Outpost Kaloki X – Love Story DLC review

Welcome to our first DLC review! Love Story is a great addition to an already great game and is frankly a bargain at 200pts. It’s got almost as much play value as one of the original campaigns and extremely deep multiple branching paths and multiple endings. The gist of Love Story is basically, you have all kinds of girls after you as you go about your space station building. They all want you to do different things to make them happy, but making one girl happy may make another one become jealous and hate you. In other words, business as usual for most guys.  It’s the perfect length for replay value too as you try and get all the different endings and storylines for each of the girls. They could have easily sold this one for 300 pts and I’m hoping to see more downloadable campaigns like this in the future.

The Biggest Barrier – Getting traditional gamers to *TRY* indie games

We know there are gems in the indie world, but what stops people playing them? in my opinon, too much uninspired or cloned garbage out there. If you have trouble finding good games in the mainstream/AAA world, it’s even worse in the indie world. The signal to noise ratio difference is staggering. When there are good games, they often don’t get the mainstream press they deserve. Often a unique “out there” game gets lots of love from the critics, but is so far out of the mainstream that it often fails to bring in more attention from traditional gamers which is what the scene needs. Examples of this are Darwinia and Katamari Damacy, while the game cognoscenti (journalists and developers) love them, the average gamer does not while competent games that could cross the gap often don’t get the attention they deserve.  After all this was one of the reasons I got off my ass to create this site.

I think the various “points of attention” in the industry such as the portals, magazines etc could do a better job here.  However I’m getting off topic, this is how about how to get traditional gamers to try and indie game.  Usually when a traditional gamer hears about an indie or a casual game they usually think of one of the many shoot’em up or puzzle game knockoffs, or things like Uno. Usually the image of something half assed or done in Flash pops into mind as well. It isn’t compelling and for the most part they are right. For all the press that Katamari Damacy has gotten, it has been Line Rider that’s been the biggest hit with most of my gamer friends. This is an excellent example of a game with “crossover” potential.  Indie gamers (if we’re to be categorised) need to be exposing traditional gamers to games like these, or ones that innovate on familiar themes (such as Penumbra) to get their attention. Innovative concepts that are shallow or designed as 5 minute games does not. I see Microsoft struggling to promote XBox Live for example, one approach they are doing is promoting older games since they have brand recognition, however not enough is being done to promote their original offerings. The result is that your average gamer thinks XBL Arcade is only for old games or for shit games to put it bluntly. Nowhere is it more obvious when people message me whenever I am playing something from Live Arcade asking me “what is that game? ive never heard of it? Live Arcade?? ohhhh (I can then see them mentally discarding it as a shit game)”.   There are a lot of graphically polished turds both on XBL as well as in the PC arena, but Microsoft will take something that looks polished even if the gameplay itself is trite but at the same time if you have a good game but doesn’t meet their 1080p hi fidelity standards  you won’t have a shot, especially with the 50 meg limit. It’s understandable that they want both a polished delivery mechanism and a polished delivery channel but this excludes many potential games (for example Line Rider). I don’t think this is doing any favors for them in the long term.

Anyhow.. I hate for the solution to be a site plug but one of the goals for this site is to provide a list of games that any gamer can check out and be impressed by, not just indie gamers who are more supportive and optimistic for games that regular gamers would not have the patience for.

Streets of Rage Remake

This is getting awfully close to what I wanted to avoid talking about, classic games but there’s enough difference and “indie love” in the remake that it makes the cut. Streets of Rage is a classic scrolling beat’em up from the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive days that was created to compete with Final Fight initially and then Street Fighter 2 in the sequel. However contrary to Final Fight and many other scrolling beat’em ups of its time, SoR was never a mash-one-button pony. There are a staggering amount of moves, multiple combinations and grab moves, vaults, team up attacks, specials, back attacks and more. It’s simply the best scrolling beat’em up ever made being the only series to eclipse the granddaddy of them all Double Dragon.

