Clover.
Many times the question of whether video games can be considered a serious art form have come up, and many times people have thrown out examples like Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, and even the overrated Braid. Course, most of those people are talking about the look of the game, and completely missing the point, but that’s an argument for another article.
And in this respect, it’s quite possible that Clover will soon be associated with all of them. Check out the awesome watercolor look of the game- just wish we could see it in motion, as there is apparently some stunnning paralax. The game is being developed by Binary Tweed as one of the Xbox Community titles, and is said to play like one of the Dizzy games.
Set in a medieval world ruled by a monarchy with a welfare state, Clover tells the story of Sam, an adolescent teenager. Recently orphaned after his lone parent mother died in a shock attack on the proud nation of Sanha, Clover follows Sam’s journey of discovery as he explores the land and events surrounding his loss.
The game will hit this first quarter for 400 points (5 bucks), which sounds like a deal.
The Community Games side of the Xbox 360 needs a little more control over what gets allowed into the service, but there are some really great and innovative titles popping up. One of my favorite is In The Pit, an audio-only game that has you playing as a monster in a well that eats anyone unlucky enough to be dropped down, and there’s also ex-Insomniac Games employee Nathan Fouts’ Weapon of Choice, a fantastic side-scrolling shooter. Microsoft doesn’t really seem to be paying attention to much of what’s going on in this section of theirs, instead just dumping them out without warning. It’s a shame, because there are some really clever titles hidden in there. Let’s hope that Clover’s the next one.