The Indie Game Magazine » editor’s choice

IGM Game Of The Year Awards 2011: Editor’s Choice

Mike Gnade — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:00:22 +0000

It’s great to have readers/fans help us decide on the best independent games of the year in our IGM awards, but our editors have their own opinion. Our Editor’s Choice awards is a time for us to pick out our favorite games or highlight indie gems that were overlooked in the year that was 2011.

PSN Editor’s Choice

Rochard

Valiant miner John Rochard filled a hole on PSN by bringing a classy puzzle platforming experience to the console. Inventive gadgets and an impressive manipulation of the Unity engine ensured that Rochard was as technically impressive as it was rich with humor. The puzzles, which were based around bending gravity to your will, were impressive, and the game soundtrack pulsed with a friendly, southern rock personality.

XBLA Editor’s Choice

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

I was shocked to find that ITSP came in 3rd and only received 9% of the vote, but perhaps it has more to do with sales figures and its brevity than anything else. Bastion is a great game, but I found ITSP more of an embodiment of what indie games are all about: Games as art. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is an excellent indie game that was meticulously crafted over 4 years. It’s a work of art and is the best indie game I played all year on my Xbox 360.

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Helsing’s Fire Review

Mike Gnade — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:07:46 +0000

Helsing’s Fire is a spectacular game for iOS devices. There is an elegance to its design. It takes a simple game mechanic and continues to add new wrinkles to the core gameplay that keeps the game challenging and fresh throughout.

In Helsing’s Fire, you take control of Dr. Helsing and his partner Raffton. Your mission is to eliminate the evil blight and monsters that have invested the land. The main campaign pits you against Count Dracula, but there are two other campaigns as well. Helsing’s Fire is a truly unique game with refreshing game mechanics. I guess the easiest category to put the game in is the all-inclusive puzzle genre – but it is undeniable that this game is inventive.

The game revolves around Helsing’s torch. The Player must illuminate every monster of the same color by placing a torch in the game field. Once your torch is lights up a baddie, they can be eradicated by tapping one of Raffton’s corresponding tonics. The goal of each level is to destroy all the monsters while avoiding the murder of any beautiful maidens. The game never stops introducing new monsters and new twists to the basic light and shadow mechanics. Whether it’s werewolves that turn into fair maidens, explosive toads, teleporting mummies, or light-bending crystals – Helsing’s Fire keeps introducing new things that will keep you forging ahead.

The dialog in the game is amusing and witty. A nice rapport between Helsing and Raffton is developed throughout their exchanges. The writing uses humorous old English and the whole thing is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes…with monsters.

The torch lighting effects in the game are awesome. Everything else in the game looks great, but there’s not much animation here. The good news is that you don’t notice how static most of the monsters are while you’re playing the game. The Developer, Ratloop made a smart choice with the graphics since the most impressive visuals revolve around the torch, the very game mechanic that makes this game so innovative and engrossing.

The music and sound creates a great atmosphere for the game. The creepy tunes and organ heavy music sound like they come right out of an old monster movie. It’s not the most memorable music, but it fits the game. The dialog is so good that I couldn’t help but wish for it to be voiced, but I understand the space requirements of a touch device.

Helsing’s Fire is an incredible value. It’s less than a buck for the iPhone or iPod Touch and the HD iPad version is only $2.99. The gameplay is so fresh that you’ll want to play every level that this game has to offer. Every level has new challenges, enemies and mechanics to master. Ratloop has been kind enough to expand the game by releasing two additional free campaigns (90 Levels) doubling the size of the original campaign game. The game is worth every penny and is one of the best iOS games that I have played. It was tailor made for touch devices and is an exceptional mobile game.

Pros:

Innovative Gameplay, Elegant Design, Fantastic Value

Cons:

Static visuals

Rating:

93%

Super Meat Boy Review

Mike Gnade — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:22:29 +0000

Super Meat Boy is a challenging platformer that emulates and pays homage to the challenging games of yesteryear while maintaining the “indie spirit”

Super Meat Boy it a tribute to the games of the 80s and 90s. For those that don’t know, Super Meat Boy is a platforming game where you control a cube of meat while he attempts to save his girlfriend from the evil Dr. Fetus. The game gave me a smile before I even played the first level when the opening cinematic perfectly emulated the opening to the original Street Fighter II arcade machine. It is no coincidence that Super Meat Boy shares the same initials as Super Mario Bros. – Super Meat Boy is a challenging platformer that celebrates all the classic retro gaming of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.