The remake merges characters and stages from all three games in the series, introduces new moves and specials as well as new characters such as a redrawn and remixed SoR1 Adam in SoR2/3 style. The stages are all integrated so there is greater coherency in the journey to the final base with multiple paths and hidden stages depending on paths taken and enemies fought. There are multiple new endings just like in the original SoR games as well as completely new fantastic looking art and additional game modes like volleyball and survival. It all adds up to be one big long love letter from fans who grew up and never forgot the impact the series had on them when they were kids.  This game would be fantastic on XBL Arcade or any console’s online arcade marketplace actually, if Sega would pay these guys for their hard work and make it official. There were always rumours of a SoR 4 but it got stuck in development hell and eventually killed, this about as good as a real sequel the fans have wanted and deserved to get anyway.

 aaaaaaaand…. it’s free http://www.bombergames.net/sorr.htm

Penumbra

Penumbra is mostly a survival horror game, but because of the degree of interactivity with the world and heavy “puzzle content” and adventure elements, I prefer to think of it as an adventure game. The unique thing about Penumbra is in the way you interact with the world, everything is physics enabled and a lot of the game logic and design revolves around “real logic” as a result. For example to open a door you literally click on it and pull it aside, instead of going through a draconian combination of 8 items to get something on top of a shelf, you can pull the shelf out of the way, knock the item off with an object, or make an impromptu staircase out of a series of boxes. If something is chasing you, you can barricade a door and set up a trap or utilise any # of solutions that are possible within the game world. As a result the game feels less of a game where you are figuring out the designer’s whims as with most games, and more of a physical environment that you are moving around in.

There isn’t much in the way of combat, it’s quite creepy and you can be done with it in a night. It’s another one of those short but sweet games. At the time of writing, the team which started the project while they were still at university have apparently been funded to produce three full episodes (Penumbra ends rather ubruptly when you hit the end of the tech demo). There is really nothing like this in the AAA arena yet and this is a shining example of when developers take full advantage of the indie freedom to innovate and makes you glad that we even have indie game development in the first place.

 More info here – http://penumbra-overture.com/index.htm

Download the original prototype episode here free. http://www.download.com/Penumbra/3000-7504_4-10536435.html

Line Rider

This has got to be one of the best spontaneous ideas ever, and it was probably scrawled on a napkin. It’s so good that even though it’s a Flash game I feel compelled to include it. The concept is simple, draw a line, and the rider will “ride” on it. This results in all kinds of physics related shenanigans and can be taken to ridiculous extremes.

You can play it for free for now. http://www.official-linerider.com/play.html . However it’s so good that Nintendo hired the creator to port it to Wii and DS.

Super Cosplay War Ultra

Fighting games usually aren’t found on the PC, not the best ones anyway. Once upon a time we did play the likes of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2 Turbo on PC with keyboard controls. Anyone remember the original version of Mugen used for a homebrewed “clone” of Street Fighter and all the hacked versions that followed? how about Body Blows? Super Fighter? Sango Fighter? well.. I digress. These days “keyboard fighters” are still being made but not commercially, instead they are the realm of “doujin fighters” which is japanese for fan made fighting games.

Super Cosplay War Ultra is arguably the best one I’ve played. Essentially it is a a juiced up version of Pocket Fighter with a more advanced fighting engine (air dash!) where the characters are cosplayers or parodies of cosplayer stereotypes with moves where they’ll transform into their favourite characters (bad costumes included). There are references galore to both games and anime everywhere both in the characters as well as the backgrounds. The endboss is also particularly hilarious with both jabs at cosplay and a parody/homage of “SNK boss syndrome”. The game is very polished with 3D particle effects and tight controls. Amazingly it’s free. If only because it’d be kind of hard to sell it uh… anywhere.

