 5th, 2001 EU - November 30th, 2001 Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports BIG Platform(s): GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox Without SSX Tricky we wouldn't have this feature, the original SSX may have set the ball rolling a year before, but this installment added the Tricky Meter and Uber Tricks, for which the series has become so well known. Split screen races and trick events are still fun to this day, and although short, (the game only had 10 tracks) but every event was and still is worth replaying, over, and over again. Though what really made SSX was i's personality and characters, mainly due to the roster of extroverted boarders and their indescribably mental tricks. (Please EA give us a HD re-release).

Amped 2 Original Release: NA - October 28th, 2003 EU - November 14th, 2003 Developer: Indie Built, Inc. Publisher: Microsoft Platform(s): Xbox Everything you could ever want from a snowboarding game and then some was in Amped 2. Really solid core riding: check, enormous mountains: check, extreme gameplay, tight controls and a soundtrack that was equally massive, and fitting of tone: check, check and check again. Amped 2 didn't have the mental qualities of the SSX franchise, though for fans of snowboarding who prefer realism in movement and tricks, it was a perfect addition to the genre.

Amped 3 Original Release: NA - November 16th, 2005 EU - December 2nd, 2005 Developer: Indie Built, Inc. Publisher: 2K Sports Platform(s): Xbox 360 This may be the second Amped game on this list, but Amped 3 was completely different to the previous titles. You start the game, dressed in a pink bunny outfit, and events just get more comical from there. Amped 3 was less of a snowboarding game and more of a mountain experience, laden with brilliant writing, really funny cinematics; which ranged from anime to stop monition and even in places, puppets. Amped 3 may not be the most realistic game on this list, and frankly the gameplay bordered on stale towards its end, though it was unquestionably hilarious and satirical from start to finish. Now Available on: Xbox Games on Demand

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Nexuiz Review

Pros

+ Old school twitch shooting - modernised

+ Fast, frantic and incredibly fun (initially)

+ Interesting addition of mutators

+ Decent selection of maps

Cons

- Combat gets a bit 'samey' after awhile

- Really buggy

- Really really buggy

- To the point of being unplayable in places

Nexuiz had humble beginnings. Originally developed on a highly modified version of the Quake 1 engine, back in 2002 by a two man team; a lot has changed since then. Several million downloads later, Nexuiz is now published by THQ and developed by Illfonic, and has received a massive visual upgrade to CryENGINE3 in time for it's current release as part of House Party.

At its heart Nexuiz is an modernised and incredibly pretty arena shooter, a clone of Quake or early Unreal Torrement. Gameplay moves fast, it’s shooting where the smallest twitch can be the difference between a headshot or a bullet to the face. Not much has changed here, the core mechanics are still the same as yesteryear and if you yearn for the days of simple, fast, frantic and incredibly fun shooters then Nexuiz could be just what you’re looking for.

There’s nothing much in Nexuiz that hasn’t been seen before, just two modes - Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag - nine maps, which to their credit are all designed to be compact, action filled and use the vertical space brilliantly. You won’t find yourself getting lost and all the maps can be learnt in a matter of minutes, though that doesn’t subtract from the enjoyment you’ll get from each, especially once you learn all the hiding spaces and where the selectively placed teleporters and man-cannons drop you off. You can see clearly the pedigree from games where rocket jumps and players spending more time in the air than on the ground was the norm.

The weapons themselves are standard shooter affair. Most have primary and secondary fire modes (some of which are very similar) meaning you are getting more fire power for your buck, the only real difference is theming. Each weapon has been loosely dressed up to fit the rather limp story of a competition broadcast across the galaxy between the Kavussari (red team) and Forsellians (blue team).

Battle between the two races is, for the vast majority of the time fought online, though the addition of a training mode with bots - an element that I for one have sorely missed from recent shooters - makes the gameplay easy to pick up offline before diving on online. The training mode isn’t really to teach you the ropes of combat, in essence even with the secondary fire it is still just point and shoot, it’s more to get your head around the games’ mutators.

Mutators are scattered throughout the maps in the same way that you’ll find weapons, armour packs, and damage multipliers. When collected you’re given the pick of one of the three randomly selected mutators from a list of 118, all of which modify combat in some way. Some of these are interesting additions such as; infinite ammo, jet packs, supercharged weapons or rapid fire, though most of these, especially the supercharged weapons, feel as though they really should have been embedded in the standard gameplay. It’s as though the most entertaining parts of combat where removed, and reapplied, so that they could be used as a sales point. Admittedly, this doesn’t make the mutators any less enjoyable, in the fleeting moments when they’re in use.

Though what does drain the game of all it’s enjoyment are the frequent, and in many cases, game breaking bugs. In my seven or so hours of play I can only list a handful (possibly less) matches that played all the way through completely issue free. You’ll find bugs of all shapes and sizes in Nexuiz; from the games inability to actually perform as a 4 vs 4 shooter because it only allows six players on a map and kicks the other two before the round starts, or that when they’re kicked it forces the game to find a new host, which can take minutes, or that when migrating hosts mid match your personal score is lost. I really don’t wish to step on a game that feels so satisfying to play when it works, but glitches such as; spawning with a reticle but no gun, completely failing to register a hit when you’re inches away from an opponent, or even preventing you from picking up the flag when it’s standing right in-front of you are crippling to the experience. The glitches extend outside of matches too, the leaderboards, medals and rankings are completely broken as is the process of changing maps between rounds. During playtime I’ve compiled a list of at least 30 issues, all of which are inexcusable for a shooter to still have when shipping, these aren’t petty quibbles to be quietly patched, they’re game breaking and completely shatter any immersion.

When you play through Nexuiz, it's easy to imagine that it could be a good, if not great little shooter. Considering that it’s priced at 800MS Points it’s fair to place expectations a little differently; the weak array of game modes, and gameplay that feels a little bit same-ish after a while is acceptable, though, allowing the game into players hands in its current condition, regardless of its price point, truly, is not.

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Reviews: A perspective

Something’s been irking me over the last couple of years, well, ever since downloadable games became a ‘thing’. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of smaller experiences, expansions and other paraphernalia that come down the tubes from the internets, some of my favourite games this generation don’t, and are unlikely to ever have a physical release.

The issue isn’t with the games themselves, and even if I did the transition to a digital download model looks almost inevitable. Sure, I think that the big, bold triple A titles should still have their presence on disc; with their grand midnight launches and millions spent on advertising, whilst the smaller, possibly more creative and niche titles should find a nice warm corner of Steam, or AppStore, or any other distribution channel and entertain their smaller loyal fan base in interesting new ways. But, and this is a but of colossal proportion, they should not be treated as comparable products, at least for the purpose of reviews.

