Hotline Miami has received a lot of attention lately for being somewhat of an indie darling on the PC and with the game gearing up for a PSN release, we figured now is a good time for the AO crew to dig into the game and give you our two cents on the bloody romp through 1980′s Miami. Please enjoy.
PS: Eff the dogs
Serious Sam Double D was already certifiably over-the-top and chock-full of awesome when it debuted back in 2011. If you don’t believe it, check out the video review. Since then, Mommy’s Best Games has been working on classing Double D, elevating it to XXL status. Now out for XBLA, the game boasts new features such as co-op (couch only, sadly), and a new upgrade system for guns. There’s also a barrage of new and still ridiculous enemies, oh, and a giant dynamite powered unicycle. What I’m saying is you should check it out. It’s available today on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points (that’s 10 real dollars).
Seven games have been selected for the Indie Showcase at PAX East 2013. And aside from being on this list, these games have something else notable in common: They’re all for mobile platforms.
The official PAX website has descriptions and screens for each of the showcased projects. Here’s the full list.
Little Chomp by ClutchPlay Games (iOS/Android) Major Magnet by Pagodawest (iOS/Android) Orion’s Forge by Trinket Studios (iOS/Android) Saturday Morning RPG by Mighty Rabbit Studios (iOS) Spaceteam by Sleeping Beast Games (iOS) Time Surfer by Kumobious (iOS) Third Eye Crime by Moonshot Games (iPad)
A new trailer was released, which lays out what sort of changes will be made to make the console version. New controls were promised, as the keyboard and mouse layout on the original version won’t work here. Those with HD televisions will be able to play in split-screen with up to four players, and there’s an eight-player online mode as well. There will be new armor, weapons, pets and enemies — even a unique final boss, which you can find using the new world map function. The soundtrack will also be getting a bit fatter with some added tracks.
We haven’t found a release date yet, but Terraria taught us that if we keep digging we’ll eventually uncover one. The official stance right now is that it’s “coming soon”.
Have you been hankering to spelunk (that’s a word, right?) your way through a cave that mysteriously narrates your journey all on its own? You’ll be able to do just that and pretty soon, as Sega has revealed that The Cave will be releasing before January is over.
The game will come out on the Playstation Network and Wii U eShop on January 22, with Xbox Live Arcade and Steam users gaining access the very next day. Steam users will be pleased to learn that it works on both the Mac and Linux versions of Valve’s client.
The Double Fine-developed adventure-platformer will run you $15, or 1200 of Microsoft’s moon dollars.
So you’ve probably heard about the controversy behind the collector’s editions of German developer Deep Silver’s Dead Island Riptide. The collector’s edition includes a bust of a woman’s risqué torso, with arms and a head apparently gnawed off by a ghoul of some sort. It’s also marked by a two piece bikini, adorned with the British flag.
Sites such as Rock Paper Shotgun and Destructoid are quick to point out that it’s misogynist and appalling, but aren’t so quick to do the research. And that’s understandable – in today’s “gaming journalism” landscape, he who gets the story or sensationalist headline out quickest is king, especially when ad revenue and page hits play such a large role in paying staff. Fortunately I don’t make my living this way, so I can afford to take my time to fact check, perform research, and poke around a bit.
What these outlets won’t tell you however, is that this particular collector’s edition is for the European and Australian markets, whose cultural standards are much different than ours in America. Those of us stateside receive a far different version, titled “Rigor Mortis Edition,” which includes a woman in a Hawaiian skirt and a suitcase instead of the female bust. See the difference?
Developer 17-BIT’s Skulls of the Shogun is quickly nearing release, and it’s doing so on an unprecedented amount of Microsoft platforms simultaneously.
The game will be available on Xbox Live Arcade, Windows Phone 7, Microsoft Surface and Windows 8 when it releases on January 30. It also features cross-play multiplayer across all of its versions.
“Skulls Anywhere is an asynchronous multiplayer mode that lets players take turns independently of each other (sending turns back and forth whenever they want),” said the game’s website, “playing against players on all the launch platforms.”
Skulls of the Shogun will run you 1200 Microsoft points, or $15. Be sure to check out out hands-on coverage from PAX East 2012 for more.
Developer: Hit the Sticks
Platforms: Windows, Ubuntu Linux
Genre: Turn-based Strategy
Availability: Open beta
Price: $5
Turn based games have been around for decades, but the steep learning curve, patience required, and often difficult gameplay mechanics have often pushed gamers away for equally as long. Tabletop gaming, much like video games, has an enormous fan base of passionate players, many of which are looking for a unique experience. Developer Hit the Sticks hopes to take some of their most sought after features from tabletop favorites and implement them into a video game of their own, Just Tactics.
The team initially began as only three people – head designer Jordan Brock, along with an artist by the name of Oleg and a programmer, Aubrey. They all work locally, within a confined office, while their sound engineer, Dave, works from his home studio.