Get it here. http://a030032098.myweb.hinet.net/2004scwu_indexjp/2004scwu_indexjp.htm

Missing

This is a rare gem, an old school adventure game and by old school I mean like those old Shareware gems you used to find. Not Sierra or Lucasarts, think indepedent like Hugo’s House of Horrors,  or except with the ICOM adventure style like Shadowgate and Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

 You uh.. “Guide an ex-cop in search of his missing wife and child in an old English inn through the mysteries in his way. “. Thank you official website! It’s a very atmospheric adventure that can be beaten in a few hours, a night or a rainy afternoon. Unlike most adventures, the puzzles and solutions are fairly straightforward with a creepy but enthralling story that holds your attention the hold time. I doubt anyone will be able to put this down once they’ve started and chances are you will probably start and beat it in the same session, then put it away like a good book. Tiny old school sized download (will fit on a floppy, remember those days?), but big fun.

 Price is my favourite. Free.  http://studioeres.com/games/

Facade

Okay.. maybe not *every* game will appeal to today’s hardcore gamer (the type that only plays FPS/RTS/MMOs) but this is one for old school hardcore gamers. The kind that played EVERYTHING (Yeeeeeaaah *ahem*). It’s an adventure game…. kinda, well not really. Um. okay. The best way to describe Facade is an interactive one act soap opera. You literally get plunged into an apartment with primtive graphics and hand drawn cutouts with a couple who are your friends.. but are having relationship issues themselves. Can you say social tension? The coolest part of the game is that you say anything to them by typing. It’s kind of like a real time text adventure. You can side with either of them, try to get them back together/not get them together/ throw stuff around the apartment / just leave. It’s up to you. It’s as close to “interactive drama” as anyone’s ever… well bothered.

At the time of writing, this is kinda old now but still worth mentioning. The developers themselves bill the game as an “interactive screenplay” but there are several discrete paths that can be taken. When you finish each session the game will generate a “script” / screenplay of your session too. You won’t be playing it for very long, probably not more than a night but it will leave a lasting impression and for once this is a game you can show a non gamer (in particular females) and have them immediately drawn in regardless of whether they’ve played video games in the past.

 Oh and the price is the best you can get. Free. http://www.interactivestory.net/

Small Arms

Essentially this is the XBox answer to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros and it’s not half bad. If you only own an XBox and no Nintendo system whatsoever and like playing Smash Bros, this is your game. Small Arms is Smash Bros with guns, except a little less polished. I could describe the game but there’s a youtube video that does it better.

This is a very cool game that any FPS “Hardcore gamer” should check out. However it isn’t without it’s flaws, right from the beginning you get a pretty cool critter (the art quality is up there with Conker) running along with a big gun and jumping with matrix esque camera moves (without the bullet time) and you think “Wow, this could be something special” and it almost is. *Almost*. 

Problems – The single player is very unpolished and looks like it was thrown in as an afterthought. Its essentially one match after another with more opponents being thrown in afterwards. Some trash talking story mode stuff between characters could have made this a little more special. The level design also leaves something to be desired, there are some levels that play extremely well and others like the train level that are just frustrating with characters ending up off screen unable to recover. The AI is also really.. random. It’s hard to put one’s finger on it, but it’s just not any fun to fight against. Basically for me, I have a strong bias towards single player and story based games, if the game grabs me in single player i.e. Outpost Kaloki, you can pretty much guarantee I’ll buy it. This is the only thing that stopped me from actually splashing out 800 pts. The characters are also pretty random, there is no consitent universe for them to all exist in, it’s just a random grab bag and you won’t really care for them outside of their looks.

However this game more than makes up for the rest in multiplayer (up to 4 players on the one local machine too is a plus). This is where the game shines. It is just as good as Smash Bros, you might think that everyone having guns would make things pretty stupid but the ranged combat is balanced out by weapons depleting quickly and the game being more focused on constantly replenishing your weapons or ammo and keeps everyone moving.  The game works a lot better with human flaws to contend with vs AI i.e. the AI is very perfect in that it never falls down the holes for example. The problem with multiplayer is that essentially the four characters you get in the demo are more than enough, and the extra characters are never really fleshed out enough for you to want more than the demo characters, their uniqueness wears off once you start running around picking up other weapons anyway.

