Dustforce

Dustforce is a new downloadable platformer, from Hitbox Team, that was swept onto your Steam platform on January 17th.  The game challenges you to make the levels spotless and continue your combo until the end, competing for scores and times on the online leaderboards.  Last’s year’s demo certainly created a lot of buzz, but will the full game clean up, or just get left on the shelf to collect dust?

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Dead Island : Bloodbath Arena

Dead Island went viral with it’s first trailer and created it’s own zombie apocalypse of interest.  I remained a skeptic, even with the release of gameplay footage and more juicy details.  After playing the game, I ended up eating my words quicker than the zombies of Hanoi chowed down on the unsuspecting tourists–it’s a fantastic game and a thrill ride I’m glad I didn’t miss.  In November of 2011, the first piece of DLC, Bloodbath Arena, finally became available for the game.  If you pre-ordered the game, or received a Collector’s Edition, than you received the DLC free, all other players could snag it for a mere $9.99.  Is it worth the time, or will it leave you feeling like a zombie?

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Trine 2

If you haven’t already checked out our preview of Trine 2, click

here, and I will try not to repeat myself.  Trine 2 is the follow up release to 2009′s dazzling puzzle platformer, Trine.  The game pits the player in control of a mage, a knight and an assassin, brought together by a mystical artifact and thrust into combining their strengths in the hopes of saving a kingdom.  Wouldn’t you know it, trouble seems to have found a way to return, and the Trine once again calls it’s chosen warriors to save the day.  Does Trine 2 measure up to the success of it’s breakout hit first iteration?  Or will it just leave you puzzled? Read more

Lord of the Rings: War in the North

The Lord of the Rings games have been a little hit and miss. Older games, like the attempt to make an RPG out of Fellowship of the Ring, were pretty poor attempts to get fans of the series to cough up their money. The movies brought on another bad Fellowship game, but they also brought us the Two Towers and Return of the King action games, which were fairly good.

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Dark Souls

Make no mistake about it. If you play Dark Souls, you will die. Not just one time, or five times, or even twenty times. You will probably die so many times you will lose count. Even the game’s website is www.PrepareToDie.com. Despite being a very punishing game, it is equally rewarding and offers an amazing experience to those with a decent dose of patience.

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Game of Thrones: Genesis

So lets say you’ve been watching the Game of Thrones television series and thought to yourself, “that would be an awesome video game”. It seems like the most obvious thing in the whole world. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess this probably isn’t the game you are looking for. I understand that’s a large generalization and for some, this game might be incredible and fun and all that good stuff. For us other people, you’re going to find an drab real time strategy game with some good ideas and a few nagging issues.

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Eufloria

There are certain games which just tend to relax the player. You find yourself losing track of time, settling back to enjoy the ambience. Sure, there is enough of a game there to keep you interested, but it’s not even really the main attraction. The art style, music and pacing are what really draw you in as a gamer.

Anyone who has played Flower knows exactly what I mean. The gameplay is not what made so many people a fan of that game. After all, using the six access controls to move the breeze around never really felt extremely crisp, at least not to me. I didn’t care, however, as the art and styling of the levels kept me coming back for more.

Eufloria is that type of game. Simple yet beautiful art work and great atmospheric music make it easy to lose yourself in its simplistic design. I just never thought I’d be saying that about an RTS.

Real Time Strategy Meets Relaxation

No, you did not read that wrong. Eufloria is a Real Time Strategy game. That is not the kind of game you generally think about when you think of ambient atmospheres,but that is just what you have here. The game is the PSN version of the indie PC game Dyson with expanded levels and music. Question is, how in the world do you create a relaxing RTS?

You start with a deceptively simple premise: you control a group of seedlings, or organic ships, which are trying to colonize asteroids. In order to form colonies, if you want to call them that, you must sacrifice ten seedling ships to create Dyson trees, which will in turn create more seedlings. As these seedlings form, you are given the option to move on to the next asteroid or plant more trees on the current one, up to the maximum limit. Capturing more asteroids will not only give you more chances to build your fleet of seedlings, it will also give you access to more distant asteroids, as your seedlings can only fly so far without being able to slingshot off another asteroid. In most levels, you advance once you control all the asteroids in the level.

