Hit it or Quit it?
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| Year: 2012 -- Developer: Daniel Steger -- Publisher: XBLIG |
First impression:
All I know so far is the screen is showing me a bunch of differently designed pumpkins. Probably starting with a blank pumpkin, and using stencils or hand drawn "cut outs" to design how you want it to look. I'm not expecting this to last long, but maybe it will at least be a little fun!
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Fooled around for: 3 Minutes (Not even worth pushing the 7 minute limit)
Well, that was disappointing, even for having really low expectations. There's no date in the credits, so I'm not sure if this is just so old, he didn't think to do anything more with it, or he just didn't. There was no "carving" at all. It was just:
-- Move the cursor to either: Left Eye, Right Eye, Nose, Mouth
-- Pick a pre-designed piece
-- Repeat
I was hoping for some hand-drawn carving, being able to put the stencils where you wanted, change the size or shape of the pumpkin, turn the candle inside on or off.. SOMETHING! There was nothing. Being the trial, you could only pick the first three choices of any feature. That's fine though, because you can't do anything with them anyways. There could have been "save/load". There could have been "Use this as your gamer picture".
The only options past the limited pumpkin "carving" was to turn the background ghosts and fog off. Woo. Oh, and change between different "creepy" soundtracks.
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Hit it or Quit it? (80 MSP)
With even one of the afore-mentioned features, it might be worth even a buck. As it is, no. Quit it. In his defense, maybe it's his first "game", maybe it was a school project. Who knows. I just know he's not getting my dollar. In case that wasn't clear, again, Quit it.
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Hit it or Quit it?
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| Year: 2012 -- Developer: BandanaGames -- Publisher: XBLIG |
First impression:
It can only get better from here, right? I sure hope so. This is another randomly-found Indie Game though, so it could really go either way. If this is worse than Pumpkin Carver though, I'm not sure I'm even going to be able to continue today.
So far, it's just holding on a title screen, with a picture of some emo little lady and the Press Start thing. And the music is creepy. Not "real" creepy. Just you know it's supposed to be creepy. But it's abrasive and annoying. Just not balanced well. Maybe I should turn the lights off and set the mood...
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Fooled around for: 7 minutes (Indie Game Demo Limit)
I can at least say this was better than Pumpkin Carver. It turns out it's a screen-by-screen "text" adventure game. On each screen, each of the four button causes an action. The story is that you are summoned by your distant aunt to come stay the night and find her at her mansion, and you will receive her inheritence. Totally normal, right?
Then, as I mentioned, you just go screen by screen and try to find your way through the house, surrounding areas, puzzles, etc. It was pretty "easy" and straightforward so far. There was one death from trying to take something from the dog. Nice to know you can die, but a little worrysome for getting later in the game. It looks like you should be able to save though. Probably a tough game to pick back up later and know where you left off though.
The only really graphics or animation was the background changing as you went from room to room. Not much, but at least it's something, considering the type of game. This could easily be converted to text-only and not need anything. Unfortunately, the music that would be the only other thing to experience was almost non-existent. Even a little bit would have helped set more mood. There were sound effects for some actions though, which was nice too.
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Hit it or Quit it? (80 MSP)
I was actually pretty engaged by the time the timer shut it down. I was getting anxious as I knew the time was approaching. I almost thought about running through again, trying to get further in the 7 minutes, but I won't. The game seems simple enough so far, it would be fun enough to just see how the rest of it turned out. I probably wouldn't pay any more than a buck, but for a buck, I might actually buy this and finish it up! Hit it and make it Halloween Scream (the likely one sitting it would take to finish it, at least)!
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Hit it or Quit it?
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| Year: 2012 -- Developer: EXOR Studios -- Publisher: Cyberfront Corporation |
First impression:
Being an XBLA Game, there's actually a demo video to watch. Looks like a top-down driving game. Drive around and take out zombies. That sounds like some Halloween fun! Well, it's not really Halloween-y.. just Zombies.. but like I said, it was tough finding actual Halloween games!
I'm a little concerned it may be tricky controlling it, or the cameras may be weird or something. Huge bosses.. Missles.. Explosions.. Flamethrowers.. Could certainly be interesting. Let's see how it actually plays out!
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Fooled around for: ~25 Minutes (and still had at least another level in the demo to play)
Pretty big demo.. Two hefty levels, and a third I still could have played. I would guess that would be that last one though. Overall, definitely could even just play the demo again and get something out of it!
