Brand: A sword perhaps best left in the stone (for now)


The waiting game is often a tricky one. Sometimes an extended wait can lead to having some of your Read more

Cell:emergence Emerging on PC and Xbox on February 9


New Life Interactive's cancer-curing, voxel-based game, Cell: emergence finally has a release date. The "action surgery game" will be Read more

Little Racers STREET Review: Size Does Not Matter


EDIT: Developer Milkstone Studios informs us that an update is coming next week, which will include multiplayer mode The XBLIG Read more

Co-Optimus Founder Developing an Indie Game


Whenever someone disagrees with a critic, their first reaction always seems to be "I'd like to see you do Read more

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» indie review

Platform Hack Review: Barely Hackin’ It

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Daniel Campbell in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 4 Comments

Platform Hack is an XBLIG title that weighs in at a paltry 80 MSP. The game features side-scrolling environments, upgrades, platforming and an RPG-like leveling system. Platform Hack seems like an absolute mess on the surface, but offers the promise of solid gamplay. Does this simple little title have what it takes to stand up to the high standards of an Armless Octopus review? Let’s find out shall we!

Let’s get through the un-pleasantries first. This game is ugly… really ugly. Here at AO we realize that indie games are held to a different standard and usually try to take that into account. In the case of Platform Hack, however, that threshold is quickly reached and surpassed. It’s important to note that even though the art is less than stellar, it’s functional. You can always tell where your character is and where the enemies are so the issue thankfully never really hinders the gameplay.

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Wizorb Review: Still Wizorbin

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Mike Wall in PC, PC Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 2 Comments

what is that?

Loads of indie games face that critical dilemma of being completely competent and functional, yet just not something that you’d actually want to sit on your sofa and play on your fancy HD television.  After all, how many space shooters with Atari graphics or first person shooters that look like they were birthed on a 386 can you really play on a Saturday afternoon? Up until this point I would have thrown basically every console incarnation of Brickbreaker into that pile of games that aren’t quite worthy of prime time. They might be okay in a pinch when you’re stuck on a bus, but I never imagined having any interest in kicking back and playing for more than five minutes at a time. And along bounces Wizorb.

Wizorb attempts to do for Brickbreaker what Puzzle Quest did for match-3 puzzle games. It takes the somewhat mindless task of completing random level after level adds a bit of depth in the form of a loose story and some new abilities. It’s not a perfect amalgamation and the RPG elements aren’t as pronounced as they could be, but the new abilities, inspired level design, and snazzy retro graphics make moving the paddle horizontally back and forth and deflecting the ball back into the bricks more fun than its ever been.

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Dead Pixels Review: River City Zombie Rampage

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 4 Comments

I love zombies. I understand that as a snarky, sarcastic game critic I’m supposed to be over the undead fad and complain about how I can walk into Walmart and buy zombie sheets, but I just don’t care. I love their little rotting faces, I love their slow, shambling strides, and I love their eat-anything-that-gets-in-their-path attitude. I also love shooting holes in them as I flee down city streets.

Dead Pixels is the latest to the undead XBLIG party, but it’s way more than just a cash-in to take advantage of the undead walkers’ lingering popularity. This is a fully fleshed-out 8-bit zombie grindhouse romp that oozes love and authenticity from every crevice like coagulating blood oozes from the face wounds of fallen zombies. It’s like a mix of Double Dragon and Left 4 Dead, and it’s almost as awesome as that dream-team combination sounds.

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All the Bad Parts Review: Now With Good Parts!

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 2 Comments

funny

I’ve been punching dudes for a long time. Monsters, punks, hoodlums, and even dinosaurs have felt the sting of my digital fist, but I’ve never played a punching simulator quite like All the Bad Parts. This game is the perfect example of what makes the Xbox Live Indie Games platform so damned cool. It demonstrates that one guy with a few original ideas can create a unique experience devoid of the predictable plotlines that typically worm their way into big budget productions; it dismisses the standard ‘save the world’ trite for a more personal, emotional story.

The idea behind the game is to breathe a bit of life into the old coin-munching brawler by adding light adventure game elements and the sort of off-beat, snarky humor you’d expect to see in an indie comedy. While the characters and dialogue are charming, the combat sadly fails to hold up its end of the bargain. But the game handles its thought-provoking story and quirky dialogue better than pretty much any other XBLIG out there, so it’s worth playing despite its glaring faults.

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Indie Games Summer Uprising Day 4: T.E.C. 3001 Review

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 1 Comment

running robots

When the Summer Uprising games were announced, T.E.C. 3001 was the one game that I was immediately drawn to. It had robots, it had style, and it seemed willing to do things a little differently. One of the major problems with XBLIGs is that they often feel like watered down versions of retail games; sure, an arena-based, zombie FPS is amusing for 30 seconds, but why would anyone want to play it when there are a thousand superior games readily available? Well, there aren’t many third-person, 3D platformers where you play as a battery-hungry robot that leaps from one hovering cybernetic path to the next, so I think it’s safe to say that T.E.C. 3001 at least manages to distinguish itself from other Xbox games.

T.E.C. is reminiscent of the special stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 if those stages required actual platforming and happened to take place inside the world of Tron. As I played through the first few levels, it felt as if Phoenix Game Studio had solved many of the pesky problems that plague 3D platformers by putting T.E.C. on rails, using a fixed camera and eliminating exploration. That might somewhat restrict the gameplay, but it also allows it to ramp the speed up to ridiculous levels and create a tightly defined obstacle course for the silver robot: a perilous deathtrap that was crafted by someone who wants to ensure that a certain battery-collecting robot dies a thousand painful deaths.