It does not take long, however, before you begin to run into resistance. Your first battles will be with the grays, seedlings which have seemed to lose their way and now attack you. As you progress, you will run across enemy seedlings as well, and defeating them will unlock all sorts of new abilities for you, including the ability to create defensive trees and plant beacon plants which can automatically direct newly created seedlings from one asteroid to travel to another.

So you have the basics for an RTS, but where does the relaxation come in? Well, the first thing you will notice is the art style is not what you would generally expect from a game of this genre. The graphics actually take on an artistic appeal which is, for lack of a better way to put it, easy on the eyes. As you continue to colonize an area and build your forces, you will not be able to ignore how fluid and downright elegant everything is. The music just adds to this overall relaxing feel, presenting an ambient, almost soothing atmosphere in which it becomes rather easy to lose yourself as a gamer. I have passed many a stage with no clue of how long I took beating it until I saw the time tally at the end.

So, if Eufloria works so hard to be such an atmospheric experience, it must not be that deep of an RTS, right? Well, while it will not rival the intense strategy of StarCraft or challenge the very way you look at the genre like Achron, you will find there is a little more to this game then meets the eye.

Hidden Depth

I have seen some reviews of Eufloria in which the writer states all you have to do to win each confrontation is build overwhelming numbers of seedlings and perform what would be this game’s equivalent of the StarCraft “Zerg rush.” While this is not entirely untrue, it is unfair to paint that as the only strategy for beating the game.

Not long into the storyline, you will run across seedlings which are really difficult to overcome. The reason for this is seedlings will take on the characteristics of the asteroid from which they are grown. Each asteroid is rated on three different attributes: energy, strength and speed. Energy determines the health a seedling has, strength the amount of damage it can do and speed how fast it can move. Well, when you are trying to attack several seedlings which have high strength and energy, you can find yourself loosing even if you do severely outnumber the enemy.

So how do you combat this? One way is choosing just what seedlings you send into battle. When you select an asteroid from which you will launch your forces, you can choose to send primarily those with greater strength, energy or speed, making it easier to choose the proper attackers for the proper job. Another way is to try an capture better asteroids so you can build stronger fleets of seedlings. As each asteroid has a cap of seedlings it will produce (set to ten times the number of trees which can be planted on it), you can choose to mass forces on weaker asteroids so you can make sure to have your stronger ones continue to produce units.

There is one other thing you can do once you unlock the ability. At the cost of seedlings, you can “teraform” and asteroid to increase one of its attributes. For example, if you have an asteroid which has high strength and speed but low energy, you can plant a flower to change the asteroid and sacrifice up to 100 seedlings to improve that attribute, meaning the seedlings grown from that asteroid will be truly formidable.

This is just the start. As you gain more abilities, you will have flowers you can pluck from your Dyson trees which can create either Dyson or defensive trees and ones you can pluck from the defensive trees to form mines (think orbital defense platforms as opposed to what we would normally think of as mines). These give you even more options to use in your conquest.

So you have a decently deep RTS combined with ambient atmosphere to create something truly unique in gaming. Only one question remains.

Does It Work?

Eufloria attempts to do something which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been done before: create a real time strategy game which is as relaxing as it is deep. So does it succeed?

The short answer would be yes, though not entirely. While it is true that there is a fair amount of strategy buried in the game, it is also true that the “Zerg rush” tactic generally works best. Granted, you cannot just rely on overwhelming numbers; some levels will require you to be very intentional in both how you divide your forces and what asteroids you choose to claim first, but in the end you will find yourself more often than not relying on having more seedlings than the enemy can deal with.

That being said, Eufloria manages to be a great palate cleanser. If you are looking for a game unlike any you have played recently to kind of break up the monotony, you will probably find this one fits the bill. Add the skirmish levels and a much more difficult dark matter level which you can unlock, and you will find more than enough here to justify the purchase. Eufloria gets a 4 out of 5.

Orcs Must Die!