Let’s get the few criticisms of SMB out of the way. Super Meat Boy is not for everyone. It’s difficulty will scare away a lot of casual and less skilled players…but screw those no0bs! While the difficulty can be frustrating, the game’s short levels and tight controls mean that death is always your fault and that success is only minutes away. It helps that the game records all of your attempts and replays them all as a reward when you finally complete the level….love that. Some of the boss levels can be particularly frustrating. So what else is there to complain about? The crude cinematics make you aware that the game was made by only 2 people and the humor and characters aren’t for everyone (Dr. Fetus can’t sit well with the Right Wing). Some of the story sequences simplistic art style and lack of polish detract from the overall package. Despite these few complaints, the gameplay is spot-on and incredibly fun.

In fact the only complaint anyone can really make about the gameplay is that it is challenging. The slightest mistake results in Meat Boy’s bloody death and restarting the level. Super Meat Boy is outright hard, but it always stays fair. Meat Boy’s controls are exceptional and simplistic. The game could be played with an old Nintendo Gamepad. Players move Meat Boy with the D-pad or Left Joystick, hold a button for run, and press a button to jump; that’s all there is to it. The tight controls keep the fault with the player and reduce frustrations.

SMB’s platforming gameplay is the deepest around. The game sports over 300 levels, free DLC chapters are on the way, and there’s a ton of unlockable indie characters with their own unique abilities and nuances. On your first playthrough you’ll be focused on just beating the level, but beating the level quickly unlocks the “dark world” version of that level. The Dark World is basically a much more difficult version of all the main levels in the game. There are also warp zones to find and bandages to acquire along with boss stages that serve as finales of each world. These additional challenges, unlockable content, and secrets mean that you’ll be playing Super Meat Boy months from now. The content in this game is immense and far exceeds the XBLA standard.

The graphics in Super Meat Boy are not the most technically impressive around, but they are a substantial upgrade from the game’s humble beginnings in Flash. More importantly, the pixel-art graphics fit the game well and reference the retro games that inspired SMB in the first place. I especially appreciated the warp zones where the graphics change to emulate the green hues of the original Gameboy or become pixelated to remind us of the old 8-bit generation. The pixel art is great and there’s a lot of attention to detail to admire. As Meat Boy runs around a level, he leaves a splash of blood on any level tiles he touches and if he meets his demise to a spinning saw blade, the blade will stay bloodied for the remainder of the level. The only real complaint about the graphics are the cutscenes mentioned earlier.

The sound and music of SMB continue to take players down memory lane. Chip tunes accompany Meat Boy on his retro adventure. The sound effects (unless you’re in a warp zone) are more modern. I particularly love the patter of Meat Boy’s feet running along a bloody tile. The roar of “Suuuper Meat Boy” and the accompanying title screen theme is memorable. The game does an excellent job mimicking and approximating tunes from Zelda, Street Fighter, Mega Man and other classics while still introducing its own memorable tunes.

Super Meat Boy is the best indie platformer and one of the best values on Xbox Live. The game may lack online (and local) multiplayer, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun passing around the controller with your friends – old school style. The game is tough and unforgiving, but it’s also fun and rewarding. The old NES classics of the 80s and 90s were a lot more challenging and simpler than games like Gears of War. Super Meat Boy pays homage to their legacy while still carving out its own place among them. Super Meat Boy is an indie masterpiece.

Pros:

Best Platformer on XBLA, Incredibly Fun with tons of levels and challenge

Cons:

Might be too tough for n00bs, Cut Scenes are low budget

Rating:

94%

Shank Review

Mike Gnade — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:28:12 +0000

Shank is a 2D side-scrolling beatemup for PSN, XBLA and PC. It has fantastic art and is chock full of violent animations. This isn’t Double Dragon, Shank is a scorned ex-criminal who wants the boss’s head on a platter…preferably ripped off with a chainsaw.

