Sorry I’m a day late, folks, I’m down with the sickness, as the kids say these days. Do they say that? I don’t know anything about the youngsters of the today.
In between my finishing Max Payne 3, Lollipop Chainsaw (GOTY candidates, both) and some other indie titles I teased last week, I haven’t played too much other than the fantastic Indie Underdog Pack(I mentioned this last week as a must-buy bundle of games), which continues to rock my world. I’ve also been playing the Agent Kendall titles on the Indie Marketplace, and loving them.
Let’s slide down the surface of two core games released this week on the XBOX Live Indie Marketplace.
Shit Taco Award:
Space Wars RTS is a bizarre game. The community ratings on this one have been steadily dropping the past couple days at a steady pace, which is good, as the game is complete bullshit. If the developers set out with the goal in mind to bore the shit out of the player, then they have succeeded. Massively buggy (music will just drop out completely for no reason, sound effects, too) design, no explanation of what the objectives of each level are, and only the ability to send your ships from point A to point B with no interaction between enemy or friendly ships (what enemy ships? In my time with the game, I never saw a single one).
For those of us who actually enjoy playing video games and enjoy taking part in an interactive narrative. I couldn’t recommend skipping this game more. Picking this one up is such a bad idea, you will regret it, I promise you. I thought Mambow was bad (fuck you, Mambow), but Space Wars RTS is a complete shitfest with almost no RTS elements.
Indie Darling:
Overdriven is a competent “bullet hell” (I hate that term) game that utilizes an anime aesthetic, awesome soundtrack and interesting mechanics to navigate through the levels. Run-on sentences aside, Overdriven works on every level, and even though I hate the genre, I found myself loving the game.
I especially dig how the developers worked in puzzle mechanics and a nice enemy variety, as opposed to just re-skinning enemies and throwing them at the player. The ship itself (Overdriven) also utilizes a nice array of weaponry. The soundtrack and sound effects are solid, and the game pumps by at a frenetic pace. The only bugaboo I have with the game is the price: 240 Microsoft Points (about three bucks). If you’re looking for a very competent indie title, intense gameplay and a solid experience overall, look no further.
That’s it, folks. I’m gonna’ go pop some pills and hallucinate for a little while.