Bottom line is that this is a really fun game that you can do with only having just the demo. That’s also it’s greatest weakness in that there’s no reason to actually buy for anything other than online play, and a game like Smash Bros works best when everyone’s in the same room at the same time. It’s so close to being a classic that I can’t help maybe it was the 50 meg limit that did them in, or they just ran out of time. With a bit more polish this could have been a must buy as the production value is definitely there. However, if I ever get a free 800 pts anywhere, this one’s first on my list to unlock.

For more info – http://www.smallarmsgame.com/

Outpost Kaloki X

This is probably the coolest game you can download on XBL Arcade. It’s a management sim / tycoon game lite for the console only with compelling addictive gameplay, several story modes to keep you going (each with their own unique mechanics) and no spreadsheets for you to stare at.  The main gist of the game is that you manage an space outpost that you expand by building additional features i.e. chem labs, burger joints, power generators etc.  Simplified Sim City in a nut shell.

Outpost Kaloki X is one of those games like Civilisation where you’ll jump on just to “play for a bit”, even for a 10-15 minute scenario, screw it up, do “one more turn” and before you know it hours have gone by.  A lot of sim games in the past will set you up with arbitary challenges such as “reach coal age by 1935″ or “build 10 crystal meth labs and then crush them all with police bulldozers”. They are usually detached from the main game and there’s never any compelling reason to actually do them unless you are supremely confident in your micromanagement ability or are just bored. It’s also the reason why those games are often only fun in sandbox mode with all the money cheats on. Not so with Outpost Kaloki, each scenario is tied into the story giving you a compelling reason to keep going i.e. “we need this outpost to be a money printing machine” while in the next scenario it’s “okay we spent your money, now we need you to build an outpost that can entertain the troops we just bought”. Each scenario has you working with a different type of base with a different end of the tech tree or focus. It avoids the most common mistake of a lot of management sim games and even RTS in that you are almost never repeating exactly what you did in previous scenarios and keeps you wanting to see what you’ll get next. Player progression is paced perfectly here.

Ninjabee have also created, in my opinion the finest example of how you do downloadable content. There are a bunch of free scenarios that extend your play after you’ve beaten the story modes or if you just feel like playing a stand alone challenge but there are also additional downloadable story mode campaigns and standalone missions that come at a measly premium price (200 or 100 premium pts) that offer whole new art and mechanics that you haven’t seen before (currently there is a love story, as well as one invoving the gods). If they wish they can literally extend the game “episodically” and continue to make money with microtransactions with content that won’t feel like you’re being nickle and dimed for things that should have came free, but literally “more game” to play. It’s definitely cheaper than developing a new game from scratch at least.

Oh before I forget, it’s also the finest example I’ve seen of how to do a trial on XBLArcade. It’s starting to become a trend for games that let you play further into the game but just disabling the save function to encourage you to buy it if you like it. Outpost Kaloki is naturally addictive and has enough depth (even for a sim-lite) game that a “quick play” turned into over an hour by the time I was at mission 4 of the adventure story, and I knew I was hooked and had to pony up. It’s a trend I like and encourages developers to create games they think will stand up to long term play and gameplay that they are confident in but it also has it’s drawbacks. The drawback for this type of trial is that if your game is naturally shallow then you will expose it for what it is in the demo, and a gamer will get too much out of the demo and it won’t be sufficient enough for them to buy. There are games that fail at this miserably. You’d have to weigh the risk and your knowledge of your own game and assess whether you have enough gameplay or additional elements that will convert someone trialing your game to a purchase.

Currently Outpost Kaloki X is a steal at roughly $10 (800 pts), there is just as much single player gameplay for your money as many full priced titles, and when you’re done there’s downloadable content to spend your leftover points on. At $10 it’s also half the price of the PC version that doesn’t have the option for additional content (including the combat mechanics you get in “war story”), it’s a steal by comparison.  Stop reading this and go check this out NOW.

To learn more – http://www.ninjabee.com/okx.html