A review, especially one with a score, or rating, or any other statistically measurable quantity, can not be mapped against the entirety of gaming history. In the same way as I’d challenge the reasoning and sanity of anyone that’d try to directly compare the original Capcom vs SNK for Dreamcast to Angry Birds for iOS because they share the same Metacritic score, I’d be equally bewildered by the comparison of Skyrim and Bastion due to both featuring melee combat.

Admittedly, those comparisons where more than a little waggish, lets take the recently released Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and the original Alan Wake, a more rational comparison. The original did something which hadn’t been seen before, created a world where anything was possible, though was short enough for many to finish in a weekend (which is massively off-putting if it’s one of two or three games you could afford that year). Now take American Nightmare, in essence the same game, modified combat, additional mode, all built in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the budget, meaning that the title can be sold for a quarter of the price of the original, and you’ve got a game where price fits the content.

That’s in essence what differentiates the downloadable games space, it’s an iPod compared to a surround sound system, same concept, just minified and more personal, and it should be reviewed as such, instead of comparing work from a team of four people, made on a shoestring budget to a game developed by one of the big four. That’s why downloadable games, and rightly each game regardless of scale or budget needs to be reviewed as a unique product, though equally assessing it against advancements that the industry has made before (both generally and genre specific). Granted all reviews can share the same scoring system, even the same vernacular, but everything has to be taken with a little bit of perspective, not just a simple case of compare and contrast.

It’s not that I expect less from a downloadable title, take Limbo, you can run through it in a couple of hours, but every second is memorable, compared to any one of several dozen full retail titles that became absorbed into the black-hole that is my steam library, which are much longer, though totally unmemorable. If anything there’s an expectation for smaller downloadable titles to do more conceptually and thematically with less. In the same way that shooters were scathed in the 90’s for being less than 20 hours - but tended to be composed largely of filler - gamers and the press have come to the conclusion that a game’s value is not directly correlational to length of campaign, but fidelity of experience.

Increased freedom in creating that experience, and allowing developers to build the game they want rather than a design specification sent from up-on-high are causing career triple A developers to broaden their reach and revaluate building massive, high-risk games in favour of smaller indie or downloadable projects. Take the fine folks that worked at Bizarre Creations (pre-shutdown by Activision Blizzard), who have now splintered off since the studio’s closure into three new developers, all focusing on smaller titles. Such developers with a pedigree for making massive million dollar games which span consoles and genre are moving to a downloadable model, there is no reason to presume their won’t carry forth that same level of quality, just simply a moved in a more compact direction.

So… the next time I read an article about how the gaming industry is being diluted by downloads, or some irate fanboy of console X or system Y pettily arguing that their favourite game ‘deserves’ a score higher than another by the divine rite of platform, I’ll just point them here, and simply say it’s all about perspective.

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Alan Wake's American Nightmare Review

Pros

+ Gripping arcade mode

+ Interesting narrative

+ Impressive mood and tone

+ Amazing use of light

Cons

- Story makes little sense without playing Alan Wake

- Questionable voice acting and animation in places

It's been two years since we’ve seen the flashlight wielding author Alan Wake battle the darkness. Remedy and Microsoft Studios allow you to return to his world, this time in a smaller downloadable package for Xbox Live Arcade, in Alan Wake's American Nightmare. 

At its core American Nightmare isn't that different from its predecessor. You’re is still caught in a battle with the darkness, dialogue is still snappily written, the world still has a remarkable sense of mood, and the presence of light scattered against the blackness is still beautifully presented. There’s been modifications here and there, with new types of Taken (human’s who’ve been possessed by the darkness), a few new weapons a more cinematic feel and interesting new arcade mode.

American Nightmare is a game which operates on dream-logic, with Alan Wake still trapped in the dark place he can only interact with the real world fleetingly, by depositing stories he’s written into reality, which, at least for this visit means that American Nightmare’s story makes very little sense unless you’ve played the original and its DLC.

Just like the original, American Nightmare is full of collectables. You’ll find manuscript pages which foretell the story, creepy and perfectly produced small town radio, and television broadcasts from the charmingly nefarious Mr Scratch, a personification of the darkness who appears visually identical to Alan Wake, and is more than willing to use his fame and infamy for unscrupulous purposes. Mr Scratch, using Alan Wake’s form, is out to capture Alice Wake, the wife of Alan who believes - along with all of his friends - that Alan has been dead for almost two years. With much of Alan Wake's narrative still unexplained, there's a general feeling of confusion throughout the entire game, from the reasoning behind wanting to capture Alice to the narrative’s main driving force.

{WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD}

Remedy has done something very clever, not only to present an interesting twist to the way you interact with the world, but also as a solution to the game’s small budget. American Nightmare’s story only has three levels, or more truthfully three maps - all of decent size - though due to Mr Scratch’s ability to manipulate the world the game travels through each of these levels three times. Instead of spending a large chunk of the game in one place you’re constantly thrown between the three, keeps the game fresh till the story’s conclusion. By the game’s end you’ll feel familiarity with the levels and new characters, yet simultaneously complete alienation and mild confusion, which draws you in through every narrative swing and bullet fired. In that regard American Nightmare is incredibly gripping and immersive, though due to bad voice acting and animation - which presumedly have been sacrificed due to budget constraints - friendly characters are jarring, in a game that otherwise feels so fluid.

The other half of American Nightmare, the arcade mode Fight 'Till Dawn, is completely free of badly voiced, and animated companions; it’s just Alan, a flashlight, a ton of Taken and whole load of lead. At its heart Fight 'Till Dawn pits you against wave after wave of Taken, across five maps, with an increasing multiplier for every Taken killed or attack dodged, until either the sun rises, or you die! In a game with constant sustained darkness, seeing the sun rise is beautiful, and after a barrage of Taken, euphoric and slightly addictive.

