The Indie Game Magazine » PC Game

Chiaroscuro Conflict In Debut Trailer For ‘Shad’O’

Chris Priestman — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:01:02 +0000

Okugi Studios have released the first official trailer for their upcoming tower defense game, Shad’O, one that offers a first glimpse of gameplay and the surrounding story.

As we revealed not so long ago, Okugi Studios’ next game is an interesting take on the tower defense genre. Shad’O takes place inside nine year old Williams mind as a dark fog attempts to engulf him, luckily there are some light spirits around to help fight back.

So this debut trailer for Shad’O essentially gives us the first look inside a young boys mind, right?

(Puts on best David Attenborough voice) Here, we see…the first ever glimpse…into…a young boys mind. Notice…the conflict of dark and light.

On one side exists a dark, fog-like substance…perhaps representing the first signs of pubescent lusts…and the other remains the playful mannequins of childhood innocence, as we see…using bright light as a weapon.

My gosh that first voice sounds like Daniel from Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Doesn’t it?! Let’s compare by listening to his voice here.

(Moments later)

Oh maybe not then. Unless someone’s got a tight hold on his balls in the trailer for Shad’O. Well you never know what developers put voice actors through these days I suppose.

More information on Shad’O can be found over on the game’s official website. Shad’O will be released on PC in a few months time.

Trains, Zombies And Space: 3 New Free Games Now Up On Desura

Chris Priestman — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:06:33 +0000

Desura seems to be having a bit of a free game marathon at the moment; just today, three free games have just been made available on the store front that are certainly worth checking out.

It is unknown why all of a sudden three free games have been uploaded on to Desura, but who are we to complain? Each of them involve shooting in some form or another, albeit each of them manage the art in a different manner, with varying paces and different targets at the end of it.

Bullet Train

This shooter from Box Top Games is a short but frantic experience in which you must defend a cargo upon a train from various enemies in a Western setting. This isn’t a simple cowboy shooter though – you’ll be shooting animate cacti, tumbleweed spiders and rock titans amongst other desert-based creatures. Every time you reach a station there are new weapons and upgrades to buy. The most fun can be had when jumping into a turret and mowing everything down in your wake.

Download Bullet Train for Windows by heading on over to its Desura page.

Zombie Grinder

Twin Drills’ debut title involves a familiar trope if there ever was one; the killing of zombies. However, the focus of Zombie Grinder is providing cooperative multiplayer arcade mayhem. There are multiple game modes up for grabs too: co-op campaign, PvP and even wave maps for the ultimate zombie carnage challenge. The game provides further variety and replayability with achievements, ranking, player-customization, RPG style stats and more good stuff!

You can download Zombie Grinder for Windows, Mac and Linux from its very own Desura page.

Naev

The vast grandeur of space is opened up to you once again in Naev. Exploration, battles and trading is what will keep you occupied in this space operatic journey. Factions will be met, spoken to and pissed off and you will meet the consequences for you actions and inactions – this is space after all, we all know that humans in space always mounts to conflict and war.

Naev is available on Window, Mac and Linux and can be downloaded if you dock into its Desura loading bay.

‘Egress’ Review – Testing Your Patience In A Good Way

Doug Walter — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The definition of “science fiction” varies wildly depending on who you ask. In fact, science fiction author Frederick Pohl is credited as having said that “Science fiction is what science fiction fans mean when they point to something and say, ‘That’s science fiction.’” So, as a budding sci-fi enthusiast myself, when I point at Egress and say, emphatically, “That’s science fiction, and a particularly good one to boot,” you’d better take my word for it.

I have searched near and far for excellent science fiction in games, and I’ve come across a few outstanding titles — from the overly dramatic, flashy space opera of various Star Wars games and Mass Effect, to the gritty, fast-paced action of Hard Reset and Halo, to the colorful campiness of the Star Fox franchise, and a few others. However, most of these share the common trait of being long-format titles with an emphasis on gameplay and no real focus on the technological context. They don’t have to, by any means, but a serious consideration of the scientific and social setting of the given universe could add a great deal of weight to the story. True science fiction (or at least what could be called “hard” science fiction) is of the speculative, realistic variety, and Egress fits that niche perfectly.