Every now and again a developer will make an attempt to blend two game genres and capture the audience of both.  Most times, the result is met with mixed or poor reviews.  Once in a while, as in the case of FPS/RTS blend, NUclear Dawn, a developer is able to pull off this blend with amazing results.  Robot Entertainment’s latest project, Orcs Must Die!, marks another attempt to mate separate genres.  With it’s blend of tower defense and action-rpg elements will Orcs Must Die! succeed where others have failed, or will it be as much fun as throwing yourself onto one of the game’s clever spike traps?

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RAGE [Updated]

This review is for the Xbox 360 version of the game.

I have to say I honestly wasn’t paying much attention to Rage before it was released. I knew that it had the potential to be a great game but I was a little skeptical due to the fact that we just got over the Borderlands high as well as Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Both of these post-apocalyptic shooters did the setting great. I knew Rage could be on par with both of those games but could it do it better?

Rage is a very interesting game. I think if it had come out before the other two games I mentioned then I wouldn’t be so jaded but Rage doesn’t do anything new except look freaking amazing. Stop and look at the scenery is the first thing any player will want to do as they emerge from the underground. It’s absolutely beautiful. I think it’s safe to say that Rage may be the best looking shooter on the 360 but it is also hindered by it’s texture pop-in. If you stop to look around you’ll notice the final textures popping in and it’s kind of annoying. There are times when I would stop to look at the city skyscrapers and they all look plain as if the textures are still loading. It’s dissapointing because Rage is a game that you actually want to stop and look at when your driving/walking through it.

Rage is not an RPG. There is no experience and there are only minor upgrades to armor and weapons. Most of the loot you pick up (which is scarce compared to Fallout and Borderlands) you will use to either build stuff or use to sell and make money. Part of me wishes it was an RPG to give me the thrill of upgrading and leveling up. Rage is not a very open game either. Basically it is a shooter in which you drive to each level. There is no exploring. While there is the occasional side mission it is a very linear game. Linearity is not a bad thing, you just have to get used to the fact that this is not like what you would expect from a game that is “open world”. When you are not working on a mission you are in Wellspring or Subway Town stocking up on ammo. You’ll want to buy a lot of ammo because you won’t find much during missions and some missions can get pretty long. Enemies take a full clip or more to take down as well. Another thing you’ll want to remember is to save often. I mean, save all the time. If you don’t get in the habit of saving often you will be kicking yourself later. Saving can be your worst enemy. While I am thankful Rage has the “save anywhere” feature it doesn’t have enough auto-save points. It only saves when the game has to load an area. More than a few times I’ve had to play missions over again from the start because I forgot to save and ended up dying at the end. This is very frustrating.

While I may have a lot of negative things to say about Rage the game is awesome. The enemy AI is very impressive and the menus are a breeze to navigate which is great. The main thing is that Rage is fun and having fun is the most important thing for me when playing a game. Sure, maybe it’s not what we expect from a post-apocalyptic shooter but it’s nice to see a developer taking a different approach. If I want something more like Borderlands then I’ll just wait for Borderlands 2 to come out next year. I can honestly say that I think Rage is worth $50-$60. There is no reason not to pick this up if you enjoy Borderlands and Fallout. Is it a game of the year contender? Probably not. Is it a great game? Yes, definitely.

*[UPDATE]* – I had a chance to sit down and play the Legends of the Wasteland cooperative missions and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy them. Not only do they give you a behind-the-scenes look to some of the stories of the wasteland they are also very fun and well put together. Basically you play through a mission with a friend, if you die you can revive yourself with your defibrillator. You can do this twice but if you die a third time your partner has to come and revive you. If you both run out of defibrillators and die at the same time then you have to start the level over from the very beginning. I have to admit these levels were a little challenging and we found ourselves restarting them a handful of times. I love the fact that Id Software took the time to include splitscreen co-op. I think more games need to do this. There is also the option to play it with a friend over Live. Overall, the Legends of the Wasteland missions are a great addition to the main campaign and I highly suggest playing through them with friend.