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Platformance: Temple Death review: Jumping through the jungle

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | Leave a comment

don't fall!

Indiana Jones made it look so easy! Jump over the pit, swing from the vine, avoid the spikes and swipe the treasure (or the girl). Sure he had his occasional snake pit or two, but the guy always got the deed done and hardly ever suffered a scratch. The Platformance explorer, on the other hand, probably twisted his ankle stepping off the plane. This poor, bloody, spear sponge was impaled, beheaded, drowned and burnt alive countless times en route to rescuing the gorgeous Grace Belly from the savages who’d like to eat her for dinner.

He might come off as klutzy, but his frequent deaths were warranted. Platformance: Temple Death’s name is no misnomer; this game is packed with an absurd amount of ways to kill our brave adventurer, and I think it’s safe to say I found every one of them. Although I found it challenging keeping his head adhered to his neck, I still had a heck of a time with this 2D platformer, and it’s a total no brainer for any fan of retro gaming.

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Blocks That Matter review: Blocktacular adventure

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 6 Comments

watch out for fire!

Mario may have been content to smash bricks with his thick skull and be on his merry way, but not the little robot in Blocks That Matter. Nosiree, that little bugger isn’t a fan of wasting all of that precious material, and his innovative ability to collect blocks and assemble them into useful structures is what makes Blocks That Matter so wildly enjoyable.

The feisty little robot, which looks eerily like a washing machine with stick-figure limbs, is on a mission to rescue its kidnapped creators. Although he’s about as threatening as C-3P0 in a mini-skirt, this puzzle-platformer doesn’t revolve as much around killing enemies as it does outwitting them and using the world around him to survive. The robot is able to collect certain types of materials by bashing them from beneath, or by grinding them up with his drill if it is directly in front of him. Collect four blocks and you can pause the game and assemble them into a structure to allow you to reach a new area in the level. It’a such a simple mechanic, but it’s an ingenious one, and the novelty doesn’t wear off through the game’s increasingly challenging levels.

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The Last Pod Fighter review: Better than that pod racer movie

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 2 Comments

The Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace provides an excellent toolset and experience for those looking to educate themselves about game development. It also offers the flexibility to allow enthusiasts and industry veterans the opportunity to create their own titles as well. The Last Pod Fighter comes from the former,  Fighter9 Studios, which is a team of students studying computer science or film and hailing from the University of Utah. It would be wonderful to see more universities take advantage of the platform and others like it to advance students’ knowledge of the development process. Fighter9′s initial outing, The Last Pod Fighter, presents an entertaining and impressive experience within the space shooter genre.

Those of you who have played the Star Wars Rogue Squadron series on the PC or Nintendo 64 will instantly feel at home. The control scheme is extremely fluid and standard for that of the space shooter, but offers increased maneuverability in the form of instant 180′s and barrel rolls to dodge incoming attacks. A key button that I missed during my initial playthrough was the button that allows for players to change targets on the fly. When I came across the first boss, I constantly found myself bombarded by smaller fighters as their circled around me like vultures picking at their prey, and short on rockets to damage the boss, I was just counting down the moments until my demise. My second playthrough revealed that changing targets was pivotal to success for the level.

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Decay – Part 4 review: Going out with a bang

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | Leave a comment

umm...creepy?

Picking up right where Part 3 left off, Decay Part 4 faces the rather unenviable task of concluding an episodic mystery that narratively peaked at the conclusion of its predecessor. The curtain has been pulled back, and for the first time in the series, it’s apparent who you are, where you are and what you are supposed to be doing, a mystery that was a major draw for the previous entries. Now it’s merely a matter of tracking down and enacting revenge on that pernicious serial killer, and then the birds will start chirping and the sun will peer out from behind the clouds, right? Alright, slow down, Agent Booth, it’s never that easy is it?

Filling in the details of any mystery tends to make it less creepy, something that definitely works against Decay – Part 4. It just can’t quite match the consternation of previous entries where it felt as if something was lurking around the corner waiting to rip off my face, which is ironic since this is the first game in the series where you can actually die. In fact, Shining Gate Software made a few changes to the point-and-click formula, an impressive feat considering it’s the final act and they probably could have gotten away with plugging a few puzzles into a house, adding a ‘4’ to the title screen and calling it a day. So, while it might not be the scariest entry in the series, it is in many ways the most impressive and definitely the most robust adventure.

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Starzzle review: Snacking on stars

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Mike Wall in Reviews, XBLIG, XBLIG Reviews | 1 Comment
stars!

Mario might go bonkers for stars, but he’s got nothing on Starzzles’ red, rotund hero. This guy gobbles up five-pointed celestial objects like E.T. gobbled Reese’s Pieces, so luckily Starzzle has an abundance of the delicious yellow stars. His appetite for stars makes for a quirky indie puzzle game that sadly runs out of ideas before the game is complete, but definitely is worth checking out for fans of the genre.

Starzzle’s bite-sized levels are set up like a grid sprinkled with stars. The two goofy heroes are enthusiastic about their star collections, but they aren’t exactly the most agile creatures; pressing the D-pad in any direction sends the selected character dashing across the screen until he encounters an obstacle. Since you can’t stop in the middle of the dash, navigating the levels is a bit trickier than it looks, which provides the challenge and thus the fun. The apparently random obstacles are actually cleverly designed to provide blockades that allow you to change direction and align your character with the next star to be munched.

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