These days, with GDC comes a portion of the IGF dedicated to student made games. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed student-made games tremendously do to their not having to worry about making a profit or even ensuring their game is accessible to a wide audience. Essentially, they can make whatever they want so long as it’s playable and they get a decent grade on the project.
This year’s GDC was no different and while this year’s Student Showcase winner was a marvelous game called FRACT, I actually came away more impressed with a simplistic 3D title called PaperPlane, from ENJMIN.
PaperPlane pertains to exactly what the title says it is, a game about a paper plane. Essentially, you are the paper plane and you’re goal is to simply explore the world around upon being flung out from a child’s tree house. The more you explore, the more you can see.
Of course, the very act of exploring isn’t an easy proposition. Paper planes don’t fly, after all, the glyde. As such you’ll be required to use a unique control method using the right and left triggers to control your descent to the ground. Pull on the right trigger will move to you right, left trigger will move you left, and pulling on both at the same time will allow you to pull up a tiny bit.
There are also wind streams that will give you additional speed should you require it, the very same which allow you to propel yourself to new areas upon exploring the previous.
Should you land on the ground, or crash into something the game immediately restarts you from the tree house where you can depart once again.
There’s no real goal, objectives, or points to PaperPlane, it’s simply a matter of experiencing life as a tranquil paper plane as it descends to the ground. If you’ve got a few minutes today, I strongly encourage you to experience this game.
PaperPlane is available right now for the low, low price of nothing. Download it via the link below.
PVP. Versus. Competitive. All of these are words that I don’t particularly look for when looking to pick up a new game. As somebody who was raised on NES RPGs and games like Contra, I’ve always been more inclined to pick up a cooperative game as opposed to a competitive multiplayer title like Call of Duty, just as an example. SpyParty, by indie developer Chris Hecker, may have just changed my entire perspective on competitive gaming.
At this stage in development you’ve probably at least heard of SpyParty. It was a huge hit at last year’s PAX Prime and was nominated for the Seumas McNally grand prize at last night’s IGF award ceremony. Still, if you’re not clear on what the game is allow me to explain it a little bit:
SpyParty is a two player, competitive game where one player plays as a spy and another as a sniper. The objectives vary depending on the level, but essentially the spy must complete a series of tasks without being too obvious and the sniper must stop the spy from completing said objectives.
To create a better sense of “cloak and dagger” type gameplay, the game doesn’t tell the sniper when a certain task is completed. Instead the game will send out hints that the object was recently completed. For example, one of the objectives in the game I played was to converse with a double agent. The keyword for the conversation was “Banana Bread.” So at some point during the game, should the spy attempt to complete this part of the mission, you’ll hear out loud a voice say “Banana Bread.” From there the sniper knows that one of the people in the conversation is attempting to complete that mission. Of course, there’s usually a couple of conversations going on with multiple people in each so it’s not a direct giveaway, but it helps cull the prospective targets.
It’s an interesting system that really speaks to me. Most multiplayer games these days are so focused on the simple mechanic of: shoot him, get points, die, respawn, repeat. Nothing about it really requires you to use your brain, to think about what you’re doing, or to assess the consequences of making an incorrect kill (you lose in SpyParty if you shoot the wrong person). SpyParty requires all these things and is a better, more methodical pvp experience because of it.
The game is still heavy in development so we probably won’t be seeing the game get a release anytime in the near future. Still, with a game this unique and of this quality I’m willing to wait for Chris Hecker to perfect this masterpiece and give me a competitive game that I can really enjoy.
By the way, don’t get too attached to the current art work. If Chris Hecker is to be believed, it’s all temporary. He’s working on the core mechanics and plans to create better art in the future prior to release.
The puzzle platformer Snapshot from Retro Affect has brand new gameplay footage. The boys have carefully created some great lighting mechanics this time around. WiL Whitlark also cranked out another great track. The music befitted the scenery, transporting gamers to what looks and feels like a youthful mid summer night’s dream set in the future or an alternate robot-inhabited universe.
Two distinct gameplay reveals were included. One helps gamers navigate through the darkness; the other involved a rather cooperative elephant. Pix (the robot) does something no human could do with light. Good thing he had metallic (or something similar) boots to remain unscathed. No enemies were in the video, but the deadly red spikes were poised in a few spots, should Pix have not seen them or have not been controlled by his creators.