As for the game, it is indeed a top-down driving game, where you just mow down bunches and bunches of zombies. It's like a mix of Carmageddon and Grand Theft Auto. Each level has a primary objective and a secondary objective. As you complete them, you earn upgrades you can buy for the various cars you are collecting throughout the game. It looks like it won't even just be "oh, new car, never use the old one" since they have different stats for different missions, and even different passenger limits, for when you have to rescue people.
The story is that you are stuck in the city, but the military isn't allowed to come in, so they are directing you to give them a hand. You complete stuff, they buff you. You can also destroy fences, cars, etc, and earn more cash for buying upgrades.
The graphics are really nice, everything looks super good. The zombies splatter nicely. The only thing is that the view is pretty high out so you can see a lot, but it makes everything pretty small. It can be hard to see where all the zombies are sometimes.
As I was worried, it's a little difficult to control, since you are trying to pinpoint your driving to run into zombies. When you have to clear out the 100 in the area, it can get a little frustrating that you just barely missed a couple of them, then you have to reverse, try to hit them, miss, turn around, etc. The weapons are also hard to aim because they just shoot forward, but you can't just turn the car without actually driving forward.
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Hit it or Quit it? (800 MSP)
Controls aside, the aesthetics and feeling of the game are great. I love the idea, and even playing it some. I just don't know if I have the patience for the controls. For the 10 bucks I could spend on this, I could get something else on my Buy list that will probably fit me a little better. It looks like there might be a pretty hefty amount of game underneath all of this though. I don't know if I have been quite in this predicament yet. I want to Hit it, I just don't want to pay that much. I'm not sure how that rates. I guess I'd Hit it, with reservations, but I wouldn't pay for it...? hm. At least I can just play the demo again!
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Hit it or Quit it?
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| Year: 2012 -- Developer: Doublesix -- Publisher: Square Enix |
First impression:
I'm interested to see that Square Enix is tied to this. Just as publisher, but still a decent sign, since they wouldn't want to publish garbage. No video on this one, but the screens suggest a co-op run around and shoot things kind of game. I'm wondering if it will give me CPU allies, or if I will just be on my own. Looks like upgrades, and weapons and zombies. Maybe even kind of like Zombie Driver, except more "friendly" looking.. and not in a car.
The music on the title screen is pretty darn awesome though. Funky spooky with a little rock guitar in there.. Maybe a good sign for the feeling of the rest of the game. Sounds like a TV show theme..
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Fooled around for: ~15 minutes
It was indeed somewhat similar to Zombie Driver and to my guesses in general. It doesn't fill in AI allies, but that's fine. The setting is definitely a lot more humor oriented than ZD. ZD was super serious and swearing and realism. This game reminds me of Grabbed by the Ghoulies. I don't think I played much of it, but it's a similar art style.
It also has twin-stick elements. You move with LS, aim with RS and just take out zombies. The best part right off the bat is just punching the zombies to death. Especially when four of them are just right in front of you want you are wailing on them. Looks pretty hilarious, but also very satisfying.
Then you talk to the robot gate, they tell you to find a shotgun and kill a bunch of zombies. Then it will let you through. Shotgun is, of course, awesome. I'm guessing there will be a bunch of weapons, a bunch of zombie types, and a bunch of humor throughout the rest of the game. Considering this could be the end of the world, or at least of just you, the game is somehow still lighthearted about it.
My biggest problem was that in the second stage, I don't know if it was a glitch, or my RB not working (it seems to be on the fritz), but I just couldn't get my shotgun back out. It was supposed to be the Switch Weapon button, but it just wouldn't trigger. I will have to check my button in another game, but I'm pretty sure it still works, I just have to press it harder. I tried that several times and it still didn't do anything. This caused me to get run over by zombies and I was sad.
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Hit it or Quit it? (800 MSP)
For the same $10 I could have spent on Zombie Driver, I would much rather get this. This one will actually end up on my To-Buy list. I am super interested in the rest of the humor this game presents, and also to just mow down zombies with a bunch of weapons. I enjoy twin-stick shooting way more than car-shooting. Hit it, while I make Zombie Driver watch.
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Final Note:
So, that's my Halloween Extravaganza! It definitely started more Halloween-y than it finished, but whatever. Zombies are close enough. Also, I could have used these games to help fill out the rest of the week, but oh well. There are plenty of games to play, it's just trying to find the time to fit them in! I wonder if there will be any Thanksgiving games to do for that next holiday...
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