Francis "njsykora"
Critique, iGames Monday, October 12th 2009

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Why is the header image this week of a lacrosse game? Well it’s because while looking over Kotaku this week I came across a trailer. That trailer was for College Lacrosse 2010, a game that’s hopefully coming out next week on Indie Games. This would be the first ‘proper’ sports game to come out through XNA and it even carries the endorsement of Inside Lacrosse magazine. If this game is actually any good I will be supremely impressed, not to mention extremely happy. I’ve been waiting years for a good lacrosse game. Seriously, it’s one of my favourite sports.

You’ll notice a few changes to this week’s recap. First of all the much requested separator line is being introduced. It’s nothing fancy but it should do the job. Also new is my trial opinion of games we have been given tokens for. Many people have asked for this as well so I’m pleased to take feedback from the crowd. If you think there’s anything else that needs changing about the recaps then let me know in the comments. After last week’s jumbo recap I have a much more compact affair for you this week. 8 games are in the firing line so let’s get started.

Whipcrack
ScottP – 240 Points

First impressions are good for this. The game is fully voiced and using a whip to destroy enemies is surprisingly easy thanks to the controls. The idea is to destroy enemies, then recycle their remains to rebuild a destroyed tower. Seeing the tower take shape level by level is a good motivator to keep playing as is the steady introduction of new enemies and abilities. What keeps me from fully recommending this game is the whip physics themselves. How the whip moves can be extremely unpredictable at times, this makes landing shots more a test of luck than skill. It’s not a gamebreaker, but it can get annoying.

Kaiten Patissier
DK Alpla – 80 Points

Japanese games have largely been cute 16-bit games that look like they’d rather be on an SNES. This is very much the same look, with gameplay that resembles Green Island (from the same developer). It’s puzzle patforming with your character jumping around levels trying to collect cake ingredients. The gimmick for this one is the ability to turn the world when you’re pressed against a wall, much like the excellent And Yet It Moves. However it lacks the charm of Green Island and while the world turning mechanic is fun for a while, the later levels I saw failed to truly build on it. Disappointing.

Slam: Indie Edition
Blackstorm Games – 80 Points

Slam is a 360 Breakout game, that means it’s a Breakout/Arkanoid clone where the paddle can circle around the blocks laid out in the center. These are usually rubbish. Slam is brilliant. That brilliance is mostly due to the huge amount of ideas present and the fact that they all actually work. Firstly if you’re just chasing your ball around the edge or need to time a shot you can hold your ball to the paddle for a few seconds. Secondly the game shows you where the ball will go once it hits the paddle, this makes planning shots possible. Ideas carry into the blocks too, later levels feature blocks that change colour when hit. If multiple blocks of the same colour connect then they will all go if one of them is hit for extra points. Without the other features I’ve mentioned this would be a pure luck exercise, with them however it becomes an insanely addictive high score hunt. One of the best block breaker games I’ve ever played, for only 80 points there is no excuse.

Elfland Reloaded Vol. 1
BogTurtleCarl – 240 Points

First I will put notes down. We have a token for this game and a full review will be given. Secondly this is from the creator of Galax E-Mail, a mystifyingly popular twin-stick shooter from the early days of XNA. This is a remarkably clunky platformer which is the first part of a 2-part series. There’s a lot I like about it, the graphics are uncomplicated and colourful and the character’s dialogue is generally helpful and well written. However the jumping is just horrible, your character pauses slightly before every jump so platforming feels stiff and imprecise. I struggle to like it, but as I said there’s a full review coming.

Dark Skies: Messier
Oesis – 240 Points

The Messier in the title refers to the astronomer who catalogued the 110 nebulas, galaxies and clusters than form the basis of this 2nd part of the Dark Skies. By second part I mean “was left out of the last game so we could get more money” naturally so that’s pretty much it. It’s a virtual observatory with a little game for you to find the 110 space bits I mentioned earlier. Otherwise it’s just a JPEG of stars.

Aimeroids
Simesf – 80 Points

I hate Asteroids. I hate anything that tries to be Asteroids. My hatred reserves special wrath for games like this which try to be an updated version (read: has power-ups) of Asteroids. My fury stems from the overblown inertia of your ship, something that all too often sends you skidding helplessly into a chunk of space rock. The ship here does admittedly move a bit better than most Asteroids clones thanks to its ability to move backwards. Other than that however this is a straight clone, except for those power-ups I mentioned which never really seem to be much use.

Dark
Andrew Russell – 80 Points

We now present some art. Dark is unsurprisingly played almost entirely in the dark. You’re given no objectives, no instructions and often no idea where the hell you’re supposed to go. Your character is a black diamond which you can only actually see in the areas where there’s light from something. Light is used to show platforms, gears and other important things. The effect is actually really easy to understand and complements the graphical style perfectly. To play it’s basically a puzzle platformer where the only real puzzle is where you’re going. Dead ends force you to backtrack to the start of a level where you’ll notice platforms moving in a way you didn’t notice before. Gears can be pushed around to manipulate objects and form platforms. It all comes together quite nicely and I genuinely enjoyed playing. For once an artsy game that lives up to the whole ‘game’ thing.

Trippin’ Alien
TrippinAlien – 80 Points

It’s a copter game. The likes of which you’ve seen millions of times before. Use the control stick to control the height of your ship and try not to hit anything. It’s boring, has been done thousands of times before and isn’t worth any amount of money. I struggle to believe I was once addicted to the original.

Game of the Week is undoubtedly Slam. Block breakers have a tough job convincing me but this one has managed to do it through a sheer mass of good ideas. Special mention to Dark as well, a Dream Build Play entrant and worthy of that association I think.

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