As the captain of a two-man team repairing a recon satellite, you are knocked away from your spacecraft by an unknown entity, waking up on an unfamiliar (or IS IT?) planet, with your partner screaming in your earpiece for help. How fast can you get to your partner Jacobs and help him? Does he really need help? These questions and more will be answered, although not necessarily to your liking.

Substantially, Egress squeezes into the mold of the point-click-adventure, although it does deviate from the typical story and gameplay progression of “go here; do this to proceed; solve this puzzle to gain this object” etc. The story formula here is more akin to a combination of the two latest films directed by Duncan Jones: Moon, and Source Code. If you’ve seen either of these films, you’ll know that both toy with the viewers’ perception of reality and deal with a theme of escape from illusion — kind of like the first Matrix movie, but with more subtlety.

In The Matrix, the notion that the world is illusion is somewhat glossed over, and the mental trauma that can accompany such a paradigm shift is barely touched on, apart from a few “whoas” from Keanu Reeves. In Egress, as well as in Moon and Source Code, the focus is on the protagonist and their mental state during the process of discovering the truth about reality that was forcefully shoved into their attention by circumstance. Within these shifting worlds, accepting one’s “fate,” as it were, is done by slow, painful, steps, missteps, and back-steps that might not lead to comfort or satisfaction, but at least to a sense of accomplishment. Bleak, I know, but the transition from confusion to understanding is worth the effort.

By faithfully fulfilling its stated purpose of a “short-form sci-fi adventure,” Egress completed its mission successfully. At exploring what adventure games can make the player experience, it has charted new territory. Egress is one of the few games I’ve come across that genuinely transcend their medium, and what few gameplay problems it has seem petty to mention when looking at the whole package together. Egress may waste an hour of your time, but you’ll love it for it.

Pros:

Masterful combination of story and gameplay

Cons:

Irritatingly slow transition times

Rating:

88%

The Good, The Bad And The Cardboard: ‘Platformines’ Development Update

Chris Priestman — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:35:14 +0000

Platformines, the action platformer from Magiko Gaming, has received another development update, this time featuring a bunch of new options, mechanics and cardboard heads.

After warping our minds with the fourth update, this fifth development exposé for Platformines introduces the ability to customise your character with a range of attractive and not so attractive facial designs. Chins, hair color, tribesmen and cardboard heads are a few of the alterations that can be made to your own personal hero.

Energy and Inventory systems have also been implemented successfully; the former acting as health amongst other survival related issues, the latter meaning that items can be collected and traded at stores. With this, the game is finally starting to take shape, as the developer says in the development blog: “We have started to implement the whole progression of the game: increasing difficulty requiring you to get better energy belts and weapons to be able to go further down.”

You can watch all of these new updates in action in the latest video which you can find below, or you can read up on them right here.

Platformines is expected to be released in Q2 2012 for PC and Xbox 360. More information can be found on the official website.

Terraria 2.0? Developer Offers A Sneak Peek Of Their Next Game

Chris Priestman — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:26:38 +0000

One of the masked bandits behind Terraria, Tiyuri, has revealed the first screenshots and information regarding his upcoming game. Terraria fans, rejoice!

Terraria needs no introduction to anyone. Arguably, it’s second only to Minecraft in the size of its community in the indie game sphere. It’s hard to imagine how it could get any better, but it seems that might just be happening in the coming future with the eventual reveal of the next project from the developer.

The screenshot that acts as a header is the latest reveal, teasing fans to ask prying questions and begging for more information. The developer’s focus with that latest screenshot was to showcase the development of the lighting and real-time shadows. You may be looking at it from a different angle, sizing up your first impressions and probably concluding that it looks like more Terraria, albeit with a few differences.

There was a much more exciting shot released a couple of weeks back though, one that many people missed and this one is certain to fizzle like sherbet on your tongue.

Behold!

Take a few minutes to scan from corner to corner, soaking every little detail in. Exciting, isn’t it? Penguin kings, the Aurora Borealis, jellyfish-brains and cyborgs are just a couple of things we spotted.