Shank’s main story is pretty compelling and slowly evolves as you progress through the game. The story is one of the game’s strong suits and is reminiscent of “Kill Bill” (only Shank’s a dude). The gist is that Shank chose his girlfriend over the gang of sociopaths he worked with. That doesn’t sit well with Cesar and the gang, so these psychopaths decide to rape Shank’s girlfriend, kill her, kill Shank, and burn his house down. The problem is that Shank lives, and comes back years later for revenge. It’s not the most original story, but the cut scenes are slick, the violence is raw, and the Mexican drug cartel setting and style shine.

The gameplay in Shank is inspired by classic 2D brawlers such as Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and Double Dragon. Shank throws in over the top violence and guns for good measure. The great thing about Shank is that it is instantly fun and benefits from some excellent art direction and animations. You start with a good variety of moves and weapons and the Boss Fights showcase some excellent custom animations. Some of the Boss Fights can be a little cheap, but once you figure out their patterns and weakness, you shouldn’t have too much trouble beating them down. One of the biggest frustrations in Shank is that when you die, it doesn’t really feel like your fault. Most deaths come at the hands of some bad luck and cheap enemies rather than a poorly timed jump or miscalculated combo.

My only gripe with the core brawler gameplay is that it doesn’t really evolve as you play through the game. Sure you acquire some new weapons and moves, but none of the upgrades feel that different or really seem to help progress through the campaign. Shank would have benefited immensely from some slight RPG elements and upgrade options between levels. Earning points that could upgrade Shank’s weapons, health and combos would have reduced frustrations and added some replay ability. I can only imagine how badass and fun a fully powered up Shank could have been.

The presentation of Shank is fantastic. Shank’s visual style grabs your attention and leaves a great lasting impression. The large hand drawn characters and backgrounds seem to be inspired by top-notch comics/anime mixed with gritty Tex-Mex visuals found in movies like Desperado. The vibrant sun scorched locales lack some variety but they fit the game’s story and atmosphere so well that it’s not a big deal. Shank is drop dead gorgeous. It’s the best looking 2D game that I’ve seen on Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

Shank has a single player campaign and a co-op campaign. I loved that the Co-Op campaign wasn’t just a 2 player version of the main game. Instead, Co-Op and Single Player are completely different stories with different levels. The co-op missions definitely add to the value, but ultimately co-op feels tacked on and showcases some of the game’s blemishes to be major faults. Shank’s story will drive you to keep playing through the campaign (and Co-Op if you can find a friend to suffer through it with you), but some of the later levels and enemies become cheap and tiresome.

Shank’s over the top violence and compelling story are immensely entertaining. The game’s production values are top-notch and complemented by some excellent voice acting and cut scenes, but the game falls just shy of beatemup bliss. Some cheap enemies and the lack of an upgrade system make Shank a fun ride, but not one that you’ll be coming back to again and again. Nonetheless, Shank’s story and graphics make it well worth the price of admission for action fanatics. As long as you’re not opposed to some bloody violence, rev up the chainsaw and get ready for some gruesome revenge.

Pros:

Fantastic Visual Style, Great Story, Violent Animations

Cons:

Cheap Enemies, Low Replayability

Rating:

85%

Joe Danger Review

Mike Gnade — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:56:44 +0000

Joe Danger by Hello Games is Sony’s answer to Trials HD (which has sold over 1 million copies) – the only difference is that Joe Danger offers a whole lot more variety and not quite as steep of a learning curve. When you add in Joe’s rich track editing features and multiplayer modes, you have one of PSN’s best downloadable titles.

Joe Danger is a down-and-out stuntman trying to make a comeback. The gameplay is a mix between the aforementioned Trials HD and the old NES classic ExciteBike. You control Joe through different tracks with different objectives. The challenges range from hitting all the targets to collecting D-A-N-G-E-R to racing and brawling other motorcyclists. The level design is reminiscent of old Tony Hawk games since each track has a variety of objectives that Joe allows you to tackle in any order that you wish. Each objective awards you with stars that are used to unlock new levels and progress through the campaign. The level progression system and the ability to restart any track with the press of a button without any loading whatsoever are two of Joe’s strongest features and keep the game challenging without being frustrating.