If Retro Affect gives this much effort until the game goes “gold,” gamers will want to see Snapshot on as my platforms as possible. 2011′s Braid? The puzzles (make ‘em thought-provoking), pastels, and musical pieces seem to be falling into place. Take a look for yourself:
Retro Affect submitted Snapshot for PAX East. Hopefully there will also be a controller at the Snapshot booth to lure gamers that otherwise squawk at PC games and their WASD controls. The mouse seems a great fit for guiding Pix’s camera. However, with the difficulty of the platforming elements unknown, I can’t tell how I would prefer to control Pix him/herself.
Honeyslug‘s Gamma 4 presentation piece, Poto & Cabenga, has now gone public. If you’ve got trouble multitasking, maybe this is a good life tool. It’s a single-switch game, where you control two characters at once.
For Cabenga, hold the space bar to run and release it to jump. For Poto, hold the space bar to slow down and tap it to jump. You can imagine the complications that play out, as you collect objects, avoid stray hedgehogs, and collaborate between the two characters to solve problems. All with a single button. Now there’s overloading the functions for you.
Even before you get to the mechanics, the aesthetics are a big draw. The designs and layout, by pop artist Richard Hogg, are lush and clean. In place of traditional sound effects, the player’s actions are accompanied by Tetsuya Mizuguchi-esque flourishes that build on the music, resulting in an interactive soundtrack. It’s a very holistic bit of design, all around.
It’s free, it’s neat, it opens right in your browser. It only takes a few minutes to play. Go pick it over. Only downside is sitting through the tutorial again whenever you replay. Oh well! Such is modern game design.
Back with another installment of Indie Links for your reading pleasure/pain. Today’s batch is a good one, with some more Indie GDC wrap you shouldn’t miss, interviews, previews and even the broader thinking stuff.
GDC Gallery: How The Indie Fund Could Change Game Dev Destiny (boingboing)
“Like UK studio Introversion’s indie-rallying clarion call at the 2006 Independent Games Festival, the announcement of an indie-led investment strategy — simply called the Indie Fund — could be the next watershed moment for the future of independent gaming.”
GDC 2010: Please Finish Your Game (TIGSource)
“The inimitable Chris Hecker ranted at GDC this year. His rant, titled “Please Finish Your Game”, addresses the issue of development time in the mainstream and indie communities. Specifically, he asks developers to pursue good ideas to their “logical and aesthetic extent”.”
‘Splosion Man Dev Reveals Next Project: Comic Jumper (GSW)
“Twisted Pixel, the indie studio behind beloved downloadable titles The Maw and ‘Splosion Man, revealed its next XBLA game at SXSW yesterday: Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley.”
Interview: Markus ‘Notch’ Persson On The Making Of Minecraft (GSW)
“Minecraft is an interesting case when it comes to indie games. Based on the ideas of another indie game, Infiminer, Minecraft is the product of Swedish developer, Markus “Notch” Persson. His game is currently available to play for free at www.minecraft.net and players have congregated to the multiplayer side of the game”
Towering Inferno: Sol Survivor Preview (RPS)
“It’s that time of year again when the fresh spring towers erupt from the ground and begin to gun down passing alien body-snatchers. We’ve seen tower defence games overhauled again and again, but the greenest and most flexible of these rejigs is probably Sol Survivor, which I’ve been playing on and off all week. Read on for some thoughts on a game which makes titanic efforts to raise this least-appreciated of genres.”
Preview: High Strangeness (IndieGames)
“With the above pre-alpha footage just released, now is as good a time as any to discuss High Strangeness. In development for Xbox Live Indie Games and iPhone, the game is an attempt by a team of four to create the kind of experience they used to play on the SNES as kids.”
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Promethium Marketing (Joystiq)
“”We sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we’re giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with former Xbox community staffer Chris Paladino, who’s in the unusual position of working with a games consulting firm, Promethium Marketing, that decided to step out with a game of its own, an unusual hybrid of Twitter and tower defense called Tweet Defense.”
Semi-Indie Related:
Budget Win: Tax Break For UK Developers (RPS)
“British videogame designers have long been campaigning for tax breaks in the UK, similar to those in New Zealand and Canada. In today’s budget, it seems that something has finally been done to help. Alistair Darling has today announced a pledge for a tax credit system that will aid creative industries, including game development.”