“It’s a mix of diablo, metroid, castlevania, terraria, pokemon + some new stuff no one has ever done before”, said Tiyuri to an eager fan, whetting their appetite. We had a quick chat with Tiyuri who then added “maybe borderlands too”.

One thing is for certain though; although this upcoming game may bear some resemblances with Terraria, as Tiyuri himself said to us, “It’s going to be a considerably different game to Terraria“.

Further vouching for that is some more assets that we found relating to the game, this one showcases some of the characters and their animations. While this one seems to showcase bipedal mechs to jump in and hopefully cause chaos with.

Is your head spinning frantically with ideas, hopes and excitement now? Good. We’ll keep you stewing in your own juices for now then.

More information on this as of yet untitled game will arrive later in the year. All we can confirm for now is that the game will be available for Windows and Mac. Look out for more small tid bits by following Tiyuri on Twitter!

UPDATE: More screenshots have been discovered, though they are older ones once again.

Can You Guess The 5 Games In The ‘Be Mine’ Bundle?

Chris Priestman — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:30:17 +0000

The Be Mine bundle is due to launch in time for Valentines Day, hence its title, however we need some help figuring out what games are going to be included in it.

Like that time when you received a Valentines Day card in high school and were left desperate to find out who it was from, we are being left in the dark as to what the contents of the Be Mine bundle are. There is an official site already up on Groupees with a trailer that leaves us feeling a little perverse – it flashes its indie game pornography at us but ultimately leaves us flaccid.

Confirmed details are that this will be a pay-what-you-want bundle with a $1 minimum, it will run from February 14th to the 21st, all of the games will be redeemable on Steam, there will be some “cool incentives” and 20% of all the money will go to charity. To increase the teasing, there’s even a countdown timer so you can watch the seconds tick away up until its launch.

Watch the trailer below and don’t scroll down any further if you want the mystery of the 5 games in the Be Mine bundle to remain as a tantalizing cleavage. However, if you’re one for a good old bit of full frontal nudity, go down past the video and you’ll see what we believe the contents to be!

If you don’t want to know what the 5 games in the Be Mine bundle is, you should not be reading this right now.

Don’t scroll down any further!

This is your last chance.

Seriously!

Now you watch that trailer again and tell us that we’re wrong. Go on. Yeah exactly, score one for the home team!

More information on the Be Mine bundle can be found on the official website once it launches.

Bunk Bed Bundles Ensue With ‘Indie Gala 2′

Chris Priestman — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:38:51 +0000

Discount indie games and music is the prize worth fighting for to get to the top bunk in the Indie Gala 2. Flex your fingers and prepare for a mass squabble if you want to sleep nearest to the ceiling, where 11 games and 7 music albums await for a very cheap price.

After the surmounting success of the first Indie Gala, its organizers return with not one, not two, but three bunks for you all to choose from. The bottom and most undesirable bunk, because you don’t get to climb the ladder, comes in with 3 games and 3 albums if you pay between $1 – $3.99.

Critical Mass by Manic Games Studios
Bunch of Heroes by NGD Studios
Fortix 2 by Nemesys games

Music: The Numbers – Beautiful EP
Music: Giraffage – Comfort
Music: Casey Lalonde – Skitter EP

For those who manage to scramble on to the ladder, jabbing their foot into the faces of the weak, they can dive into the middle bunk which comes at a price between $4 – $6.99. If you are one of those within that dangerous piggy-in-the-middle zone, you will find 5 games and 6 musical albums; those included in the first bunk as well as:

Greed Corp by Vanguard Games.
Roboblitz by Naked Sky Entertainment

Music: Robot Science – Square
Music: Casey Lalonde – Thank You
Music: Jack Butler – Fit The Paradigm

The supreme champions who climb to the very top bunk, who, resisted the pain of ass punching, involuntary moonings and banging their head on the ceiling; are rewarded most handsomely. It comes at a price of $7.00 or more, but they receive all of the above as well as the entire contents of the first Indie Gala, which include:

inMomentum by Digital Arrow
Zombie Shooter 2 by Sigma Team
Hacker Evolution: Duality by Exosyphen Studios
Your Doodles Are Bugged! by Spyn Doctor Games
Zombie Shooter by Sigma Team
Hacker Evolution: Untold by Exosyphen Studios

Music: Robot Science – Doodads

The Indie Gala 2 launched today and is available until a total of 50,000 units are sold, so you better get in there quick! All of the games are redeemable on Steam and the albums come in MP3 and FLAC formats. You can pay what you want but what you receive depends on the price range you go for as listed above.

