Living LIVE 10.05.09: Issue No. 41 - Arkedo Series - 01 Jump!, Fields Reloaded, Alien's Pyramid Challenge, More
Posted by Trace Aber on 10.05.2009
Featuring reviews of EIGHT Indie games including Arkedo Series - 01 Jump!, Fields Reloaded, Alien's Pyramid Challenge, and more! Plus, find out what might literally be the absolute worst Indie game yet!
So this Saturday I had the pleasure of finally finding a good team on Call of Duty: Nazi Zombies. Usually I'll get a decent team with the exception of one guy who seems to honestly believe that throwing grenades at our team is the best way of killing zombies. But, this Saturday I had a team of competent players and we all happened to have microphones, making communication pretty damn easy. It has restored my faith in online gaming, because recently I've been getting a bunch of crappy teams. Thank you, random people of Saturday.
I'm Trace Aber and this is Living LIVE.
This week we had three Arcade games released, but not one of them interests me. Military Madness is another RTS game that looks boring and considering I'm not a fan of console RTS games I don't see that being worth it. The fine people of I-Imagine Interactive actually expect us to pay 800MP for a trivia game about football, which I refuse to review. And Bust-A-Move LIVE! came out as well…I just never understood that franchise. What is so fun about these games? Anyways, seeing as how all of the releases this week are a wash, I'm going to review just the indie games of the week, but instead of the normal amount I'm reviewing eight of them. It evens out to about the same amount of games except these games you probably won't find as many reviews of.
Spider Evader (80MP)
I don't even know where to begin with this game. Perhaps I should start off by saying it's not so much a game as it is one of those "scare your friends with this" type games. Right there I'm already annoyed because I think these are outdated and never that funny to begin with. Now let's move to the genre – it's an "avoid the wall" game. That's not even a game – that's just something we do in our everyday lives. We avoid walls because walking into them makes us look like dumbasses – why do I need to play a game to relive this part of my everyday life. Ok, so now that I've established the entire idea of this existing is absolutely stupid, let's move on to the "game."
You play as some flying insect, but since I'm not an expert on those types of things I'm not entirely sure of what. Doesn't matter – you're something stupid enough to fly through the most ridiculous spider web in the world. Despite the entire surrounding area being spider webs, this one has decided to make his web a huge open path with thin walls being the only thing to prevent you from moving on. What really makes me hate this game is the fact that throughout the levels entire sections of the map are covered in white and make it next to impossible to see where you're supposed to go. So now developer SRH has managed to take a stupid concept (avoid the walls) and make it next to impossible by not allowing you to see ANYTHING for certain parts of the level. All of this just to lead up to a stupid "scare" image on the third level, which by the way I couldn't get to because of all the stupid ass invisible parts! Seriously, I didn't even know they made games this bad. Avoid it like the plague mixed with swine flu. Rating: 0
D-Cypher (80MP)
D-Cypher is apparently based off some board game form the mid-70s, but I can't recall playing one like it. I'll assume it's something British and that I'll never understand. The idea of D-Cypher is pretty much in the title – you have to crack a code that consists of colors and their positions. While it's pretty simple on the surface, things can get pretty intricate and challenging once you move up in the later levels.
In the trial you are given a code of either four or six colors. It is your job to figure out where these orbs go and what colors to use. Sometimes you only need some of the ones available, sometimes you need them all – it just depends on the level. After you submit a combination of colors and positions you'll get a chart that indicates your progress. It tells you if you're using the right color and if they're in the right position or not. You keep trying to crack the code, using the chart given to help you. The trial only gives us a handful of fixed codes to crack and they can be completed pretty quickly. The full game, however, uses randomly generated codes which gives the game pretty much unlimited replay value (if you really like cracking codes, that is).
