Years ago, I stumbled upon an internet animation series called Xiao Xiao (also known as Stick Fighter); it was a neat little animation about stick people fighting in a grand martial arts battle. While not really the same, TikGames’ Stick Man Rescue brought a smile to my lips and reminded me that a game does not need to be graphics intensive to be fun*.
It is perhaps a sign of my growing grognard-itis that the biggest fault I can find with Dungeon Overlord is its location: Facebook. Put simply, this is a game that deserves so much better than to be stuck amongst the Farmville clones of the world.
I have mentioned in the past that for games similar to Dungeon Overlord’s construction, there needs to be a solid hook or gimmick to separate them from the pack. Right from the get-go, Dungeon Overlord serenades me with the unmistakable opening to In the Hall of the Mountain King”: classical music, good start. What follows is a sure-fire recipe for success: lava, tunnels, room building, monster recruiting, goblin minions that can be shocked into submission…
While my tastes tend to bend toward RTS, I also find the occasional Tactical RPGs fun to play. In some ways, engaging in these types of games is probably a subconscious desire to replicate the amount of fun I had playing one of my all-time favourite TRPG’s: X-Com: UFO Defense. Human Entertainment’s Vanguard Bandits does not really come close to that experience for me; however, it is definitely a fun romp that Mike Jackson’s favourite team, Monkey Paw, has seen fit to bring to North America – to the PS3 (from the PSN).
Shin’en Multimedia’s Nano Assault for the 3DS (published my Majesco) is what you get if you were to combine Starship Troopers with Inner Space*. Your mission is to pilot a small ship armed with lasers through a treacherous micro-verse (around and inside alien cell clusters) and destroy an out-of-control virus. Does this sound like a fun shoot-em-up? It should – because it is!
2012 is upon us! The Holiday season has been good to everyone – I’m sure that quite a number of gift cards exchanged hands, leaving our intrepid readers with some cash to spare. Here are some humble suggestions on what that i-money might be used for. We have three brief summaries: an RTS (of sorts), an educational interactive piece about soccer, and an art application.
Following hot on the heels of the recent dance craze, 505 Games has released Grease Dance for all major platforms (in various forms). As the name implies, it’s a spin-off on the popular 1978 movie by the same name. I was sent over the Kinect version to review which is arguably the best platform for this type of interactive gaming. That being said, this might not be the best example of Kinect game development.
In university, a few of us would gather around the computer and play Micro Machines (when we had finished our studies, of course). While driving simulators and arcade racers (based on actual racing – like Daytona) are each fun in their own right, the simplicity and fun of novelty racers (including kart racing games) cannot be overlooked. The tracks are typically shorter and there are usually entertaining power-ups to keep things interesting. Matches are easy to set up, and you can have more than the maximum number of players because everyone swaps out really quickly because matches don’t last very long.
Even now, in the age of more powerful machines and advanced physics engines, it is nice to just settle in and enjoy the mayhem of a novelty racer. Looking for a quick hit of unique fun? Then Creat Studios’ Smash Cars might be the fix you’re after.
There are a lot of sexy cowboys and cowgirls in this game.
Kat has been on an understandable hiatus for a while and decided to place dibs on this particular title. I could tell you what she has been up to and what she thought; but given her method of direct and entertaining communication, I figured I would just let her tell you herself…
I haven’t written a review in a long time because I had a kid; and seriously, it’s hard to hold a controller and a baby. I also really don’t want to drop the controller, because I’m sure as hell not letting go of my kid. However, now that my kid is getting bigger (and mostly sleeps and gives me some free time), I thought it would be a fun to review Game Mill Entertainment’s Country Dance 2 for Wii.
Oh brother.
I can’t believe that it is so close to Christmas! Where did the time go? Really – tell me. While you are coming up with theories, I will break down four neat little iOS titles that you might be interested in.
Puzzle games tend to be my downfall – in a good way. I have enjoyed solving all kinds of puzzles since I was a kid; the more obscure the puzzle, the more fun I have in the search for a solution. Tying in puzzle-play with a cinematic narrative is not a new concept. Traditional games that had limited 3D-rendered graphics (The 7th Guest or the Tex Murphy series, for instance) relied on a strong story coupled with puzzles that were challenging to give the user a worthy experience. Ubisoft’s 3DS title, James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes, struck me as being similar to those addictive games of the past, with a few differences.