Your money can then be split between the developers, the Gala organizers and the supported charities, which are Save The Children Italia and Child’s Play.

More information on Indie Gala 2 can be found on the official website.

‘Dungeon King: Dreadstorm Keep’ Now Available

Chris Priestman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000

Action RPG Dungeon King: Dreadstorm Keep has now finally been released after a few launch time hiccups, but the wait has been worth it now that you can play before you purchase.

Bulletproof Arcade’s double DK did have a dose of pre-release jitters which meant its release was slightly delayed. You can jump right on into the game now though and start running circles around bulky goblin-types and hacking at angry spiders plus all of the other dungeon-related monsters in the game.

DK:DK is as simple as you get in the genre really but it’s of a high quality presentation and has kept us busier than we anticipated. For all the LMB clicking and “float like a butterfly” dodging we did, there was equal parts of barrel smashing and key collecting which would normally start reviewers using the words “old school”.

Currently the free version lets you go quite far into the game and each playthrough is supposed to be different – how different we don’t know. The full version of the game which comes in at $9.99 unlocks the rest of the levels and lets you complete the game.

To play DK:DK right now in your browser, simply click on this link and get your index finger ready for button mashing!

Scary Fratelli: Italian Horror Adventure ‘Anna’ Announced

Chris Priestman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:08:36 +0000

A trio of developers who call themselves the Dreampainters have announced their first game, Anna, which is to be a 3D horror adventure that uses real locations, myths and local Italian folklore to provide an adequate chill down your spine.

No doubt, the first thing you’re pondering is whether the above image of the sawmill is real or entirely made of graphics. The answer lies somewhere in between. The Dreampainters have based Anna on real footage taken from the D’Ayas Valley in Valle d’Aosta; an Alpine region in north-western Italy.

They have then faithfully recreated these locations with the latest developments in computer graphics to come up with images like the above. We must have spent a good 10 minutes deciding whether or not these screens were real or not so were delighted to find out that they were completely artificial – quite a feat!

As you might have guessed, the game itself will be a first person point and click adventure of the Myst-like breed. There will be puzzles to solve across six, highly detailed locations for your exploration. Due to some of the haunts in these locations, your mental condition will deteriorate in different ways according to your actions, which in turn alters your perception of these environments and will lead to one of three different endings. The developers say that a single playthrough will take about three hours.

Anna will be a PC exclusive and is expected to be released sometime before the end of the year. More information on the game can be found on the official website.

Can You Keep Up With The Official Trailer For ‘Out There Somewhere’?

Chris Priestman — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:42:17 +0000

MiniBoss have released the official trailer for their teleport-heavy 2D puzzler, Out There Somewhere. The question is: what the hell is going on?!

As we move further and further away from the nineties, we see more and more developers yearning for that decade’s style of games. MiniBoss are the first to put their hand up and say that is exactly what they are going for with Out There Somewhere – a simple story with fun gameplay and a retro look and accompanying music. That’s what games in the nineties were all about then, apparently. Really?

In Out There Somewhere, you play as an astronaut called Yuri, who may sound Russian but isn’t. He’s actually from that part of the galaxy that often gets confused with Russia: the Great Mother Planet. Like Doomguy, Yuri is in a weird place where he can hear monstrous growls coming from the dark, but rather than being armed with a pistol, he has a much more modern Teleport Gun. With this, he dodges the creatures and flies around the screen, hence our opening question.

The developers are also trying to decide on what promotional art to use for the game. In doing this, they are asking people to vote on their favorite out of three – a Master System style, PC-CD Rom style and a Mega Drive (Genesis) style. You can see them all and vote for them in their latest post.

There’s no release date on Out There Somewhere as of yet but it’s expected for PC only at this moment in time and you can find out more information on the official website.

p.s. Vote for the Master System style promo or become victim to our torture methods!