Indie Games Today

2007-07-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Deep Magic
Excalibur333
Review

Gameplay:
This is a little more deep of a game than I had expected. It has a nice tutorial that explained the game well through letting you do what you needed to learn. The has you going through a telporter to go to various levels. (Which I should point out there aren't many of). Your wizard has a full level up system that I though was actually pretty nice for the game, and kept me wanting to play it. For every enemy you kill you gain more experience, which in turn opens up new spells for you to use through a very convienient spell select screen that can be opened up on the fly by pressing E. There are around 20 or so spells you can use, all of which are interesting to unlock. The number of enemies you fight are pretty good. They all basically do the same thing though, shoot fireballs at you. I still found fighting pretty fun though, and really challenging at times. Though I don't know if the aim-with-the-mouse system works perfectly, which I will get to in the control section.

Graphics:
I did like the graphics in this game. Alot of the spells you unlock have particle effects which is very nice and the levels have a nice art style about them. It all does the game's style very well.

Sound:
This is where I found an issue. I don't know if it's just me, but the music drove me crazy in the beginning of the game. When I made it to the 3rd level it got better, but the beginning really bothered me. Mabey my ears have brains of their own....mabey not.

Control:
Another slight issue here. The mouse aiming for spells, seemed a little too difficult at times as I was being swarmed by enemies. Though, as I wine about this, im not sure what could have been done to make it better either.

Overall:
We'll, this is one of my favorites of the bunches I have reviewed so far. It's still not worth being notified as spectacular. But it has held my interest much longer than most. Im not going to lie, I'll probably play this again in a little bit.

Scott's Score: 70%

Wanna Play? Go Here.

http://www.yoyogames.com/games/launch/127

2007-07-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Penguin Adventure
Developer: Peterrab

Review

Gameplay:
Not the worst I've played. At least it actually functions correctly. Yet functioning can be an issue in itself when it's as dismal as this. I made it through about 7 levels before I got totally bored. In Penguin Adventure you are a (guess) penguin who swims to a whirlpool symbol and dodges sharks and snakes as you go. The sharks and fish go left and right and seem to have rock for brains. I basically just swam straight to the whirlpool every level. You can collect fish for points as you go which may interest you a bit. It does seem like there must be a decent number of levels to play through, which is good if you can make it. One day, I may reattempt.

Graphics:
Not absolutley dreadful, but compatible. Not anything to compliment, it's very bland to be honest. Though I doubt graphics were a very big concern for this game.

Sound:
Ok, I hate to be too negative on a game. I know when I first started making games, I hated it when people told me how bad it sucked, which I'm not saying this game does. It just needs some work. Now I'm going to be negative again. The music drove me mad. Nearly at least. For some reason the beginning of the background music is really distorted, after that, the music is pretty good for the game. But I may not forget that distorted sound for a while.

Control:
It works fine enough. You can manuever your pretty little penguin wherever you wan't him to go. No problems for me here.

Overall:
I'm not too down on this game. For an early (or mabey first) game, this isn't so bad. And ya know what? I think if it was built upon it might just appeal to some penguin loveing fellers out there. Just give it a while of work.

Scott's Score: 40%

Wanna Play? Go Here.

http://host-a.net/peterrab/Penguin%20Adventure.exe

2007-07-16T16:18:00.001-07:00

Astronomical Defense
Developer: ESENESES Games
Review

Gameplay:
Astronomical Defense looks a lot like asteroids graphically, although the gameplay is different. Instead of shooting asteroids, you dodge them by moving your mouse to move you ship. The control and collison detection work well, so you can sqeeze through all the tight spaces you sometimes get into very easily. The difficulty does increase throughout the levels, which is something I liked. At first it seemed as if I could just sit there and not get hit. Once a reached level 3 I started getting a good challenge going. I'm not exactly sure how many, but there seems to be alot of levels in the game. As you go on, the time you have to try to stay alive increases. I think the premise of the game was easy enough to get into and fits the style the game want's to present. The only big issue I have with the game is that there just isn't enough to keep it interesting. By level 14 I was really starting to get tired of dodging asteroids. It kind of felt like by level 10 the difficulty stopped getting much harder. One thing I do like though, is that when you do get bored, you can just enter the code on each level to resume from that level. That does manage to somewhat fix the issue a little bit.

Graphics:
Very similar to asteroids. Not detailed by any means at all, but I always just expect the graphics to fit the games style. And I think this games graphics work well enough for it. The ship being a white dot, could have something done with it though. A real ship would have been kind of neat.

Sound:
The music does match up with the frenzied movement you go through as you go into the game. It's not super duper, but it works. I was never bothered by it throughout my time.

Control:
Collision detection worked well and I could sqeeze through some pretty tight spaces without ever unfairly dieing. So I'd say the controls work quite well.

