Finally. Finally, finally, finally getting to write a blog post for this game.
Jamestown is a historical fiction bullet hell flight sim that combines the legendary adventure of the American frontier in the 1600's with steam-punk flying ships, trains, and cyborgs. Unfortunately the Spanish have allied with the malevolent Martians, causing only more problems for the English settlers. I know what you're asking yourself: How could this NOT be amazing?
The answer is that it IS amazing! Fast paced. Scary bosses. Awesome music. There's just so much to love. There aren't very many levels, but there are many difficulties, ships, as well as challenges to keep you busy. Also there's a DLC that I do no own, so I guess I can't vouch for it. But I do know that this was one of the games that really sold the indie game movement for me. The premise is just so weird. It's short. It's inexpensive. It would never have been made by a major company. Yet here it is, and I love it.
A Virus Named TOM was created by indie studio Misfits Attic, a husband and wife duo, which is completely adorable and awesome. However, I still think this game stunk.
Let me elaborate. It's your standard action puzzler. There's a cute story and swell, futuristic, art, but those things aside, I just felt really bored after about 10 minutes of playing it. Each level is constrained to such a small board where the solution is either blatantly obvious or (as more mechanics are introduced) so obscured that it comes down more to trial and error than anything else. It was very infrequent that I really felt like I was really solving a puzzle or having an "Ah ha!" moment.
Maybe it's just not my kind of game, but I think this title would be better suited to a mobile format for easy pick-up and put-down-ness. Playing straight through on my PC got old really quick. Video of play through below.
This weekend my wife and I were talking about The Future. Long story short, I'm going to start a regularly scheduled show on my stream! This show will be Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8pm to 10pm (Mountain time. That's 7pm to 9pm Pacific). The format of the show will be as follows.
Tuesday: I will pick a game that I received through a Humble Bundle and start playing it on my stream. I will have made an effort to go into it as blind as I can without any prior knowledge or opinions about the game. I'll provide as much charming commentary and observation as possible. Audience participation is greatly encouraged.
Wednesday: I'll do my homework about the game. Who made it? How was it received critically? Did it win any awards? Were there any scandals in production or afterward?
Thursday: We'll dive into the game for another two hours, this time armed with all kinds of context. I will again provide as much charming commentary and observation as possible. Audience participation will again be greatly encouraged.
Friday/Saturday: I'll write up an analysis/review of the game and put it here on the site.
Fun, right!? I'm very excited to get started, and Humble Indie Bundle 11 was released this morning. We're going live with Antichamber tonight! See you then! :D
Diablo III: Well, I got this for free with the WoW Annual Contract. In a word, Diablo III is OK. It's really fun the first time through, but the repetition is very rough over time (this is coming from a WoW player). Playing as a new class didn't seem to help that either. There was a huge fiasco about connectivity on launch day, but I didn't really care about that. I stayed in the hospital that night for a sleep study. Ha! This game is still pretty fun with friends and Blizzard's made some positive content updates. Still no PvP though....
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Not out yet! There's a release date for march though, so not much longer to wait. I'm in the beta and that is a lot of fun. They've made some good changes and I'm excited to see how the eSports scene evolves. Can't wait for the campaign either.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria: Excellent. It really is. I haven't played too much of it because I decided I needed to quit WoW to focus on other things, but the new content is fantastic and there's more on the way.
Mass Effect 3: Yeah, I never played it. Whoops!
DOTA2/Blizzard DOTA: DOTA 2 is pretty good. Really hard though. I've never been that good at MOBA games in the first place. Blizzard DOTA is still a work in progress. I've heard rumors that they're going to put more effort into it once Heart of the Swarm is released and out of the way.
Awesome indie games that came out this year: Um. I'm going to have to look these up. Ok...I haven't actually played any. I have Dustforce which is supposed to be really good but I haven't played it yet. Torchlight II is supposed to be great but I played enough Diablo to scratch that itch. I hear Journey is awesome but I don't have a PS3. I dropped the ball here this year.
And I did get and play more of all the games I mentioned at the end there. I have Bastion (and it's on iOS for only 99 cents now) as well as Trine 2. Both are great. I've gotten more Skyrim in but haven't gotten any of the DLC. The excitement on those keeps dying before it becomes available on PC. And Mass Effect...I think I spent a couple of minutes in there somewhere.
All in all it's been a great year in games. Video games continue to outsell movies and the eSports scene continues to grow in America and around the world. My Mom is still addicted to Angry Birds. If I can ever get my Dad to play Starcraft, all my Christmas wishes will have come true.
I'll bust out Anticipation: 2013 in a bit. Spoiler alert: Heart of the Swarm will be on that list too. I'll put together a most-enjoyed of 2012 as well.
If you were ever a fan of platform games (i.e. Mario, Sonic, and/or Donkey Kong Country), you absolutely want to give Trine (and, I assume, its new sequel) a shot. I'll skip over the story and just say that in Trine, you control either a Thief, a Knight, or a Mage that all have different abilities/specialties. Using these three (and switching them out as often as you like), you make your way through very detailed and gorgeous levels filled with platforms, monsters, pits, and all the good stuff. It's very puzzle-oriented as well, so there's a lot more to it than just getting from the left side of the screen to the right as fast as you can.
The soundtrack has a great fantasy vibe that is simply enchanting (I'll post a track/game play video at the at the bottom). There's really not that much more to say, if you want a great game with lots of interesting game play and virtually no learning curve, this is your game! Pick it up on Steam or try the demo (download required for the demo!).