Unmissable Mods Month (UserCreated)
“Mods are awesome. Like, really awesome. So awesome it hurts. Do you know what else is awesome? Lists. So what have we done? Why, we’ve only gone and written down the names of our 20 favourite mods of all time in an unordered list, and we’re only going to write about one of them every day for the next month (except weekends, when we’ll do a sleep).”
There’s a certain kind of game out there that is dangerous not in its content, but ability to leave its players battered and bruised in the real world. It’s not some kind of virtual reality that brings direct harm from the game, it’s simple and more timeless. It’s the old-fashioned multiplayer battle of a solid arcade game. And why might this leave a player battered and bruised? Well that all depends on who you’re playing it with and how much your actions make them want to slug you in the arm due to your excessive wins. Frobot, from Fugazo, is just such a game that encapsulates that frantic multiplayer experience that leaves everyone laughing and playfully wishing death on their friends.
But while it shares a lot with it’s old-fashioned brethren like Bomberman, Frobot is actually founded on its single player experience. Remember the original Zelda, where once you moved out of a screen in a dungeon the map slides horizontally or vertically into the next one? That’s Frobot’s style, and the elements of classic Nintendo titles are no accident. Andrew Lum the founder of Fugazo, wanted to make a Nintendo game for as long as he can remember. So when he gained the technical ability to pull it off, and a team of artists and programmers willing to follow his vision, bringing a game to WiiWare was his first thought.
Frobot’s been in development for a little over a year and is going to hit Nintendo’s download service in either June or July, “early summer.” The game’s story centers on the main character, Frobot. He’s a 70s themed robot with a mean afro and the personality of Shaft. He’s got five lady-robots who back him up and give him the power to fight. Peppered with clever puns and more 70s references than the sparkles on a disco ball, the game is all style.
In the beginning of the game, Frobot is on a mission to get back to his base. But while he’s trapped learning to use his skills (including a reflective shield, missiles, a ball of energy that can kill, mines and more), his arch-nemesis kidnaps his robo-ladies back at his home base. So when Frobot returns, his powers are stripped and he must strive to save the source of his powers.
His main tactic is a gun that can ricochet off of walls (they shoot slow enough to handle), which is controlled by the Wii-mote using a targeting reticule. This is all you’re left with after losing your robots. Running through each room of a level includes figuring out the geometry involved in taking out certain enemies, and watching out for the enemies who can shoot and ricochet right back at you. The AI is clever enough to know when it has a clear shot at you, often before you realize you can hit it. You must use your powers of logic to figure out when to blow up certain walls, when to reflect shots at button targets, and when to simply take out your enemies.
The decor of each level is a combination of tacky 70s goodness and futuristic metal, leaving a unique world in its design wake. The Wii development kit and hotel TV we played the game on didn’t do the game justice to the crisp visuals in its screenshots. The entire contrast was a bit dark and the screen wasn’t clear enough to notice some of the details in the game. I’m curious to see the game running on a proper setup, to make sure I’m not mistaken on this case.
As I mentioned, the game’s layout plays like an old Zelda dungeon, with the screen shifting to the next room as you open doors and make progress. While it doesn’t have a world map in the same vein, Frobot means more to keep the action present without the exploration. I got a taste of some of the game’s variety and the puzzles as they progress in difficulty. There are twenty five levels across five different “worlds,” and each level is made up of nine rooms (not including a boss fight). From the sections I played this seems to be a good length for a Wiiware storyline.
The boss fights are a cool moment of variety in the game. The room is larger, as though the entire picture has been zoomed out. In the particular fight I handled, it involved a series of four different catapults and a chasm I couldn’t cross; the boss was taunting me from afar. I had to lay mines on the catapults, launch them when the boss was in the right location and last but not least, trigger the mine before the boss moved out of the way. I took him down without too much trouble, and launching the mines was a lot of fun.
Andrew also took over to show me a more difficult level that involved bouncing a block onto a platform in just the right spot, and then subsequently launching the block across the room to trigger a switch. The addition of physics to a room-based adventure like this was cool to play with and should be fun come the game’s release.
After I got a serious taste of the single-player experience, Andrew and Joel Casebeer, the artist and writer, grabbed controllers and we entered into the multiplayer arena. Like I mentioned in the beginning, this is where the old fashioned experience truly shines. Before we knew it, the two developers and this member of the press were laughing, yelling, and lost in a moment that brought us back to being ten years old all over again, without the professional lines holding us back. If we’d known each other a little better, someone would have gotten punched.