All in all, D-Cypher is a fun little puzzle game that runs cheap. The music is spacey and enjoyable while the codes should provide most players enough challenge to keep them playing. Rating: 7.0
Alien Pyramid Challenge! (80MP)
APC is a pretty nifty puzzle-platformer that allows you to be a, well, alien. Not quite sure why you're stuck in this pyramid but thankfully you have a whimsical sidekick in the pyramid's mummy, who's helpful enough to give you advice but not helpful enough to just say, "Hey, here's the real exit. Have a nice life." But, you know, mummy's probably get pretty lonely in their pyramid so I guess I can see where he's coming from. Anyways…
Most of your time spent in the pyramid will consist of you trying to figure out how to get a random assortment of blocks in the right place at the right time to advance to the next stage. Even though I only played the first handful of levels, I could tell the game would provide a challenge for most players. All of your typical platforming elements are here, including springs and moving platforms. The puzzles can be frustrating at times but always provide a sense of satisfaction when you solve them, making it experience worthwhile. The only problem I have is that I didn't see much else to the game other than the above-mentioned. Depending on how long the game is, APC is going to be either really repetitive or really short. But, considering it's only 80MP, you can't complain too much. Price matters, damnit. Rating: 7.0
Paint Boll (80MP)
Paint Boll is a simple combat paintballing arcade game that harkens back to the very early days of the genre. Whether or not you'll enjoy it, however, is us to your own personal taste. I found myself having troubles identifying whether or not I did, but I think it has potential. The biggest problem with Paint Boll is that it seems to be lacking any sort of artificial intelligence, a very disappointing thing in deed. Perhaps this is not a problem to some gamers, but without Xbox Live the odds of me finding somebody else willing to play this game are slim to none. But, regardless of your situation, the lack of AI is simply lazy.
Either way, looking at the game as a 2-player only game, it still has some merits. You have five levels, each with different environmental options you can utilize. They typically are areas of cover but sometimes explosives will be littered among the ground. Again, all of this is very basic but still fun. It's just a matter if you'll be able to find someone to actually play this game with you. The fact you only get one type of gun (paintball gun) really limits what happens in the game. No matter how many environmental things you use, there's not enough variety to make it worthwhile. But, to those looking for a fun, one-dimensional shooter, here you go. Rating: 5.0
Before we continue with huge blocks of text, how about some links!?
Lansdell and Oracheski battle it out in this week's Fact or Fiction, discussing topics such as controller designs and holiday sales.
Lee Price of Retronomicon looks back fondly on Desert Strike.
Vote, Garmer, Lopez and Oracheski join in on some week's Four Player Co-Op
Oracheski discusses killstreaks and perks and their effect in Modern Warfare 2 in Achievement Unlocked
The 411 Games Staff breaks down their favorite Video Game Vixens in the Top Five
Williams ponders the question, "What if the Dreamcast didn't fail?" and answers it in Working Title
Robbins tells us the top ten things he wants to see in Kingdom Hearts III in the Tenth Hour
Galactic Escape (240MP)
Galactic Escape has you escaping the galactic caves (go figure) in a strategic space adventure. As you travel the caves you pilot a ship that you can accelerate and stop with use of the triggers. While flying through the caves you encounter a series of obstacles that will impede your process including spikes and flying saucers! And, as if that wasn't enough, you'll be having to focus on your ship's health and fuel, in addition to the time on the level. There's quite a bit going on in Galactic Escape and it creates a fun and challenging puzzle game.
The caves are well done and presented in an over-the-top view, but this also creates a slight problem of trying to navigate your way through in the more condensed areas. Luckily, these are sparse and mostly manageable. Exploring the environment gives you ample opportunity to find various pickups such as armor boosts and fuel. Escape ships are brittle things, you know?