In many ways it’s weird to see Alan Wake, a writer at heart and not a trained killer, fighting against so many Taken, that is until you experience the Grenadier, one of the new enemy types. The Grenadier - as the name suggests - has the sole purpose of staying out of combat, and volleying condensed balls of darkness at Alan Wake (disguised as grenades), and although these ‘grenades’ do very little damage, they do abruptly re-set your multiplier if your caught in it’s radius. When grenades come into play you have to run constantly, it’s easy to see the vulnerability of Alan when he’s pitted against dozens of Taken, with grenades flying overhead, further perpetuating the feeling of being alone and scared.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, at heart is still an Alan Wake game; its narrative is still grand and mysterious, and gameplay still balances fear of the dark with salvation by light. Its clear that effort has been made to make the combat more exhilarating and cinematic, though without diluting the intrigue that focuses on Alan’s battle with the Dark Presence. Regardless of issues with animation and voice acting, American Nightmare is still a gripping addition to the series, though the arcade mode, Fight till Dawn is more than worth the cost of admission on its own, and will keep you coming back time and time again to beat high scores on the leaderboards and unlock all the maps.

The greatest shame, is that Remedy didn’t make more effort to separate American Nightmare’s story from that which came before, in order to understand American Nightmare playing the original is a must. The writers at Remedy have left so much left untold, and provide an ending which uses the oldest (and one of the worst) tricks in the book, meaning you’ll more than likely leave Alan Wake’s projection into the real world just as baffled as before, though waiting more excitedly than ever for the announcement of Alan Wake 2.

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20 amazing games for the cost of 1 retail title.

With boxed games costing around £40/$60, for a game on release day, and with wallets being thinner than ever, we at GoandGame have decided to prove, once and for all that some of the best games are dirt cheap. This is our list of 20 amazing games that together cost less than one retail title. We've decided to make this harder for ourselves, and more interesting for you, that we need a few limitations. 1. The original release date of the game on any platform must be less than 5 years ago (released no earlier than February 2007) 2. Games can't be free, a trial or demo 3. Games must be priced at their standard price on at least one platform (No Steam sales or Xbox deals of the week etc) 4. All games must be purchased and played/downloaded online (because we're lazy and prices vary so much in second hand bins) 5. All games must be worth playing, no shovelware here.

1. Beat Sneak Bandit Developer/Publisher - Simogo Platform - iOS Cost - £1.99/$2.99

All the clocks have been stolen by the evil Duke Clockface, and it's your job to get them back, by using a mixture of rhythm and stealth to navigate his puzzles. In a world where everything moves to the beat, you have to keep in time to get past guards and search beams to collect all the clocks. Beat Sneak Bandit plays like the unique combination of Parappa the Rapper and old school platformers, and is addictive, yet compact enough to play in an odd minute free. Other Platforms - None

2. Bit.Trip Beat Developer/Publisher - Gaijin Games/Namco Networks America

Platform - iOS Cost - £0.69/$0.99 The creators of Bit.Trip Beat admitted that Pong was their greatest inspiration, they've taken the simple paddle mechanic and spliced in beat matching gameplay to make a game that plays like Pong on acid. With a chiptune inspired soundtrack, and far more than one ball on screen at any one time, gameplay soon becomes a real test of focus as dozens of bits come rushing towards you. Other Platforms - PC (Steam), OSX (MacStore/Steam), Wii(Wiiware), 3DS

3. Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land Developer/Publisher - Red Wasp Design

Platform - iOS Cost - £2.99/$4.99 Set on the battlefield of World War One, a team of investigators and soldiers are pitted against an evil older than humanity. It's your job to work out who is raising this ancient army in an RPG/Turn Based Strategy game based loosely on the work of H.P Lovecraft. It's one of, if not the best RPG you'll find on iOS, and has a feeling not unlike Baldur's gate. Other Platforms - None

4 and 5. Cathulu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII Double Pack Developer/Publisher - Zeboyd Games

Platform - Steam Cost - £1.99/$2.99 Designed to be a spoof of old school Japanese RPG's, these games not only serve as a retro throwback - at a really cheap price - but also are brilliantly written and designed. Both games manage to simultaneously create a feeling of nostalgia whilst providing something new, if you enjoyed old school Zelda, or any other retro dungeon crawler, you'll be in love with these games too. Other Platforms - Xbox Indie Games

6. Chime Developer/Publisher - Zoé Mode/OneBigGame, Easy Tiger, Valcon Games

Platform - Xbox Live Arcade Cost - £3.43/$5/400MS Points Chime really makes you feel joyful, firstly all the profits go to charity, secondly it's brilliantly simple - it's just a game where you have to fill a grid with blocks - but completely addictive, and thirdly, as you fill up the grid the accompanying music changes in tone, to reflect the blocks' placement. It's simple, musical, charity-giving excitement and painfully addictive. Other Platforms - PC, PS3 (PSN)

7. Contre Jour Developer/Publisher - Mokus/Chillingo Platform - iOS

Cost - £.69/$.99 Contre Jour means against daylight in French, and that's the best way to describe the game. The graphics are sparse with little dabs of colour in a black and white world and the music is lofty and feels though it was played by a busker in a back alley in Paris. At heart Contre Jour is a platformer, you navigate from start to finish by manipulating the world, but the game is presented in a way that makes all the levels feel like interactive art. Other Platforms - None

8. Dead Rising: Case Zero Developer/Publisher - Blue Castle/Capcom

Platform - Xbox Live Arcade Cost - £3.43/$5/400MS Points If you enjoy killing zombies with all manner of weapons, but never felt the urge to drag yourself through a full Dead Rising game then Case Zero is for you. Case Zero is a taster of the Dead Rising universe, a four or five hour prequel that serves as a fun and gory slash through the undead horde. All the key mechanics are here, and a fair selection of weapons, in essence it's a more compact version of the main storyline. Other Platforms - None

9. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 Developer/Publisher - Ska Studios

Platform - Xbox Indie Games Cost - $1/£0.69/80MSPoints You play as any one of four protagonists, fighting off wave after wave of zombies from an aerial perspective. This twin stick shooter has simple gameplay; just shoot zombies and try to survive with the aid of a selection of weapons and power-ups. There's a unique charm to the title, its soundtrack(which deserves your 80MSP on its own) and use of leetspeak give it a personality, not seen from larger releases. Other Platforms - WP7

10. Machinarium Developer/Publisher - Amanita Design/Daedalic Entertainment

Platform - iOS Cost - £2.99/$4.99 At it's heart Machinarium is a point and click adventure game, but it's a beautiful, atmospheric and completely engrossing adventure. You play as a adorable little robot that's been exiled to the scrap heap. By working your way through environmental puzzles in the city of Machinarium, you hope to find your robot-girlfriend and save the city from the clutches of the Black Cap Brotherhood. Other Platforms - PC, OSX, Linux, Blackberry PlayBook