In multiplayer you have full use of your arsenal, so tactics immediately come into play. Bullets are ricocheting off every surface, mines are laid in every corner, and players are popping up their shields to save their lives. I was shown no mercy, and rarely showed up on the scoreboard (despite some “how’d you do that?!?” kills).
Frobot is almost done. While Andrew and Joel made a few notes in our play through on what could still be tweaked, the game is scheduled to drop early this summer. And if their word isn’t enough, it’s got Reggie Fils-Aime’s seal approval from the time he got to spend playing the title at the conference’s official Nintendo event.
At GDC last week, a scheduled meeting with a single iPhone game spawned a crash course in the world of independent Australian game development. In a short span of time, I got my hands on a selection of choice titles that are in different stages of development arising from the land down under. Some projects spawned from government grants, others from their past successes, and all with bright ideas from this unique country.
Jolly Rover
First up was the adventure game Jolly Rover from Brawsome Games. Andrew Goulding, Brawsome Game’s director, gave me a glimpse of the current build of the game. It’s a pirate themed adventure game that uses dogs as the main characters. It’s a four to eight hour experiences with around sixty scenes and twenty five characters. The art is cartoony and enjoyable and a callback to the adventure games of yore.
It’s got a great visual story with interesting characters, and Andrew played some audition clips from the voice actor’s submissions. The actors they’ve picked to voice the adventure are fantastic choices, and should add a lot to the story and it’s world.
To make the game unique, Andrew’s implemented some elements to add replayability and avoid the pixel hunt that ends up in a lot of adventure games. By tapping the space bar, the player is shown all the areas that the main character can interact with, and to further aid the quest, items are labelled in either blue or white text, depending on whether or not they have already been interacted with. It also includes a loot and achievement system, where the player collects crackers as they go. Once they start earning achievements for different actions in the games, they can unlock features such as a developer commentary to shed some light on the creation process.
The game is currently in an alpha state having started development in August 2009, with a beta scheduled for May and a release in June. All the elements I was shown indicate polish and a great-looking adventure, I’m looking forward to the completed product. We’ll be in touch with Andrew as the game nears release.
Train Conductor
Simon Joslin approached me with an iPhone in tow and and information on the game’s pending update. Arsen reviewed the original game extremely positively, even dubbing it his favorite iPhone game of 2009. Not being a mobile game myself, this was actually my first time playing Train Conductor.
For those not in the know like myself, the game is a puzzle game, involving directing trains across multiple tracks to reach their destination. For example, there are three tracks running horizontally across the playing field. A train will enter on the top track and have a number 3 posted, meaning you must drag your finger from the top track to the third track, creating a new path for the train to travel. Then multiple trains start arriving and you must direct each one to its destination without crashing into each other. Our review explains it in even more depth.
But after showing me the basics, Simon broke out the update. While the original game is set across three locations in Australia, the expansion is taking the title to the United States. There is now going to be a survival mode in which players need to last as long as possible, and there are two new playable levels: The Grand Canyon and the NYC Subway.
The Grand Canyon was a five track level split down the middle by the canyon itself with no tracks crossing over. It’s up to the player to connect the trains over the chasm while not crashing into each other and trying to wrack up the highest score for speed and efficiency. For a novice player like myself, this was no easy feat. Sure the trains stop at the gap on their own, but I was moving so slowly to get them to their proper exit point that I wasn’t scoring points successfully. Then moving on to NYC created a new game mechanic. The tracks weren’t broken in the middle, but cement columns blocked paths and tracks could only be crossed in between certain pillars which narrowed the window with which the game could be played. These levels are for a more advanced Train Conductor player and should make people very happy. Not only is the update due out next month, it’s going to be free.
While they weren’t being shown, the map of the USA had a few extra locations outside of Arizona and NY, but Simon indicated to me that these are still under construction. We’ll keep you posted as we find out more about the update and the game’s future.
Raskulls
Halfbrick Studios are no stranger to making games, as their main focus until this point has been working on licensed titles such as Sponge-Bob Squarepants and Avatar. But they have a new independently produced game coming to XBLA called Raskulls. While Halfbrick is much larger than the other developers I met with, I think they still have a place in this discussion of what’s coming out of Australia these days.
