Welcome to the first Indie Games round up of 2010! As I took a break from the site over Christmas there are twenty games in this round up so if you are still nursing a hangover sit back and check out the latest releases.
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Akujin is a top down shooter where you have a selection of weapons with different properties such as gravity and electricity, enemies are stronger and weaker against certain properties so you must destroy them with the right weapon. It is not a bad game and it is fun working out the weaknesses but I found it a little boring by the end of the trial. Akujin costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Along Came A Spider is a 2D physics platform where you play as a spider who must reach the end of each level via a series of webs. The game looks basic but it plays fairly well with the webs reacting to your character which you can jump, climb and attach your own web to help you progress. The game does cost 400 :MSPoints: which I feel may be a little too expensive for what it is, but it is worth checking out at least. More information can be found here and a trailer can be found below.
Battle Beat is a music based game where you can use guitars and drums to play the game. The aim is to defeat the wave of enemies by strumming the guitar with a button for the weapon type you want to use. I tried it on the guitar (did not have time for the drums) and it works very well and after a few levels I could see this being very fun. You can play this with a normal joypad but I think it does loose a bit of the fun. Well worth checking out with or without a instrument! Battle Beat costs 400 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here.
Concept Car Series 2010 is a racing game featuring 12 cars and 8 reversible tracks. The trial was a bit limited in choice of cars with just one so it was hard to judge the car handling which seemed very over responsive. The two tracks in the trial seemed fine and the opponent cars provided a decent challenge. I would have liked to have seen a few cars to choose from as I am not quite sure about this game. Concept Car Series 2010 costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
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Creed Arena is an arena style deathmatch game which can be played up to two players locally or up to eight players over Live. This game is very well put together with some great looking graphics and presentation. You can play in either a top down or first person view which works very well when dealing with certain enemies or using weapons. This game is great fun and the battles keep you very busy and a mention for the cool Crowd Rage feature 🙂 This is easily one game everyone should check out straight away! Creed Arena costs 400 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Cubism is a 3D puzzle game where you must rebuild a cube with the supplied jigsaw style pieces. The controls work well and the game feels just right, a simple idea but done very well. The trial limit was reached all too soon so I had another go 🙂 If you like puzzle games you must check this out! Cubism costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Elite Trivia is a quiz based board game which can be played with up to four players locally. Each player takes turns to move their pieces around the game board and answers a question to score points. There are over 5000 questions in the full game and from the ones I played in the trial they seemed to be fine. This game is also big buzzer compatible so if you have them you are good to go. Elite Trivia costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Firecracker HD is an application that lets you control your own firework display. The trial was very limited with just small fireworks to let off but they did look quite good. I am not sure how much fun you will get out of this one, there’s much better releases available for 80 :MSPoints:. More information can be found here.
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Full Contact Racing is a physics based racing game based on stock car racing. You can create your own races with objects to avoid, smash or jump over which with a bit of time designing could be quite fun as the game supports up to five players over Live, I think you would get bored of this quite soon in single player. Full Contact Racing costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here.
Gem Chase is action puzzle game in which you control an alien who must fly around the level collecting gems within a time limit. The graphics look nice and the controls work fairly well once you get used to the thrust like physics. I particularly liked the humorous speech from the alien when you hit the walls or collect a gem. Another game worth checking out. Gem Chase costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here and a trailer below.
Henway is a kind of frogger style game but in this game you control a Chicken who must avoid the traffic to reach the other side of the screen. The game mixes things up with obstacles but there is not much to this game. Henway costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here and a trailer below.
Jewelry Master Twinkle is a falling block puzzle game where you must connect the jewels and blocks together in a kind of mix between Tetris and Columns. It is an interesting game idea and has good presentation and graphics, a lot of fun to play and is worth checking out. Jewelry Master Twinkle costs 400 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here.
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Kaotik Puzzle is an up to two player local or online fast paced puzzle game where you must arrange blocks by rotating them to make a group of three or more. Presentation and graphics are done well and the game plays fine, it was fun playing against the CPU so against another human should be great, another game worth checking out. Kaotik Puzzle costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Mech Gladiator is a 3rd person shooter in which you control a Mech. There are three levels comprising of a few enemies and a boss which seems quite small as I completed the first level in the trial simply by running left/right and shooting. A game worth playing the trial for but unless you are a Mech fan I would give this a miss. Mech Gladiator costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Office Politics is a Sims style game in which you play the part of Jennifer who has started a new job in the office. You must perform daily office duties and keep an eye on your food and drink levels amongst other stats by eating food etc. The game seems interesting from what I played in the trial and is worth checking out as it looks to be done quite well. Office Politics costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
Oichokabu Online is the English version of the Japanese release last month. The game is apparently like baccarat where if the last digit of your cards total is larger than the dealer’s then you win double your wager. The winner is the one with the most money. I had no idea how to play the game so I will reserve judgement on this one. Oichokabu Online costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here.
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Pioneer is a part RPG part strategy game in which you must build an empire starting from just a village. The game plays like a adventure game where you explore the land fighting monsters and collecting supplies such as berries and wood which expands your village. The game looked quite interesting and has support for up to four players locally. Another game to check out although it does cost 400 :MSPoints:, more information can be found here and a trailer can be found below.
Speed is a fast paced card game for up to two players to see who can get rid of all their cards first. There is not much to this game but it could be fairly fun against another human if you do not have a deck of cards. Speed costs 80 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here.
Sumo is an arena style battle game for up to four players locally. It plays a like a twin stick shooter game with the graphics style and weapons to match. It was fairly fun playing against the CPU but the most fun as always is with some humans and if you have a few friends to play against this could be pretty good. Sumo costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here, a trailer can be found below.
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Toybox Racing is a racing game for up to four players set in a childs room. Graphics are fine but there were some frame rate issues. Also I could not find a CPU player to race against . I am not too sure if this is worth the 240 :MSPoints:, give it a try. More information can be found here and a trailer is below.
Twin Blades is a sidescrolling arcade slasher where you must defeat the enemies to upgrade your weapons at the end of each day. The graphics look great and the game is fun to play but it was getting a little repetitive by the end of the trial. It is however worth checking out as I would imagine the enemies vary more further into the game to match the weapons you can purchase. Twin Blades costs 240 :MSPoints: and more information can be found here and a trailer can be found below.
Titles that have received either a software update or price change are Alien Encounters, Astro Taxi, War Ships, Ultimate Arcade Chat Rooms, Wool, Colotristar, PushCrates, Planet Delta, Bomb Disposal Expert, Ikaroids, Rail Gun Charlie, Superspace and Avatar Aquarium.
Trailers for new releases can be found below:
[youtubegallery]
Akujin
Along Came a Spider
Battle Beat
Concept Car Series 2010
Creed Arena
Cubism
Elite Trivia
Gem Chase
Henway
Kaotik Puzzle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyIwaBHr90A
Mech Gladiator
Office Politics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDObq1SPlWQ
Pioneer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1yDyZag4LU
Sumo
Toybox Racing
Twin Blades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYi6_q-K5ps[/youtubegallery]
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