Nuclear Dawn

This is a heavy fall for multiplayer shooters, for both console and PC platform players.  I guess it’s somewhat ironic, with this being a PC only game and all of the “PC Gaming is dead” nonsense floating around, that this PC shooter is set in a post-apocalyptic world.  If you somehow missed my preview or developer interview with InterWave Studios, the team behind Nuclear Dawn, then follow those links!  In the meantime, I got some time with the full game for my review, so let’s see if this is game is truly “da bomb” or just radioactive fallout.

The Story

The Third World War started on January the 22nd, 2040. Hot on the heels of am economic and social golden age of nanotechnological marvels, it was fought with devastating ninth generation nuclear warheads that scorched the earth and sky, nanite plagues that stripped entire cities bare, and machines of destruction whose uncompromising ferocity defied the most perverted imagination.

The Nuclear Dawn wiped the slate clean with the wonders and marvels of mankind’s greatest achievements, and reduced the world we know to crumbling ash and ruin. In 2049, the war still rages on, as the tattered remnants of humanity flock either to the blue flag of the Consortium, or to the red standards of the Empire.

I couldn’t transcribe a better description of the game’s story, than the one written by InterWave, so I posted their’s above.  The two warring factions, the Empire and the Consortium, are a mirror of the Democracy vs. Communist themes of the Cold War.  With the Consortium fighting on the side of freedom, and lacking numbers, it also adds a bit of the colonists vs Britain element.  Either way, you must choose between the hell-bent domination attitude of the Empire or the revolutionaries of the Consortium.

The Gameplay

I definitely appreciate the lengths that InterWave went through to create a lore and backdrop for the game, but the story is just that.  It need not take away from the fantastic multiplayer action of the game.  I’ve already written about the game before, so I won’t waste time mincing words–the gameplay is extremely tight already and InterWave is committed to making it better post-release.  Each team has one Commander, who has the ability to build structures on the battlefield with an RTS mechanic.  The Commander can build forward spawn points, defensive turrets/structures and resources for troops to heal and replenish their supplies.  All other players fight it our in up to 32 person FPS matches, in an attempt to wipe the other team out.  You can choose one of 4 classes, each with a variety of pre-made weapon kits.  Both an Assault class or a Stealth class can wield a sniper rifle, and Support class members can be either medics or engineers; the variety is awesome and adds to the strategy of the game.  The classes have a good rock paper scissors mechanic to them-Stealth can backstab the Exos effectively, Exos can deal tons of damage to structures/personnel, etc.  Assaults can use a thermal vision to ferret out cloaked Stealth class players.  All of this plays out over 6 maps, and, as in any multiplayer game, is best when you use teamwork and have strong teammates at your disposal.

The Verdict

Scoring this game is a tough call for me, I love the game but I have to remain partial.  Nuclear Dawn achieves everything it sets out to do, and achieves it to a high standard.  On the other hand, it contains six maps and only one game mode, for a launch price of $24.99.  I can think of a couple other multiplayer games that offer more content at a lower price.  That being said, the gameplay is revolutionary, the team is rigorously dedicated to patching and balancing the game, and there are more maps and game modes promised.  From my experience playing the game, it’s a really strong multiplayer experience, and an easy 4-Star rating.  Although, knowing that there are parts of the game that will be added later, as much as I love the game, I settled on a 3.5 Star rating.  Buying the game this early seems more of an investment than a purchase—you are getting part of a really awesome game, and having to wait for the rest of it’s features.  Nuclear Dawn is a great game at a great price, but it does leave you wanting a bit more.  I think it will be a more complete package after the updates hit.  If you have any doubts or preconceived notions about how well RTS and FPS elements blend, then allow me to put them to rest, the game plays extremely well.  You can tell that it was programmed by gamers for gamers, who knew how to intermingle those elements.  The learning curve for being a Commander can be a bit daunting, with failures being much more center-stage than a mediocre K/D ratio, but working with a team that has a great Commander is just poetry in motion.  I have really enjoyed this game so far, and I can’t wait to see what InterWave Studios will be adding to it with their planned major updates.  Sign up on Steam and report to your Commander!