Phil Larsen showed off the game by taking me directly into the action. Raskulls is a well animated game in which all the characters have skulls for faces. It’s a racing platformer, in such that some levels you’re jumping and digging your way through the level and others you’re racing groups of NPC characters (or real players once it hits the marketplace). The action is quick and frantic, and you’ll find yourself digging through Tetris-like blocks and using items to boost your speed and efficiency through levels.
The game will feature over seventy levels across three chapters. This leaves a lot of variety for a simple XBLA game and with its fun factor and polish be quite a hit. The controls are tight, the characters memorable, and the action simply enjoyable. I played through the introductory story, the earliest platform levels, and my first race, getting a taste for the variety. You bust through multicolored blocks, you swim through floating chunks of water, and with power-ups you do everything it takes to win a race. All the elements that make a platform game fun, and then some. There’s no exact release date yet, but they’re hoping to launch it in early 2010. By my count…that’s soon.
Gamebook Adventures and Mole
Ben Britten, a figure from Escape Factory, partner at Tin Man Games and developer of the iPhone game Mole: Quest for the Terracore Gem showed me what he’s been working on.
Tin Man Games have created a series of Choose Your Own Adventure books for the iPhone. They’ve already released two titles An Assassin in Orlandes and The Siege of the Necromancer. They’re originally works written just for this series. The next book comes out in May and then they’re aiming to release new ones every four to six weeks. While you’re not directly flipping pages, the book leaves you choices just like the old fashioned books with a “If you want to Y turn to page X” choice structure. Conflicts and fights in the books actually turn into a minigame of dice rolls, which is a nice break from reading and should keep this new form of interactive fiction fresh. While the win or loss aspect doesn’t directly change things, just leave you another “turn to page x if you died” aspect, it does keep things interesting. The books are peppered with artwork and an interesting new application for the iPhone.
Then I got the game Mole in my hands, which is a fun digging game where you’re collecting precious gems and digging through different layers of earth on your quest to find the “Terracore Gem.” You must stay alive by finding pockets of air, and drills found throughout the playing field return you to the surface where you can purchase upgrades to help you on your journey of getting deeper and deeper. It’s a fun digging game that reminds me of a few different things I’ve played on Newgrounds, but fits in the palm of your hand.
Steam Pilot
Last up with a prototype build of a game John Lycette of the Lycette Bros. was working on. He’s a member of the Escape Factory, which is an indie game collective that help each other out on their projects.
Steam Pilot has you piloting a kind of blimp through the silhouetted skyline of an old-fashioned city. The whole game plays in black and white and you travel in a circular pattern around the city picking up pieces and putting them in their proper place, such as a weather vane or a missing ampersand.
The game had very little work put into it at this point, but it was just a glimpse at the art style the Lycette’s are capable of and what is to come. At this point there isn’t much to undertake, just floating up and down and positioning your blimp in the right place to grab things with your claw. There are also birds to avoid who will cause you to drop your cargo. There can never be too many stylish iPhone games, so I’m curious to see what this simple gameplay prototype evolves into.
Limbo, from PlayDead Games, took home two awards at this year’s IGF: Technical Excellence and Excellence in Visual Art. While I have trouble saying that any one of the IGF Finalists were better than another, I can see why Limbo won these awards.
It’s an atmospheric platform game with a mix of slow progression peppered with jolts of bloody surprise.
I had the opportunity to play through both demo sections that were shown off on the IGF Floor. With the tight audio design, I played with headphones on, which transported me to a more peaceful world than the chaos going on around me. But at the same time it made me more susceptible to surprise, and I probably looked hilarious as I jumped after my character was chopped in half by a bear trap for the first (of several) times.
The game is so quiet in the sections where you just need to move carts or push boats, but then it takes a violent turn when huge blocks drop on your head or other shadowy children chase you down with blowdarts. The game had a “race the dropping gates” moment like many classic puzzlers, but also plenty of unique moments. At one juncture, a worm tries to burrow into your skull and you’re forced to trudge in one direction until sunlight burns the worm and flips your path. You must find a way to get yourself close to some nearby monsters that eat the worm out of your head, freeing you from the mind control. A unique puzzle that had me accidentally drown before discovering the solution.
I encountered what you could call a boss fight at the end of one section with a giant spider. The trick was to get the spider to try and impale you with its legs, but instead have them hit a bear trap instead. It took some planning and careful maneuvering, as you could tell where the legs would stab down. But by the third leg, PlayDead made a fool out of me, because while I had anticpated where the leg would land, the leg actually popped out much further than expected, leaving my poor character crumpled and bleeding on the ground. Luckily the game just sets you back a small distance from your demise, so you’re never far from the action.