Joe Danger is a nice looking game with bright colors and vibrant colors. While I prefer the realistic and gritty visuals of Trials HD, the graphics in Joe are nothing to scoff at and fit the overall presentation and motif of the game to a t. Joe’s animations are also top-notch and the menus and level select are depicted as stunt show wall posters hung up on Joe’s Trailer. The fun-loving and charming presentation is further supported by catch tunes and an announcer who’s “J-J-J-Jo-Joooooeeee D-D-Da-Da-Daaaaanger!” yells embody the era and motivate the player.

Joe Danger is a highly polished product, but what really makes it one of PSN’s best downloadable games is its lasting appeal and depth of features. The single player game has a ton of challenges a great variety of objectives that will offer up hours of entertainment, but Joe’s longevity is truly amped up by its multiplayer features and track building and sharing functionality. Joe Danger is truly this generation’s ExciteBike…only this time you can share your creations with your friends right through the internet rather than having to invite them over to your basement. My one complaint about the user created levels is that you can only send tracks to your PSN friends versus having a global database of levels at your fingertips (think Little Big Planet). Joe Danger also has a great multiplayer modes that lets you race people over Playstation Network or locally. It’s great that Hello Games included local multiplayer and split-screen since nothing beats creating a level with your buds and being able to experience your track collectively.

Playstation Network does not have nearly as many games as Xbox Live Arcade, but their games seem to be (on average at least) of better quality and value even if they are fewer and farther between. Joe Danger is a shining example of what PSN can offer. The game is robust and fully featured. Joe Danger is a charming title that expertly balances its challenges so that it never gets too frustrating. You’ll get more playing time out of Joe Danger for $15 than you will most $60 PS3 titles. If you own a Playstation, you really should add this game to your library. Go Joe!

Pros:

one of PSN's best titles, fully featured with tons of gameplay, great pacing and level design

Cons:

Bright visuals may not be for everyone

Rating:

93%

PixelJunk Shooter Review

Mike Gnade — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:46:04 +0000

PixelJunk Shooter’s one major fault is that it is over too soon and leaves you wanting more.

The game is as simple and addictive as they come; you control a small subterranean rescue ship on a mission down into the depths of a strange mining planet. The plot is simple and takes place in the future. Humans have done their thing and colonized worlds, used up resources, and gotten themselves into trouble. These miners have sent out an SOS and that’s where you (and a friend) come to the rescue. There’s no real plot to speak of other than some special miners/researchers who give you a short spiel about the planet when you find them. While the story won’t drive you to keep playing, the gameplay certainly will.

Each level challenges you with rescuing every miner, but the real fun of this game comes from the fluid mechanics and environments. Don’t be fooled by the game’s title, frantic shooting only results in dead miners and your ship overheating. PixelJunk Shooter is a much more methodical game that feels a bit like Beakman’s World meets Master Blaster. The game starts with you shooting holes in rock and controlling the flow of lava, but quickly evolves into your own scientific experiment. Before the game is over you’ll be cooling lava, melting ice, grappling snow, creating gas, using magnetism, and having a blast. The hazards of the planet’s caverns are diverse and each level seems to offer something new to enjoy: from new environmental hazards to lava shooting suits and other upgrades. The game is instantly familiar and fresh. It’s easy to digest the game’s controls and shooting mechanics, but each level offers fresh new mechanics and interesting solutions. You’ll be enjoying yourself so much, that the game will be over way too soon.

The game’s graphics are much more impressive in motion than in stills. The game has a simple cartoon presentation that works. The style is unique and somewhat reminiscent of PixelJunk Monsters and would ultimately be mediocre and forgettable if it weren’t for some amazing effects and physics. The fluid mechanics shine again. You’ll start by being impressed by the oozing lava and rushing water, but will continue to be impressed by the crumbling snow and melting ice. By the time you get to the final area, you’ll be blown away by some incredible magnetized oil and gas effects. The fluid mechanics and effects steal the show here.