11. Monster Dash Developer/Publisher - Halfbrick Studios

Platform - iOS Cost - £.69/$.99 Games don't get much simpler than this; you have two buttons, jump and shoot. You play as the awesomely named Barry Stakefries and your goal is to run, and run, and run, until you either get eaten my monsters, or impaled, or fall. It's a perfect game to pick up, kill a few ghouls and maybe even ride the in-game Machine-gun Jetpack. Other Platforms - None

12. Osmos Developer/Publisher - Hemisphere Games Platform - iOS

Cost - £1.99/$2.99 If you fancy a pleasant change to games that require twitch controls and rapid gameplay, then the serenity of Osmos may be just what you're looking for. In Osmos you control a mote, a tiny little organism in a cosmos of possibilities, the goal is simple, grow your mote, absorb other motes and don't get absorbed yourself. Osmos plays like a dreamy and poetic representation of the first levels of Spore, its a game that'll make you think about every move whilst making you marvel at it's scale, as you grow in size. Other Platforms - PC, OSX, Linux

13. Poker Night at the Inventory Developer/Publisher - Telltale Games

Platform - Steam Cost - £3.25/$4.99 Poker Night at the Inventory is just that, poker, except for four very special additions, the players. No other game, never mind poker table can boast to bring together; The Heavy (Team Fortress 2), Max (Sam and Max), Strong Bad (Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People and Tycho from Penny Arcade, each character is fully voiced and together they play the most hilarious version of Texas Hold'em ever seen. Other Platforms - OSX(Steam)

14. Pulse: Volume One Developer/Publisher - Cipher Prime

Platform - iOS Cost - £1.99/$2.99 Pulse: Volume One is a rhythm game that does things slightly differently. Instead of having an instrument, or playing notes as they come towards you like Guitar Hero or Tap Tap Revolution, Pulse lays out it's notes in concentric circles, forcing you not only to memorize the combinations (to a point) but it also gives more room for the visual flourishes which accompany the tracks. Other Platforms - None

15. Puzzle Agent 2 Developer/Publisher - Telltale Games Platform - iOS

Cost - £2.99/$4.99 The Puzzle Agent Series is in essence a quirky version of Professor Layton. You play as Nelson Tethers an agent from FBI's Department of Puzzle Research as you continue to investigate the goings on in Scoggins, Minnesota. The main difference between Puzzle Agent and a certain top hat wearing investigator is the witty and charming writing that Telltale Games is known for, with deep and challenging puzzles added in for good measure. Other Platforms - PC, OSX, PS3 (PSN)

16. Swarm Developer/Publisher - Hothead Games/Ignition Entertainment

Platform - Xbox Live Arcade Cost - £3.43/$5/400MS Points Being a hive-mind may sound difficult, but it's made simple with Swarm. You control 50 swarmites with the simple goal of collecting more DNA to further the species. Swarm plays like a loose cross between Pikmin and Lemmings, and although AI can be a bit dim in places, the blue, goofy creatures you control are full of charm and the game's dark sense of humour makes the entire game a joy to play. Other Platforms - PS3 (PSN)

17. Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP Micro Edition Developer/Publisher - Superbrothers,Capybara Games Platform - iOS

Cost - £1.99/$2.99 Superbrothers have created a world which is unique for iOS with Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP. No other game on the AppStore delivers such an engrossing and vibrant world; Swords and Sorcery EP has created a mystical world with vivid music and amazing 8bit visuals for the adventure. At it's heart Sword and Sorcery EP is a meandering adventure using, as you may have guessed, swords and sorcery, but it's brought together so perfectly that it feels more akin to interactive art with solid gameplay laid carefully on top. Other Platforms - None

18 and 19. Time Gentlemen, Please! and Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition Double Pack Developer/Publisher - Size Five Games Platform - Steam

Cost - £2.99/$4.99 Both games in this collection are a romp through time, and yes, romp has never been used more effectively. Both games star Ben and Dan (names which are in no way related to the game's creators *cough* :p), and as far as i'm aware are the only games the contain; God, Hitler, Magnum P.I., Aliens as well as a whole manner of other insane shenanigans, in this hilarious, satirical, and wackily written adventure title. Other Platforms - None

20. Total Miner Developer/Publisher - Greenstone Games

Platform - Xbox Indie Games Cost - £0.69/$1/80MSPoints If you're intrigued by Minecraft, but haven't yet jumped into it's massive world then Total Miner is for you. Basically take the experience of Minecraft with a massive land and items constructed with blocks, then stick on a $1 price tag and you have Total Miner. Simple as that. Other Platforms - None

TOTAL = £38.90/$59.87 …so that's GoandGame's list of 20 games for the cost of a retail title. Every single game on this list is more than worth playing, and there were dozens that were left on the chopping room floor. If anyone out there is still in two minds, drop us an email or a message and we'll give any game on this list a full review.

[goandgame-blog]

Warp Review

Pros

+ Adorably murderous protagonist

+ Interesting and exciting gameplay

+ Many possible play styles

+ 'Bloody' and extremely satisfying

Cons

- Feels like the first game from the studio

- Would benefit from greater scope

- Overly sensitive and jerky controls

Warp, the first game from Trapdoor Inc and EA Partners, comes to Xbox Live Arcade as part of House Party. In many ways, Warp is a brilliantly bloody and cathartic start to the month-long collection. It oozes fun; from your character, with his quirky movement and explosive kills, to enemy chatter and comic fear that the facility's scientists show as you pass by. Even the platforming and puzzle gameplay - which in many ways feels like a blend of old and new - stays fun and fresh till the end.

Your protagonist is an alien, two or so feet tall, covered in yellow fuzz with cute antennae, that skips down the halls. 

Now imagine if your cute, little alien could 'warp' inside people and make them explode in a flurry of blood and body parts, and you’ve just envisaged Warp and the adorable little alien, Zero.

Zero awakes after being captured and tested upon in an underwater research facility. Similarly to Metroid or Shadow Complex, as you progress you’ll gather new abilities, which allow you to access new, previously locked areas. By the game's end you'll be using projection, 'echo', switching places with objects, 'swap' and flinging objects across the room, 'launch', to navigate puzzles and obliterate anything that stands in your way.

Warp suffers from a condition similar to Mirror's Edge, a unique concept, with unwieldy controls, and not quite long enough to give a feeling of mastery. Except unlike Mirror’s Edge the control problems become more clearly pronounced the further you dive into the adventure mode, though similarly are painfully noticeable in the challenge maps (which distil and demonstrate the use of a single ability).