I really enjoyed Limbo. It’s a truly atmospheric game with some great twists and unexpected moments. I could help but chuckle each time I was surprised with a new way to end my life. The game is coming out on XBLA this summer, but there’s no exact date just yet. We’ll let you know just as soon as we hear more.
Before I say anything about Owlboy, you need to know two things about its artist: 1) He’s partially colorblind, and 2) He used MS Paint to create the game. These aren’t disclaimers, these are two amazing points that highlight the quality of the game, which I saw as a beautiful throwback to the pixellated adventures only found in the days of the Super Nintendo.
The team from D-Pad Studio helped walk me through their demo as I got my wings wet in the world of Owlboy. It’s a classic adventure game where you’re tasked with different quests and objectives, such as rebuilding a collapsed statue, grabbing different characters and flying them to new locations and more.
You have unlimited flight powers and can hover in place. Alone, you’re unarmed and can easily be taken down by the world’s bad guys. But the interesting offensive technique the game uses is the interchangeable gun men you find in the game. The demo level featured a little green workman who didn’t have wings, but would let you carry him about. While flying, you could then direct him to shoot using one of the thumbsticks. This way carrying a man with a gun is the same as carrying your own gun.
I avoided flying pirate ships who’s spotlights try to shoot me out of the air and I maneuvered through caves, looking for both collectibles and the solution to different puzzles. From what the team has created so far, there are unique puzzles, such as squeezing the water out of a rain cloud to fill a basin and float a switch to an accessible location. Their demo was quite lengthy and I finally had to stop myself from going further. The most amusing moment was when I entered a cave patrolled by gnomes. They’re almost blind, but if you make too much noise from flying they can find you and absolutely pounce you. I was spotted and charged by at least half a dozen of the little buggers and sent packing back to my last checkpoint. A hilarious enemy in a creative world.
The developers said the game is only about a quarter finished, so there is plenty of work to do in the next stretch. For a writer who spent countless hours lost in the games of the Super Nintendo generation, Owlboy has just hit a high mark on my most anticipated list. Keep an eye out for this one.
Shank got a notoriety boost just before this year’s IGF when it was announced the title was picked up by Electronic Arts. This publishing deal suddenly meant that this festival contender would find its way to XBLA, PSN and PC with a big name leading the charge.
But Shank made it into the IGF Showcase on its own bloody merits and I got some time to play through the demo, aided by Jeffrey Alaga who suggested various ways I should bludgeon my foes.
Jeff was the main artist on the project, and his lengthy background in animation, comics and television directing truly shine in the game. The setting is stylized and waiting to get coated in blood.
The gameplay includes three main forms of blood-letting: your shank, your guns and your chainsaw. Used in various combinations, you unleash messy combos that aren’t for the squeamish.
In addition to your main attacks, you can also use a ground and air grapple, which are ways to tackle your opponents while jabbing your shanks into their chest. Did I mention it’s not for the squeamish? Climbing and running along walls execute automatically, making movement a simple act. The level ended with a giant behemoth of a boss, who’d smack you down from trying to grapple him and you were forced to pound him with grenades, and leap onto his back while he was weakened. It’s a brutal fight that wasn’t necessarily easy, but ended with a satisfying cut scene that showed our hero jamming a grenade in the man’s mouth and shooting it from afar. The demo did its job in leaving me wanting more, I’m curious to see what’s next.
The demo level was the same one revealed in the PAX demo, so there wasn’t anything new to see. I discovered they had plenty they weren’t talking about, though. This included the story (“It’s a classic revenge tale”), the length (it will be a “full experience”), and what the other levels outside of the dusty town and the meat plant were. This leaves plenty of surprises for them to reveal in the future.
There’s something to be said for the level of action in the game. I had popped my voice recorder on the counter as I played so that I could capture and remember what Jeffrey had to say, but the entire recording was a mashup of violent stabbing sounds and bloody screams. But that’s the main thing to take away from the experience anyway: there will be blood.
The puzzle platformer Snapshot from Retro Affect has brand new gameplay footage. The boys have carefully created some great lighting mechanics this time around. WiL Whitlark also cranked out another great track. The music befitted the scenery, transporting gamers to what looks and feels like a youthful mid summer night’s dream set in the future or an alternate robot-inhabited universe.
Back with another installment of 
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