The music is not nearly as memorable as PixelJunk Eden, but High Frequency Bandwidth does an excellent job capturing the subterranean nature of the game with some odd and retro inspired beats. The sound effects, like the game itself, are simple and to the point. You can’t help but feel bad when you hear the curdling scream of a miner.

There is no doubt that you will want to experience every level of PixelJunk Shooter. While it will be over soon, there is some longevity to this game. It has an immensely fun cooperative mode. A friend can pop into your single-player campaign. While there’s no real change in challenge with 2 players other than the fact that you tend to kill more miners if you don’t coordinate what you’re doing. There’s a cool addition in Co-Op where you can grapple your buddy and save him from death. The game is so fun that you will likely replay levels to save all the miners and collect all the hidden gems and researchers. While the game value is certainly there, it would have been nice to have one more area and set of levels to explore.

Pros:

Fluid Mechanics are Sweet! Co-op is a fun addition

Cons:

Leaves you wanting more, graphics and story are simple

Rating:

93%

Machinarium Review

Zak — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:32:25 +0000

As far as point and click adventures go, Machinarium by Amanita Design is a perfect 10 in my book; you can’t get much better. The artwork, puzzles and sound devices create a unique steam punk world to click through on your quest to save Robot city. As for the story, the player takes control of robot that has been cast out from said city and must solve various puzzles to sneak back inside. Once inside, the player has to put together clues and solve puzzles to save his fem-bot and the entire metropolis from some robo-thugs and their bomb. This involves a lot of point and click trial and error and screen exploration. Honestly, I was hooked by the artwork before I even got to the first puzzle.

The gameplay of Machinarium is pretty straightforward when it comes to progression – it is a point and click adventure after all. Anybody who has played Amanita’s previous Samorost series of games will be instantly at home with Machinarium. For the most part, the sort of out-there style and basic mechanics work the same; point to a hotspot, click and let the robot do the rest. The protagonist, the robot, ventures through each level collecting various objects and “swallows” them for later use. The objects fit into a great scheme solving the ubiquitous puzzles presented throughout the game.

The earlier stages of Machinarium tend to keep the puzzles limited to a single screen, which can still stump the player for a good while. Luckily Amanita included some hints to help the us noobs along the way- myself included once or twice! A walkthrough is available (though you have to beat a mini-game first) along with these helpful little “hint bubbles.” The robot tends to have to be next to the trigger spots for the player to be able to click on them and start a sequence of events. This sometimes leads to a lot of clicking around the screen.

As the story develops, the puzzles become more complex and involved. From time to time the overall story is interrupted by mini-games that range from space invader clones to complex patterns involving different pull lever combinations and logic problems. In both cases the puzzles can often seem easier than they are. Some puzzles have clues to the solution drawn right into the scenery – so grab a note pad. For the more complex puzzles, the player will have to venture from one screen to another and return after completing missions. After a while it can seem like the routine back and forth of a typical adventure game. It might seem a little humdrum, but with the great artwork, the game flew by.

There really isn’t enough I can say about the artwork. The depth of the Machinarium world is immense and vivid. Amanita obviously took a considerable amount of time and effort to enhance and develop the world the player is transported into – and it worked. The protagonist features beautifully drawn animations which convey a great fluidity and an almost intrinsic feel to the character’s robotic expressions. If the robot can’t do something you ask it to, it will let you know. Really, no detail was overlooked and I was pleasantly amused by the robotic rats, cats and owls as well as the varied and ingeniously presented robotic denizens. Working through the game was like playing a piece of beautiful and quality hand-drawn artwork. This art was topped off with great music and sound effects creating a great overall experience.

The sound effects and music in Machinarium don’t fall short either. From the sounds of dripping water to the clanks of the mechanical widgets, the sound effects were ingenious. Again I came to the conclusion that no detail was overlooked. The soundtrack has the endearing ability to make the Machinarium world all that much more real to the player. Amanita’s combination of sound and music delivers a coherent and uniform world. You have to ask if it could have been any other way. It’s definitely something that can make or break a game, in this case – it makes it.