For 240MP, you're getting a good exploration game with some unique puzzle attributes. Ten levels comprise the cave you're escaping, which should provide a good amount of playing time for most gamers. Though the game style may not be for everyone, it's certainly worth checking out if you've never played a similar game before. Rating: 8.0
Arkedo Series – 01 Jump! (240MP)
Giant Iron Crab has appeared – do something about it, Jumpboy. That's all you're given as to what's going on in the game…and that's all you need. A platformer at heart, Jumpboy will have you locating a series of bombs littered throughout the level. Some of these levels are simple and others are fast-paced sprints as spikes fall on your head. From the quirky graphics to the fun levels, Jump! is a blast.
I played through the first twelve levels (after I purchased the game) and found each one better than the previous one, making for an all-around satisfying experience. My favorite level so far has been one where you're running on bricks that are constantly falling down while spikes are dropping below your every step and, on top of all of that, you have to jump and avoid crabs. Yeah, not so sure what they like about crabs, but it works either way.
Much like Galactic Escape, Arkedo Series – 01 Jump! is well worth the asking price. While the story may not make much sense, the game has a wonderful series of little touches such as the way Jumpboy enters each stage to the music in the game. There's no a lot to complain about, especially if you're a platformer fan like I am. Heavy recommendation. Rating: 8.5
Slingstar (80MP)
Slingstar is a weird kind of physics based whip-lash game. Kind of like that supposed Sonic 4 ROM out there – you're just whipping things into other things. The premise is actually quite good but the execution is what falters. When playing this game you get the feeling that the groundwork for a solid game is here, but somewhere along the way something went wrong.
The first thing I noticed was that there was absolutely nothing acting as a background. It was a simple black screen that did nothing to hold my attention. I can't ignore the lack of laziness here. The enemies are random objects, usually orbs from what I've seen, and you have to hit them with your wingmen, which are, again, tiny orbs. Still, the idea is good enough to where you're willing to play for a bit…but for me it was just too damn hard to hit anything on a consistent basis. Most of the time I was running around and swinging my wingmen but not hitting anything. It just gets irritating after a while.
Slingstar is a good idea and with a little bit more work it would probably work out better. But, even at 80MP, I don't find it fun. It could be, but with nothing that grabs my attention and the inability to hit the smaller enemies, I don't see why I should spend any points on it. Rating: 4.0
Fields Reloaded (80MP)
Fields Reloaded is a surprisingly fun shooter for a really great price. Though it has simple mechanics, they work perfectly in the world they have been placed in and Fields makes for a great multiplayer experience. You and crew's homeland have been run over by enemy soldiers, so now you have to fight back and retaliate. You'll have to avoid soldiers, ninjas, bombing runs, and apparently sand worms. I'm not going to lie, when I read that I went ahead and bought it.
One unique feature of the game is that the gang, for one reason or another, has a time-controlling device. It basically creates a sphere of time-control that gives you the chance to really lay a whipping on those ninja soldiers. You have three planes to play on and there's quite a bit of platforming in the game. You'll be jumping over the world's smallest mountains and buildings quite a bit, all while shooting a bunch of people. While you're exploring each level you'll run into other members of your gang who will help you until the end of the level or they die, whichever happens first. It's a good time overall.
Honestly, regardless if you like the atmosphere of the game, you can't go wrong for a game like this that's only 80MP. If you like shooters, get this game. I can't say how long the game actually is but I can't imagine how you can be dissatisfied. If you have a friend to play it with this game should last quite a bit and provide a good time for players. Rating: 7.5
We actually got a decent selection of Indie games this week. Arkedo Series is definitely my pick of the week, though Fields Reloaded is a close second. Plenty of good stuff to check out this week, ranging from platformers to shooters…but, please, for all that is holy, avoid Spider Evader. . Check back next week as I review the newest arcade and indie games and let you know what's worth buying, trying, and skipping. Also, don't forget to bookmark 411Mania! And a note to all of the Indie Game developers out there – if you have an upcoming title that's going to be released soon drop me a line at traceaber@gmail.com and let me know. I'll write a full review of your game to be posted on 411Mania.com, which is a great way to get your game promoted!