Movement is far too sensitive, presumedly designed to make your little alien feel light and nibble, but instead just make pinpoint navigation - especially in tight platforming sections or in a room flooded by enemies - difficult. Zero’s abilities are controlled with the same stick as movement; meaning you can only aim your warp or echo in the direction which you're facing, this becomes a massive problem when your echo is destroyed, causing you to barrel forward in that direction. It’s a struggle to understand why controls for your abilities couldn't be mapped to the other stick, preventing Zero from diving into lasers, force-fields, or other hazards.

Zero may be equipped to the teeth, but is extremely vulnerable; one bullet or hit, is enough to send you back to one of the game’s very liberally spaced checkpoints.

In addition to the control scheme there are other questionable design decisions in Warp. The main map is small - and apart from a section in the latter stages - lacks any variety, featuring only four areas, which force you to backtrack without providing anything new.

If you’re a fan of collectables, there are grub and film canisters. Grubs, are a completely optional way to upgrade your abilities, though doing so makes a sizeable difference to the experience, such as making Zero stealthier or more explosive. Grubs and canisters offer an additional level of difficulty, ignoring which, the main game and challenge rooms can be ran through in under 5 hours.

Throughout Warp you’re guided by a fellow alien that’s also been captured, it’s your only company, and you spend eighty percent of the game traversing the map to reach it, other than escape it’s the game’s sole objective. Which’s perfectly acceptable, many great games have dropped the protagonist out of their comfort zone and given you the goal of dragging them back to normality, except in Warp, there’s no motivation. You’re only communication with the other alien are lines of text (in a stupidly small font), and worst still, once you set it free, it just hovers overhead, doing nothing other than casually distracting you every once in a while, like a silent Navi.

In addition, enemies also lack variety and depth, there’s three main archetypes; the defenceless scientists, shotgun wielding soldiers(some with shields) and turrets which are bound to their path. The whole game feels as though it was developed with painfully tight budget, with assets, both visual and graphical, seen unapologetically repeated throughout.

It’s very clear that Warp is the first game from the fledging Trapdoor Inc. There are many little quibbles to be had, in addition to more than a couple of bugs, (at least on my play-throughs) one of which could only be navigated around by glitching through a force-field.

Though, you have to give Warp it’s due, it’s a brilliant concept, from a small independent studio, though even though the game’s been in development for 18 months it still feels somehow rushed and lacking in scope.

It’s just a shame that Warp dilutes a solid core of gameplay with glitches, overly sensitive and jerky controls and a lack of breadth to writing, world and character design. Warp has many elements which are great, explosive gameplay, exciting powers, an upgrade system that though optional, allows you to refine your play style for the game’s one of a kind protagonist.

Throughout Warp you’ll left be left thinking; that with a bit of polish and refinement, Warp could have jumped the gap between a couple of hours of fun and became a truly memorable and gripping start Xbox Live’s House Party.

Does anyone else really want to see a Zero Plushie? Come on Trapdoor, please just take my money and make one.

[goandgame-blog]

SoulCalibur V Review

Pros

+ Brilliant animation, art and combat sounds

+ Expansive character creation

+ Deep combat 

Cons

- Really short story and arcade modes

- No guidance for new players or characters

- Appalling writing and voice acting

- Cheap and lazy AI

Over 15 years since Namco brought Soul Edge to arcades, comes SoulCalibur V. In the same fashion of previous games, you play in the style of any one of 30 fighters, all brandishing some form of sword, axe or other significant lump of metal. SoulCalibur V demonstrates all of the elements that the series has become associated with; the eight-way run is still here, along with guards; high, medium, and low attacks as well as a deep combo and grab system for more experienced players.

One minor change has been made to the fighting system, an ultra bar, (Critical Gauge) - which fills when attacks hit - powering special moves known as 'Critical Edges' and 'Brave Edges'(as seen in the original Soul Blade). This system was put in to allow new players to feel as though they're pulling off a powerful attack with minimal skill. If these attacks hit they do pack a fair punch, though, especially seen when using a 'Critical Edge', is far to easy to dodge or parry using 'Just Guards', which protects your fighter against pretty much anything, regardless of timing, at the expense of part of your 'Soul Gauge'. 

Degradable armor has also been added, though just like the 'Soul Gauge', 'Critical Edge', and 'Brave Edge' it doesn't effect combat in a meaningful way, if you're a veteran of the series. Sure, you may get a few less perfects but you'll still consistently come up on top, unless your opponent gets a flukey 'Ring Out'.

There's several reasons why veteran players will dominate in SoulCalibur V, in addition to pure skill. Due to the arcade and more importantly story mode being short (the arcade mode only features 6 fights and the story mode can be finished in under two hours) , as well as lacking any guidance (other than the training mode), and only focusing on three characters (story mode), their sole purpose is lost, being to guide players, so that they're competent and have the basics down for when they decide to compete against non-AI.

AI, not only fights in a style that would be completely ineffective if used in multiplayer, being entirely too easy (to the point where most fighters can be defeated with a single move, repeated till their bar's depleted) or maddeningly hard, lazy and cheap. This is most clearly seen when facing off against the featured Tekken style in Quick Battle - Devil Jin - who just mashes upper-cut combos so rapidly that he's undefeatable unless using a similarly broken strategy in response, there's no middle ground, either push-over or evil-button-masher.

This imbalance, and lack of a middle ground, means that the story mode - which focuses on a tale of a brother's (Patroklos), love for his sister (Pyrrha), with writing that screams 'made for TV matinée drama' combined with some truly painful voice acting - is a casual walk in the park till chapter 18 of 20, at which point, eight failed attempts later, the difficulty spirals. It's almost as if the game's developers, (Project Soul) presume that without a tutorial and with constant switching of characters, it's possible for an average gamer to pick up the controls and have a mastery of several characters, all with vastly different play-styles within an hour!

SoulCalbur V's final single player mode, 'Quick Battle', is the only part of the single player experience that'll extend for a reasonable length of time (other than the heartbreakingly difficult Legendary Souls mode), as you collect 'titles' - that have absolutely no effect on gameplay - the ranking of each of the 240 fighters is displayed next to each, making it clear when they'll jump from easy to infuriating (at least displaying this information is a step up from arcade and story modes).