Overall:
If there were something to make this game more interesting for each level, it would have been better. In my opinion, this game might be fun to play again sometime. I has a high score table to continually try to beat your old scores, so I can see a little bit of replay value. It just really needs something.

Scott's Score: 60%

Wanna Play It? Go Here.

http://www.yoyogames.com/show/5920

2007-07-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Umbrella Action
Developer: Tom Russell
Review

Gameplay:
Let me just say this is one of the cutest little games I've ever played in while. Not the funnest in the world, but adorable just the same. Basically you are a potato of a man, that has an umbrella. It's actually a concept I kind of got into. The game gets points with me just because of how well the whole game manages to be so cute. Everything melds together pretty well. The games gameplay premise has you jumping from platforms and using you umbrella to destroy and block enemies. Its not super fun, but I found it entertaining for a while.

Graphics:
The graphics maintain the cutesy sort of appearance this game seems to be going for, so it definetely works for it. They aren't really appealing or anything, but they do work for the game.

Sound:
I wont lie to you...I think the music in this game is awesome. It perfectly suits the game in every way I think it should. If I start up an awards page someday (hint..hint) this'll probably win one of the sound awards in some way.

Control:
I don't know, I actually had some trouble with the controls. I never really felt like jumping seemed right. I fell and died alot, but mabey I just suck. The actual umbrella controls work fine, and collision detection works.

Overall:
It's hard not to love the cute factor of the game, and I think an improved sequal would be great as I found the idea of this game kind of fun. Still, it's a game you'll play once, and probably never again. Defenitely worth a try though.

Scott's Score: 60%

Wanna Play? Go here to download.

http://host-a.net/tomrussell/umbrellaaction.exe

2007-07-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Developer: manuel777
Review

Gameplay:
Although the graphics, which I get to in the (believe it or not) graphics section are a tad sad. This game kind of impressed me. One thing that needs to be pointed out is how smooth the action actually flows in the game. The action flows very well and doesn't feel like a big glitched filled game like a see alot in the world of indie. Now, that doesn't mean the game could'nt use some real work....like actually having star wars units in it. Instead of units, you have arrows for infantry and tanky shapes for tanks. You kind of feel like your a dot on radar from the graphics style. Which I'll be honest, I kind of liked. It felt different and interesting actually. That said, the game feels almost eeirly similar to Star Wars Battlefront. Which I think deserves some points in that fact alone. It has the same style of gameplay involving you going after control points and defending them. The action in the game is pretty frantic and fun. You can shoot a gun and throw grenades. The game even comes with a nifty little map editor for you.

Graphics:
Although it would have been very nice if there were actually Star Wars units in the game, I still think the style is different and catchy. I think the art style both deducts from the graphics, but also kind of scores some points for being original and making the game interesting.

Sound:
The lasers sound like the lasers from star wars, but alltogether there isnt much sound to speak of. Just a bunch of lasers, but it does keep a good feeling so its not so bad.

Control:
Sometimes the action can be so crazy that I found it hard to control my character. It works well for the most part, but crazy parts of battles can get unruly and throw you off course.

Overall:
This game is pretty cool I must admit. It could use some background music, and some good sprites, but for the most part I would say this is a great start for a game. As well as a pretty fun game in itself.

Scotts Score: 60%

Wanna Play? Go here to download.

http://www.savefile.com/files/730371

2007-07-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Two Bullets
Developer: ru5tudios
Review

Gameplay:
When I started up Two Bullets, I was greeted by a nice enough little title screen, although I'm not exactly sure if the credits work. Two Bullets is a multiplayer only game. It uses the widely used format of one guy on the arrow keys and another on the A,S,D,W keys to move. It's not the greatest control scheme, but without online, you'ld be hardpressed to make better. As I played this game I saw some potential for a decent enough game. It has all the stuff to be a fine game for few plays. The problem is, your character moves extremely slow. I believe that if this problem were addressed, it could be a much better game. You have weapons you buy on the fly of battle like you typical arsenal of knives and guns and the sort. The guns were kind of fun to shoot, but moving at a snails pace kind of ruined it.

Graphics:
I found them to be fine enough and unrepetitive. I'm pretty sure theres only one level in this game to fight in, so thats a little drab. Otherwise the graphics are just fine.

Sound:
This is actually something I don't see in alot of the indie games I play. Good sound. The music is actually kind of catchy, and with faster gameplay, could have really worked well with the game. Congrats.

Control:
Buying weapons in the midst of battle is kind of difficult to do and the overall controls could use some fine tuning. Yet this game playable as are all the games that use this sort of control scheme.

Overall:
With a little tuning this could be a fun enough game. Characters moving faster, more levels, better weapon selection are all wecome upgrades. As of the current state, it defienitly needs alot of work.