The only downside I could really find with the game is the replay value. The game is short enough to be completed in one sitting (a four to eight hour sitting), though it is longer than the previous Samorost titles. The game can be saved at anytime and since the game is flash based, reload time is mercifully fast. The story is self contained, so once you complete all the puzzles and objectives the game is over and there really isn’t much more to do. This doesn’t lend itself well to replay value. However, if you’re like me you’ll visit Machinarium again just for the aesthetics.

Pros:

Immense and interesting world, Top-Notch artwork and animation

Cons:

Adventure is over too soon, low replay value

Rating:

93%

Gratuitous Space Battles Review

Zak — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:50:44 +0000

Gratuitous Space Battles, from Positech Games, is the UK developer’s next great addition to indie gaming. If you are a fan of space management games, where you collect resources, expand territory and deal with advisories through careful diplomacy – this game is not for you. Let’s be honest people, half the time we went through the trouble of all that management stuff was to build kick-butt ships and lay waste to rival factions. Thankfully, Cliff Harris has relieved us of this time consuming resource gathering burden. GSB has taken us straight to the main event: lasers, explosions and victory with honor. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot more depth to GSB than just giving the people what they want. You’re still going to have to work for it.

Gameplay:
On its face, GSB is a strategy game with some management and tower defense elements thrown in the mix. Like other great strategic games, GSB forces you to learn from your mistakes. With few exceptions, I was forced to watch as my beautiful armada was destroyed in glorious fireballs. I only avenged my past failings with a better strategy and keener tactics. The strategy involved in accomplishing each mission is where the real genius of GSB comes into play. Once the battle begins, all you can do is sit back and watch as the two armadas clash. The ships have some AI which can lead to unintended consequences and occasionally disaster for your fleet. More often than not you are going to have to rethink your initial strategy. Positech has also placed some nice little obstacles in some scenarios (like spatial anomalies that allow no fighters!).

GSB gameplay breaks down as such: you build the ships in your fleet, you place the ships on the battle gird, give orders to your ships and click the fight button. If you are going to get anywhere in the game, ship design is a must. This is where some of the management elements enter the game. Each class of ship has a unique number of modular components for weapons, engines, defenses and other specialty parts. The player has to balance these parts to create a viable and effective ship. Ship specialization increases with the level of mass; bigger ships equal bigger booms! Ship customization can even be completed at the battle placement screen for those last minute tweaks.

Once the player is happy with their mad ship building skills, it’s time to put the strategy into place. There is a limit in pilots, tonnage and treasure to each level, so the player must choose ships that can be most effective against the enemy, maximize the honor to be won and provide a good show. Battle prep is the key to victory. Each victory brings honor which can be used to unlock new parts for ship upgrades, ship hulls and eventually unlocking other species.

The player has the option of assigning various orders to each ship or fighter group. For example each ship can: protect a certain ship, escort ships, attack a certain type of enemy and even retreat at a player set amount of damage. By assigning orders to certain ships, the player can effectively create layers of defense; combined with specialized ships this can lend itself to complex strategic ship placement. With the various orders, the player can lure the enemy into a trap just as easily as commencing an all out assault. There is something deviously satisfying about watching your enemy fall hopelessly into a carefully laid trap. Get the right combination of placement, orders and ship design and sit back and enjoy the ride.

Graphics:
GSB is visually spectacular; there is simply nothing I didn’t love about the graphics. From the cut-to screens to the over-the-top particle effects, every detail has been well thought out and brilliantly presented. Another great feature is following a single ship through combat; the player can zoom in and watch the ship be taken apart by enemy fire or dole out a good thumping to enemies. The graphics remain flawless throughout both the macro and micro view. Zooming in on the action is simply a feast for the eyes and draws the player into the action. Together with the sound effects, the explosive manifestation of some weapons jolt the camera for a great concussion like distortion; which makes explosions all the more pleasing to the senses. There’s nothing quite like watching swarms of fighters take down a capital ship.