There is one section where advances have been made, character creation, though even that has it's flaws. Visually there are thousands, possibly tens of thousands of combinations, some of which can be as titillating as Ivy or as perverse as Voldo, though you'll be confined to one of the fighting styles designed for the main set of 29 fighters (Ezio Auditore's style can not be used for licensing reasons). It's understandable that there's a risk of characters being made that would unbalance online play, though, when Nightmare with his massive Soul Blade and fast stride, or Ezio with his pistol and crossbow are selectable characters, that point of view becomes null and void.

Animation, art and sound design makes every blow feel weighty, you'll know about it when you're floored by Nightmare's Soul Blade or Sigfried's Requim. Fluid animation as well as well designed characters and stages are expected from the 'Soul Series' at this point, and in many ways that's the games greatest fault. It only does what's expected. If you want to learn a character's move set to death and fight tactically online or in versus mode then you'll get a much greater experience from SoulCalibur V. If you want combat to stay pretty much to the style of the previous SoulCalibur games then you'll be right at home and may even consider SoulCalibur V to be one of the better games in the series. The few additional touches may only make a small difference, though additional moves and systems don't impair the game either, overall SoulCalibur V for those willing to invest the time and effort can be a great experience, though even for veteran fighters, the addition of a boost to your opponents stats if you're winning can considerably turn battles inexplicably from clear victories, to massive defeats. Though, if you're looking for a complete package with multi and single player components that work together, combined with a a method to ease new characters into your repertoire, then you'll find many other fighters which do that so much better, including previous entryies in the 'Soul Series'.

[goandgame-blog]

Puddle Review

Pros

+ Impressive gameplay variety 

+ Original and creative level design

+ Amazing fluid simulation

+ Loads of replay value

Cons

- No tutorial or guidance

- Poor sound and music

- Can be unbelievably frustrating

Originally designed by students at ENJMIN, France, Puddle won the Student Showcase Award at the International Games Festival in 2010. This indie puzzler sees you guiding all manner fluids by tilting the world, from the content of a humble beaker to rocket fuel in the darkest reaches of space, and back again. It's truly impressive to see the level of scope and variety that Team Puddle and Neko Entertainment have cultivated from such a simple concept. 

Puddle takes influence from many places, there's the fluid motion of Mercury, (though on a 2D plane) and elements of LocoRoco, combined with a quaint and personality infused art style similar to World of Goo. This creates is a game which looks cute and sweet though is more than difficult enough to make grown men shriek like children, and their throw controls in frustration. Though, due to gameplay which at heart is simple and elegant, and a hint of badgering from the game you'll pick up the controller, and try again, and become completely addicted. 

Sure, you'll find yourself failing, a lot! The game even displays how many times it's bested you on that level, though, through some unexplainable urge you'll want to carry on, allowing you to skip two levels at a time (a mechanic jokingly called 'Whine and Skip') helps prevent tedium setting in. Finally completing a level, be it after the 2nd, or 80th attempt feels satisfying every single time, sure Puddle is frustratingly hard in places, it's a game where unless you take a break you'll end up kicking the cat or throwing the controller (again). At no point does it feel as though your being cheated, as though the developers have given you a task that can only be completed by pressing a magnifying glass to the screen and counting the number of pixels between yourself and the exit. Intentionally or not Team Puddle has created a perfect game to play with friends - so you can pass the controller between each other - its almost cathartic to watch a friend fail in new and exciting ways, and then pass on the controls when the difficulty becomes too intense.

Puddle is broken up into chapters, each demonstrating new mechanics. It almost feels as if Puddle is a selection of mini-games with a constant thread, variety which manages to be simultaneously refreshing - making every puzzle feel genuinely new - though also slightly scrappy. Puddle makes it hard to get a feeling for one facet before you move onto another, though admittedly uncommon to say, Puddle would benefit from less mechanics but more time to interact with each. 

With new mechanics comes new wonders at every turn, there aren't individual set piece moments, instead every level feels as though it was hand crafted to awe. One example, in the early stages you control a fluid swallowed by a scientist, from there you'll spend the next 5 levels navigating around his gut, trying not to stimulate is gag-reflex and be violently expelled. 

Whether your inside a gut or controlling the fluid within a snow-globe (the game has both and pretty much everything in-between) the fluid animation is perfect, to a point where it's almost impossible to draw a comparison other than to that of particle simulation. The 'puddle' flows, has momentum, separates and concertinas, all of which the camera handles remarkably well.

If anything, due to the wonder and excitement that Puddle provides its difficult to find fault that doesn't seem completely irrelevant. Admittedly, in places the music and sound design is worryingly close to someone finding the sound effects buttons on a MIDI keyboard for the first time. Also when the game starts the player is completely left without instruction, which could be solved by a simple tooltip explaining that you tilt the world with the triggers, the entire game has an aversion to explanation, instead providing context through its visuals. 

Puddle's late January release means that for many it's slipped through the metaphorical net and a lack of publicity from its publisher (Konami) certainly hasn't helped. It's such a shame that Puddle - which provides hours of replay value along with the 8 hour campaign and 'playpen' laboratory mode - has passed under the radar for many. With beautifully engineered gameplay, and animation combined with just the right level of the bizarre, Puddle continues to show that indie games are filling the creative space which the larger titles have left behind.

Puddle supports PS Move and Sixaxis and will come to the PS Vita some time this year. Currently on PSN and XBLA.

[goandgame-blog]

SoulCalibur for iOS Review

Pros

+ Impressive Retina display graphics 

+ Animation just as fluid as console versions

+ Quick gameplay, perfect for on-the-go

+ Game Center support, Achievements and Leaderboards

Cons

- Far too pricy for a port of a port

- No PvP or Mission Mode from original.

- Menus not built for touch.

- Touch screens still don't work for fighting games

SoulCalibur, originally released for the Dreamcast in 1999, and previously in arcades running on Namco System 12, is considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time (http://goo.gl/322dT).

Namco Bandai has now brought SoulCalibur to iOS with integrated Game Center achievement and leaderboard support and in some ways, the rapid rounds and pure nature of combat is perfect for a mobile platform. SoulCalibur for iOS is based on the XBLA port released back in 2008 and it’s clear to see that little effort has been taken in making the menus, as well as the entirety of the interface play-nicely with touch screens.

In places, menus are so fiddly that you’ll find yourself deftly tapping with your finger nail to select a mode or navigate the pause menu. There are similar issues with the control scheme, though more greatly pronounced. SoulCalibur continues to show that over-layed controls, especially on a small iPhone screen - causing much of the action to be hidden beneath your fingers - does not make for precise and accurate execution. Eight directional run is still here, though some of the combos that you knew well, and loved (if you’ve played previous versions) are almost impossible to pull off on a touch screen. The two default control schemes (one of which forces your hand to uncomfortably contort into a claw, similar to that acquired from hours of arcade play) makes it impossible to jump between guard and offensive moves.You’ll find that stabbing at the screen with your index finger becomes the most effective alternative.