I'm currently out of town, so this and Monday's post were written well in advance and may be kind of short.
I'd be crying too.
Today I'm showing The Binding of Isaac, a simple yet engaging adaptation of the story of Isaac and Abraham from the book of Genesis. I said the game was engaging. Two other pretty effective terms would be gruesome and sacrilegious, however, despite that (or if you prefer, because of that) it makes for a fun premise for a game. In this version, Isaac's fanatical mother hears the voice of God telling her that she must kill Isaac as a test of faith. Isaac, in turn, runs and jumps into the basement to hide. Unfortunately for Isaac, the basement is full of legitimately terrifying monsters. You aid Issac in going deeper and deeper into the basement to escape.
You see, there's this dungeon, with monsters in it...
Gameplay wise, the easiest way to describe it is a mix between the dungeons from the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES and with dual sticks for controls (one for movement, one for the direction that you're firing). Dungeons with about 10 rooms and 2 bosses are randomly generated and include a huge assortment of possible upgrades and power-ups that help to keep the game fresh. Binding of Isaac was made by Team Meat, the same guys behind Super Meat Boy, and they decided to keep the art direction the same: simple, cartoony, and effective...with a bit more cartoon blood than is necessary.
Soundtrack cover art.
And I know I've said it about every Humble Bundle game I've written about, but there's a musical consideration here as well. The soundtrack is very effective overall (i.e. it's really creepy), but one song, called Sacrificial, stands out as one catchy tune.
You can pick up Binding of Issac on Steam for only $5 (the soundtrack is only $1 more: worth it). You can also check out a demo here. It just occurred to me that I should be rating these games that I talk about/review. As I've yet to decide on a static rubric, I'm going to give The Binding of Isaac 3.5 teardrops out of five. To end, here's the aforementioned creepy but catchy song from the soundtrack.
Last time in Humble Bundle Acquisitions, We talked about VVVVVV. Today we'll be discussing Machinarium.
Machinarium is a sweet, point and click, puzzle game about a little robot who apparently gets bullied a lot. Your job is to help him put himself back together, cross bridges, break out of the jails, and save his friend. It's a lot like the Monkey Island series but with a lot less pirates and much better art.
Speaking of the art, this game is gorgeous. The entire game is hand-drawn in pen and ink. And the soundtrack is spectacular. One of the songs is on my top 25 most played on my iPod. There's so many charming and well-done things about this game, you should stop reading and just play the demo here. Then you should pick it up for PC, Mac, or even on your iPad! The computer version is $10 and comes with the soundtrack, which is worth it for the soundtrack alone. It's $4.99 on iTunes.
Here are two of my favorites from the soundtrack. Enjoy!
Okay, it looks like every website on the internet, including CNN, has a list of most-anticipated games for the coming year. Granted, CNN's kind of sucks, but I've decided to make one myself.
So, I present to you, in no particular order, Games Mike Wants to Play Next Year:
Diablo III. This is the first game I've actually preordered. I'm super excited for this one.
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. I love me some SC2. Granted, I'm skeptical that it'll come out in 2012, but I'm betting it'll be out by Christmas.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Yes, I'm excited for the Pandas. And the Pokemon thing. Cata has been kind of a flop, but that hasn't stopped me from having a good time. I'm hoping that the renewed focus on endgame content will perk things back up.
Hmm...those are definitely the big ones. What else is coming out in 2012? Again, I don't have any consoles, so my list will be somewhat restricted.
Mass Effect 3. I do need a FPS fix every now and then. I admit I still need to finish ME2, but . Mass Effect 3 comes out in March, right in the middle of the semester, so I'll have time for ME2 before the Steam sale in July.
DOTA 2/Blizzard Dota. I never really got into the first Dota because of the rumors about the community (i.e. everyone was rude and terrible). But I'm excited to give it another try. My take on the relationship between the two will have to wait for another post.
Whatever awesome indie games are coming out in the next year! Which of course leads me to...
There are five things to know about a Humble Bundle. (1) You get awesome independently-made games that you can play on any computer (PC, Mac, or Lenix). (2) You get to name the price. (3) Part (or all, you decide) of the money you pay is split between two charities, the American Red Cross and Child's Play. (4) The games are all DRM free, meaning you can install them as much as you want without ever having to worry about copyright issues. (5) They make very silly trailers that are always fun to watch. Sample:
As stated, you can pay as much or as little as you like. Some people (buttheads) will just pay 1 cent. However, they're offset by some of the higher donors. The highest donation in the last bundle was $16,000! Plus, there's always an incentive to pay above the average like soundtracks or extra games. As a result of this, I have about 20 in my Steam library that deserve a lot more attention than I've given them. I have decided to start a regular feature highlighting games I've received from these bundles. I'll kick it off today with VVVVVV.
VVVVVV is a side-scrolling puzzle game about scientists who get lost in another dimension...! It's also the only game I've gotten from a Humble Bundle that I've managed to get all the way through. It's fun, easy to pick up and put down in short intervals, and very challenging. It also boasts a fantastic retro soundtrack. The soundtrack is so awesome, it costs twice as much as the game (seriously). The soundtrack is so awesome, it actually made my one-year-old nephew stop crying bloody murder and burst into dance. Gameplay trailer here:
Feel free to pick it up on Steam (currently on sale for only $1.24 until January 2nd) or the author's website. Soundtrack here.
Finally. Finally, finally, finally getting to write a blog post for this game.