Sound/Music:
From the opening score, the sounds and music take GSB to the next level of interactive enjoyment. One of the really effective elements Positech has chosen to include is the interactive sound effects. Different weapons have unique sounds, which is gleefully fun with missiles and pulse weapons. When you zoom in on the action, the sound effects of that part of the battle come into clarity instead of being lost in the macro-view. It’s an endearing quality that enhances the action sequences. The entire game is served well by the epic music and perfectly suited sound effects.

Lasting Appeal:
Each battle is a singular experience and I literally spent hours just trying to see how few fighters/ship I had to commit to win each battle. Since there is AI which lends itself to random outcomes, battles vary time after time. I haven’t even mentioned the clever and colorful communications dialogue during the battles, it’s just fun to watch. In addition to the campaign mode, GSB offers a survival mode (which tells you upfront that you will eventually lose) and user-created challenge mode, which can be fairly difficult. All these games modes combine for hours of explosive entertainment. And for those who can’t get enough, there is an expansion pack with a new race and new ships (see issue 8).

I rarely get uber-excited about forthcoming games, but I had my eye on this one for a while and I wasn’t disappointed. Sometimes you just need a really good strategy game with no apologies and self described “over-the-top explodiness.” To fulfill this necessity in life, Positech Games has given us Gratuitous Space Battles. Good hunting!

Pros:

Hours of Deep Strategy across varying game modes, Fantastic Graphics, score and production

Cons:

lack of real time control may miff RTS fans

Rating:

95%

On Trial: Machinarium

Zak — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:36:47 +0000

Zak: 10
Machinarium by Amanita Design is a perfect 10 in my book. This puzzle game features perfect graphics and great sounds effect. The game ran smooth with no technical issues and is reminiscent of Amanita’s previous Samorost games, but set in a raw steampunk world. As for the story, the player begins with a robot which has to solve puzzles and sneak back into the city from whence he came. The puzzles vary in difficultly, but there are a few clues to help the player along. You just need to know where to look. The game features some beautiful and quality hand-drawn artwork and I must say the whole package won me over. Go get it!

Peter: 8
Machinarium is a hand-drawn point-and-click adventure about a small robot’s journey. Nobody talks, but the visuals and sound effects give you a pretty good sense of what’s going on. The little guy reacts slowly to your controls, but that could just be because the demo is played in a browser. The three rooms presented in the demo are from the prologue, and you have to help the robot put himself together, fool a guard and sneak into a city. The puzzles are pretty clever, and each puzzle serves to advance the plot, which isn’t always the case in adventure games. If I were a fan of this kind of game, I would probably own this now.

Colt: 10
It has sentiment without being sentimental. It’s Fantastic Planet, Dystopian, Orwellian. It begins where Samorost left off. It oozes emotion and mood from simple gestures and thought bubbles, our hero and his woman holding hands. Its puzzles are clever and rewarding, even after a half-hour of thinking. It has heart, under the alienating and amazing music, the industrial prison; it’s a loyal dog laying at your feet, the warm feeling after slugging back bourbon. It’s name is Machinarium. Pleased to meet you.

Andrew: 9
The unique visual appeal of this game is practically undeniable. This dystopian junkyard adventure game has tons of appeal, and a great grasp on the aspects of the genre that make it great. Beyond just the visuals though, the sound design in this game is incredible. The soundtrack is eerie and atmospheric, and the minimal sound effects bring creatures to life like you wouldn’t think possible. All of this works together to bring to life a world that is at once bleak and grim, and yet interesting and brimming with robotic life. Plus the demo doesn’t even require a download so there’s no excuse not to give it a try.

Tales of Monkey Island Review

Mike Gnade — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:07:34 +0000

The point and click adventure games were all the rave for pc gamers back in the 90s, but with fancy 3D graphics cards came new, exciting pc games. Lucky for us, Telltale games has kept the adventure genre from fading into obscurity with its episodic games. LucasArts Monkey Island franchise is fondly remembered and treasured by its fans despite the franchise not having a new release since Escape from Monkey Island in 2000. That is until now.

Resurrecting a franchise is tricky business and can bring with it equal parts delight and regret. While Monkey Island has changed over the 10 years since the last game, it is with great pleasure that I assure fans that its wit, humor, and core gameplay remain intact. Tales of Monkey Island is a triumphant and hilarious re-launch of the classic LucasArts series and it all starts with the “Launch of the Screaming Narwhal,” but more on that later.