Although onscreen controls on iOS games are a necessary evil, Namco could have appeased players with iCade support ( http://goo.gl/bMLSS), currently you’ll have to jail-break your device and install Blutrol to get that functionality.

Multiplayer and mission modes (absent from the XBLA release) are nowhere to be found, a key component of what gave the original SoulCalibur such a long lasting appeal. After launch Namco does promise extra modes, hopefully PvP multiplayer is one such addition.

Graphically, character models and environments look just as polished - and on a Retina display, arguably better - than the XBLA version. Animation is smooth, and the pacing synonymous with SoulCalibur holds up well without any framerate issues. When combined with audio that sounds just as crisp as the original, you'll find every blow and block feels weighty and character monologues are just as flamboyant as ever.

Like all fighting games SoulCalibur requires tight controls, as being able to guard and immediately throw back an attack is the essence of the genre. If you absolutely must have a fighting game in your pocket or on your iPad then in many ways this is one of the best bets. Personally for the $11.99/£9.99 you’re going to be spending, I’d recommend grabbing another 20 bucks; browsing eBay for a copy of the original SoulCalibur and a Dreamcast, gathering around a couple of friends and some beer, and playing multiplayer, on what is still the best version of this game.

[goandgame-blog]

Bastion Review

“Proper stories are supposed to start at the beginning. Ain’t so simple with this one.Here’s a kid who’s whole world got all twisted, leaving him on a rock in the sky.

He gets up.

Sets off for the Bastion where everyone agreed to go in case of trouble. Ground forms up under his feat, as it point the way, he don’t stop to wonder why…”

Just imagine for a second - in a deep husky voice, somewhere between; old westerner and learned documentarian - your narrator. Your companion and loyal friend in a world stricken by the Calamity, an event so cataclysmic, as to shatter the world like glass, and sprout bestial creatures from the earth.

You’ll only find a few lines of text in Bastion, there’s an almost symbiotic blend between gameplay and narrative. Every word from the narrators mouth, dynamically captures the moment; from switching weapons, to falling as the land beneath your feat crumbles away. 

On occasion these dulcet tones will be the driving force behind you, as you realise you’ve set the difficulty too high and the game is going to punish you, brutally for it. Though you’ll push through, just to hear his commentary, as you fight on, possibly in vain, to turn down the difficulty and try again. 

Difficulty: as with pretty much every aspect of Bastion is more than a little bit special. You won’t set it outright, nor will you ever get into the game and have to start over because it’s just too punishing. You control the difficulty, with idols. Want to make enemies; reflect your attacks, have increased vigour, cripple your speed, regenerate health, or a myriad of other effects, you can. Bastion can turn from; a walk in the park, into walking into Mordor, all under your control, though as logic dictates, higher difficulty does earn greater rewards. 

Idols play their greatest role outside the main storyline. In the game’s combat arenas you’ll fight against waves of enemies, horde style, as the narrator’s omnipresent voice fleshes out the characters backstories. Not only will these arenas have you coming back over and over again, as you add more idols and try to climb the leaderboards, but the narration will touch your heart, as you hear of past hardships. 

Gameplay at its core offers an ever common array of passive spirits, in addition to a single selected special ability and two weapons. There’s more than enough variety here to satisfy any style, from close combat with the Cael Hammer and War Machete, to range, carrying Duelling Pistols and Army Carbine. Each weapon comes with its own brief tale, and a proving ground. An area to show off your proficiency as you level your weapon: a perfect minute long taste of pure combat if you don’t fancy diving into an arena. 

Though what’s the point of combat diversity if you have dull cannon fodder? Bastion more than holds its own, every enemy feels satisfying to despatch, and in tow with the world that Greg Kasavin (of former Gamespot fame) has created, is beautifully realised. As is rare in smaller downloadable titles everything feels intertwined, enemies and characters feel like they belong in this expansive, colourful world. As you move away from the safety of the Bastion and into the wild unknown you’ll see a shift in enemies and tone. 

That’s what Bastion does as well, if not better than any game so far this year… tone. It’s staggering to think, that this game, with a score so captivating as to be completely able to hold its own, with several tracks that’ll cause you to stop fighting, and just stand there as you soak up the atmosphere. A game like this shouldn’t come from a small team, in a home office. Gameplay this fluid shouldn’t be the first game from an unheard of developer. 

Sure its not perfect, one section descends randomly into platforming - fiddly, unnatural platforming at that - and animation sometimes shows the constraints of Bastion’s budget. Though you won’t care. Not one bit. You’ll find Bastion as a time filler in the summer months… you’ll stay for the experience…  and hope with all your heart that this little indie game with so much flair, and charm spawns a sequel.

[goandgame-blog]

Toy Soldiers: Cold War Review

Did you ever play with toy soldiers as a kid? Stage mock conflicts over the dinner table, and watch your little dioramas expand over your home. Maybe Toy Soldiers:Cold War; a simple, quirky, tongue-in-cheek take on the Cold War - if it were fought with miniatures and defence towers - is a game for you.

Simply place one of the six towers at your disposal. Designed to cut through, aircraft, tanks or ground troops, then let your troops man the position - as you survey as a general from above - or drop down into the fray to control a turret amongst your men. All turrets are upgradable and you’ll be cleaving through vehicles or mowing down scores of men in no time. 

As with the original Toy Soldiers, you’ll find yourself battling in small maps surrounded by the trappings of everyday life; complete with ash-trays, dice and other house-hold thingamajigs. As though the field of combat were sitting in the home of any battle enthusiast. The developers at Signal Studios have really captured the jokey, 80’s throwback styling; from the patriotic soundtrack complete with power guitar solos, through to napalm, and choppers taking off from football pitches. 

In addition to the single player campaign, which can be breezed through without any real competition, there’s verses and survival modes. The first; a one vs one battle, in a similar vain to the main game - first to let 20 units of any type into their toy box is the looser - and latter, wave defence, which, though co-operative, strangely lacks fully featured online support.  

Mini-games are the most questionable addition, games such as swatting flies with machine gun fire, or guiding a speeding rocket down a rotating path. Not only do these draw attention to how each element of gameplay falls apart when stood alone but are generally shallow, boring and feel as though there could have been better uses of development time. 