Scotts Score: 30%

Wanna Play? Download it here.

http://www.yoyogames.com/games/launch/6345

2007-07-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

Pokemon Obsidian
Developer: MMORPGguy

Preview

Pokemon Obsidian is a remake of the popular pokemon franchise being developed in game maker by Game Maker forums member MMORPGguy.There is no set release date yet, but you can see a preview image of the game below as well as visit the Pokemon Obsidian forums to take a look at some of the original pokemon to be in the game, as well as its progress. You may visit the forums at the link below.

http://z7.invisionfree.com/Pokemon_Obsidian/index.php?s=d41eda258765e1073fb31b2f03edd04f&act=idx

2007-07-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Dark Legions

Review

Gameplay:
Dark Legions starts out as any other RTS does. You have slaves and a keep (your base). You have to harvest recourses to build more buildings to build more units as well as upgrades for your units. Sounds like every other RTS out there doesn't it. Thats exactly what it is too, the same thing you've already played a million times. With that pointed out, there is some fun to be had with Dark Legions, since we know the same never actually gets TOO old. The actual fighting in the game is fun enough to watch. All of the units have damage modeling, so when they get hit, blood marks appear on them. I thought that was a nice touch. There really aren't many units to get though. There are supposed to be 18 in all. I used the swordsman, archers, priests, and calvary. The battle animations for these units aren't particularly detailed, but they work. The games actually pretty similar to Age of Empires, just with many less units. The enemy AI presented enough of a challenge to give me a run for my money. Although my army seemed pretty dull sometimes. There was actually one point my horsemen were getting the crap beat out of them and just stood there. Though that happened once in about an hour of playing. The campaign is alright and does have a story too it following the rise of big kings and the sort. I played through a few levels and got bored, but it does add some good replay value.

Graphics:
They are 3D, which is decent enough. The animations on the characters are pretty dull though. There are three environments to play in including snow, swamp and normal sort, and they all look fine. Collisions worked well though, and my units could squeeze through some pretty tight spaces, which I've seen problems with in alot of games. There are alot of configuration options to make this game very compatible with even very low end computers.

Sound:
Here is a spot I found an issue. There are no voices in the game, none of your soldiers speak or make noise, nothing. That tended to make the game world seem kind of empty for me. There really isn't anything special in the sound department for this game. You hear the wind blowing, which is kind of bland. Nothing real epic about this game.

Control:
Like I said before, collision detection works very well, and the old interface is easy to still use. Units do get crowded on the field, but thats always been a problem for RTS games. I really don't have anything to complain here.

Overall:
For twenty bucks, if your computers not so up-to-date, this could be enjoyable. The lack of unit types was a real bummer for me personally, but overall if you don't mind playing ANOTHER swords and arrows RTS it could be kind of fun. It's less than medicore at best.

Scott's Score: 55%

2007-07-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Escape From Paradise

Review

Gameplay:
Alright, so I'm the kind of guy who loves games that have a nuclear explosion every couple of seconds, so this game was already at a disadvantage with me, but I don't think it's the only reason I dont like it. Escape From Paradise starts you off customizing a boy or girl that get in a shipwreck on an island with a tiki dude that loves to help you and play boring mini games. Thats the just of the story. The actual game does have some depth to it. You can send yourself or your friend thats with you to gather wood, food, build things, ect. As you complete mini games for the tiki dude more of the island opens up and you gain more technologies to build to make your stay on the island a little less crappy. The first thing that set me off in this game, as I am not super patient with games, is how slow it is. Gathering recources is easy enough to go through, but building things is a different story. It takes forever! Prepare to go for a jog, cook some eggs, read the paper, or something as your people spend forever building a hut. It's a game and I shouldn't have to wait as long as I would in real life. This game sorta comes off as a Sims-sort-of-game. I love the Sims, so this game obviously isn't just bad because I'm impatient. There are a number of mini-games to play, and you unlock more as you go. The mini games all work, and some are fun enough. Like the rock toss game, but alot of them seemed really boring to me. I can see how with some people this game would have alot of replay value. Just not with me, or any other people without an iron patience.

Graphics:
The graphics are fine enough. You can customize your character to a few decent combinations. The island looks pretty repetitive to be honest, but nothing in the graphics department really turned me off or amazed me. Quite normal.

Sound:
There is no background music on an already boring island. It's as if this game just attempts to turn me off at every turn. The music on the title screen was fine, I just think they might as well have put it on the island too, so mabey I would perk up a bit. Nothing noticable in the sound department.

Control:
Moving around the island revolves around you dragging a direction to where you want you character to go, and what you want them to do. It makes moving around rather convienient I think. Really nothing wrong with the controls.

Overall:
I really don't see a whole lot of good in this game. It's just boring. If things went a little faster I still believe this game would have been pretty long, as there is alot of island stuff to do. Unfortunatley this game doesn't even get a near medicore score with me. I've played games from this publisher before, and they were much more fun and addictive. Simply not worth looking into, even for a really crappy computer as this game is meant for.

Scotts Score: 30%