Like the previous games, the protagonist of the game is Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate. Guybrush can be controlled with the mouse through a frustrating click and drag system or with the keyboard. The movement system with the mouse is one of the most obvious blemishes on an otherwise highly polished and enjoyable interface. Trust me when I say stick with the keyboard.

Tales of Monkey Island (TOMI) doesn’t have an interesting game mechanic; it’s a point-and-click adventure game, pure and simple. What matters most in an adventure game are the characters and stories and to a lesser extent the puzzles. Each episode of TOMI (so far) has delivered memorable and enjoyable characters, hilarious moments, and some stand out puzzle sequences (see Episode Mini-Reviews). The most shining triumph of TOMI is still the fantastic writing. Jokes, puns, witty snipes, and all around tomfoolery pour out of every scene and interaction of the game. This superb writing and humor is what makes Monkey Island so enjoyable; Tales of Monkey Island keeps you playing and laughing. I can’t think of a game, indie or not, that surpasses the dialogue in this series. Telltale games’ writers deserve a round of applause.

These humorous moments wouldn’t be possible without some hilarious situations and amazing voice acting. Surprisingly the writers do a good job tying all these situations into a compelling overall narrative. The story and situations of Monkey Island far exceed expectations and SitCom standards. It’s consistently funny and well voiced, which is more than I can say for most television shows.

While it’s important for an adventure game to have a good story, it needs puzzles to give the player something to do besides simply watch the onscreen antics. The inventory system adds some depth to puzzle solving since it allows for items to be combined, but for the most part the puzzles are not exceedingly hard or frustrating to solve. As long as you visit each locale and pay attention to the dialogue, you shouldn’t get stuck (plus the Telltale forums always have help). Like other adventure games, you can’t die and spend the majority of the game clicking on things in the environment. If you hate point-and-click adventures, TOMI won’t sway you.

Tales of Monkey Island is great sequel to the LucasArts classic. The adventure gameplay hasn’t changed much, but neither has the excellent writing and storytelling. The production values are still superb and while the graphics don’t have the highest polygon count, clever camera angles and quirky art direction make up for it. The characters are charming and the game is witty.

Pros:

stellar production, fantastic writing and voice acting

Cons:

Nothing new gameplay wise

Rating:

91%

Episode 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal is one of the best episodes thus far. This episode introduces the main conflict: Guybrush botches a voodoo spell and releases pirate pox across the Caribbean, but focuses on Guybrush washing ashore and being stranded on Flotsam Island. There’s a memorable puzzle in a crazy French man’s lab and a rather large island to explore. I was especially a fan of Flotsam’s jungle which brings back some of the old screen mazes found in old adventure games such as Zelda. Screaming Narwal serves as a great introduction or refresher back into the world of Monkey Island.

Episode 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay seems to be one of the shortest episodes thus far, but I loved that from the very start the player was allowed to explore several locales in any order they so choose. Episode 2 reunites Guybrush with his beloved bride, Elaine in the Merfolk town of Spinner Cay. Pox-stricken pirates are blockading the city and it’s up to Guybrush to find some ancient artifacts to summon some helpful sea creatues. Despite the freedom to explore the Jerkbait Islands, Episode 2 feels easier than the first. It’s great that Monkey Island avoids reusing locales from the first, but ultimately Episode 2 is a little disappointing.

Episode 3: Lair of the Leviathan does not really address any of the control or interface issues, but continues the overall narrative with new locales and characters. Episode 3 is more polished than the last and story-wise is one of the best vignettes to date. Lair of the Leviathan starts with Guybrush, Winslow, Morgan LeFay, and their ship getting swallowed by a huge Manatee. Like the other episodes, antics ensue inside the belly of the beast. Highlights abound in this episode with a Pirate “Face Off”, Manatee mating game, and a captive ‘newlyweds’ dialog puzzle. My only complaint about Lair is that it is much more linear than the previous two episodes and lacks exploring. Regardless, Episode 3 puts Telltale back on the right track.

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