Overall gameplay feels unnecessarily simple. Sure, you’ll be able to pilot a chopper, F-14, or drive a tank - all of which are time appropriate - in addition to “barrages”. These pickups range from the flamboyant, but effective touches such as the commander. A Rambo like, one-liner spouting poke at war films of the 80‘s equipped with a rocket launcher and machine gun, or more deadly and explosive options, such as a nuclear strike. 

That’s not to say simplification is a crippling blow, if you want to sit down for a weekend and watch little plastic men get blown to pieces, or ignited by a roman candle then you and Toy Soldiers will get on like a house on fire. Whilst a improvement on its predecessor, and great for a weekend of carefree fun, just don’t expect to be engrossed for long. Sure, the single player can kill a couple of hours, you might even play a round or two of multiplayer or survival, but overall, just like the toy soldiers of your youth,you’ll get bored and end up seeking more.

[goandgame-blog]

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Review

Sometimes it’s really satisfying to just play something simple. The staple of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is as blunt as that - you shoot something and it goes away - though you’ll find so much more as you pilot your ship through this strange new world.

On a planet where paths are teasing and beckoning, though locked till you find the required key; be it a rotor-blade to tunnel through rock, or a missile-launcher to pry open new gates or use offensively. There is unquestionably a foundation built on the backtracking and sealed rooms of Metroid, or the more recent Shadow Complex.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet creates a world where you’ll want to see every little detail. Not just for the hidden upgrades and unlockables (which tentatively explore the story), but to just see every nuanced, warped and captivating detail. The map is truly the star, in a style that blends the rich pallet of 2D Boy’s, World of Goo with the tangibly eerie design of Limbo. Dark, dank, caverns: where the only sound is water, creeping off the ceiling falling to the pool below, or vastly expansive chambers in the planet’s core, with deep ominous tones that subtly for-tell the boss lying ahead. 

Set piece moments show how the entire ecosystem of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet comes together. From newt-like grubs swimming in the planet’s sea, to flora that eject little explosive spores, all the way to bosses, engulfing your ship’s size. All presented with a sense of scale that takes you from claustrophobic, to just a tiny ship in a giant world. 

If the central focus of gameplay is shooting, then the bosses force you to use your ever expanding arsenal strategically. You’ll be unlikely to be stuck here, thanks to a brilliant feature. One of your weapons acts as an instant tutorial, simply scan the boss, or the impassible wall, any enemy, grub, plant or creature and it’ll show which tool is needed or which function it provides. You’re more than able to just work through the game yourself, there is no guide that says ‘use this on that’, though the tool is ever-presently there.

In many ways the twin-stick action of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet leans towards the loose, fluttery controls of Pixel Junk Shooter rather than the crisp and nimble direction of Geometry Wars. As soon as fiddly boss encounters, tight corners, and small targets enter the fray, this becomes an issue. Take one section, fragments of debris falling and being thrown all around you, you have to rip a ball of energy (your next weapon) from the heart of a metal titan to continue… a lot less troublesome with tighter controls.

With the seven hour campaign comes ‘Lantern Run’, multiplayer that manages to create camaraderie; as usually unseen in gaming. The goal is simple, get your lantern through an obstacle course of enemies and a winding randomly generated path; with a tentacled beast breathing constantly down your neck. You can continue to push through the map even when your lantern is destroyed, as long as one lantern remains amongst everyone playing. Impressively, at the start of each round you’re each fighting solo to progress, though as lanterns are lost - one by one - everyone converges on a single goal.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet shows that an indie game - with just two core developers and credits short enough to fit on a napkin - can create a world with such detail and twisted brilliance that you’ll play for hours, just to see what lies in wait.  Gameplay whilst at times fiddly, strikes a balance of simultaneously providing you with new tools in your inventory but allowing you to master those that came before. In addition, multiplayer that fosters union, on a platform that is infamous for the opposite. By the time you’ve played through the single player and dived into the multiplayer, you’ll struggle to care about the few insignificant faults.

[goandgame-blog]

From Dust Review

So summer comes along and game developers forget gamers exist. Microsoft’s solution to this drought is Summer of Arcade. A yearly assortment of Xbox Live Arcade titles, giving you a reason not to venture outside. 

Ubisoft’s, From Dust is one of these titles, the aim is simple; adventure across the land with your tribe, build settlements, avoid the elements, and move on. Each area is its own little sandbox - a little slice of island paradise - more than likely plagued with tsunamis, flash flooding or it’s own lava flow. Using ‘The Breath’ players can collect sand, water or lava from the world, re-purposing these materials to make sand dunes, put out fires and create walls of rock.

Both technically and artistically, From Dust over performs. Waves realistically crash and roll with foaming surf and fluid movement, lava slowly crawls down the shallow cliff sides, but barrels down steep plains. The sea reflects with just the right amount of bloom and the greenery renders so beautifully that you could almost feel bad when it inevitably ignites. Audio, whilst sparing, sets a perfect tone, of one part adventurer on an African safari to two parts journey into the unknown. 

Seeing your tribes men expand around the map, with foliage and animals around them on what was once a bleak and baron patch of sand is truly satisfying. You won’t find yourself failing often - as this requires loss of your entire tribe - though you’ll more than likely be restarting levels when you find yourself trapped with no route to continue.

The first few hours, as you’re learning the ropes, whilst receiving new powers to play with and guiding your Lemming like tribe around the map - feels different, even original - then the pattern is broken. No longer giving you new toys to play with, such as generating infinite sand or swallowing up multiple elements at once, gameplay just becomes frustrating. 

From a measured challenge, based on planning ahead, From Dust turns into a mad dash to protect your settlements against a timer, counting towards freak weather. You’ll stop experimenting with powers and the environment and just send your men to their doom in the hope a few get through before the next round of meteorological mayhem. 

Poor pathfinding of your tribe doesn’t help either. Your men on occasion will refuse to pass hazard-free ground or retrace their steps only to make the same mistake. 

Story is largely presented through text, rather than being integrated into the action. The ‘Memory of the Tribe’ explains details about the world you're playing in, details which could have made the world richer and more alive if incorporated into gameplay. 

Additional challenges, which similarly to the final levels focus on timing; saving a village from fire, migrating across perilous terrain or similar boring tests, all of which feel like filler.

From Dust starts with such an original concept, though disappointingly wonders off from its core which made the early sections so satisfying. Under the bad decisions there is good gameplay, just a shame that poor story telling decisions, frustration and poor AI makes this game a grind at its end.