Home Blog Page 4180

Laike’s PC Download Deals 11/17/2013

Jamie Laike Tsui
-
0
Laike’s PC Download Deals 11/17/2013

gmg-indie-love

The edition’s best deal is Greenman Gaming’s Indie Love Sale. The sale provides three different prices for each indie game with 100% of the profits going to the developer. The sale prices range from 25 – 75% off. If you aren’t sure where to start, I highly recommend picking up To The Moon, The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy, Reus, and Awesomenauts.

 

greenman-gaming-banner

This week’s 20% off coupon is GMG20-ODON7-FLUA7. Give it a try, you might just get an extra 20% off the price of your game!

Use the voucher code GMG25-C8FGA-VFPGI to get 25% off the discounted price of the following new releases:

gamersgate-banner

amazon-banner

steam-banner

getgames-banner

indiegamestand-banner

gamestop-banner

Aussie Indie ToyBox Labs Releasing Flowmo for the iPad

Zac Elawar
-
0
Aussie Indie ToyBox Labs Releasing Flowmo for the iPad

flowmo-03

Peter Budziszewski – former Harmonix and L.A. Noire developer – has started a two man studio operating out of a small apartment in Newtown, NSW called ToyBox Labs. Their first title, flowmo, will be available for the iPad November 21.

flowmo is described as a “unique, meditative experience” that relishes its artistic aura. Inspired by games such as Proteus and Journey for their strong sense of discovery, atmosphere and emotion, flowmo also incorporates musical elements that bolster the abstract, minimalistic narrative design. flowmo tells the story of the universe through interaction with coloured particles and the resulting atmosphere created by said music. Events on screen are synced to the music, and as the universes becomes more complex, so to does the mechanical possibilities. Experimentation is key as you use the flow of particles to investigate present forces in the ever expanding space.

flowmo-01

Features include:

  • Full multitouch support, up to 11 fingers
  • Quick and responsive interactions
  • Pinch-to-zoom to view the universe at different scales once it has fully expanded
  • Complex world which follows its own laws of physics
  • All interactions emerge from these laws and are not hard-coded
  • Chaotic system with emergent behaviour
  • Try to create behaviours which have never been seen before!
  • Discover the forces governing the universe through interaction and exploration

flowmo-02

The transcendental journey of discovery and exploration that is flowmo will cost $2.99, with a lite version for iPhone currently in development. Check it out come November 21.

Cardfight Vanguard licensed by Hanabee

Luke Halliday
-
0
Cardfight Vanguard licensed by Hanabee

cardfight-vanguard-01
Hanabee have officially announced the acquisition of Cardfight Vanguard, the popular shonen anime based upon the card-game of the same name from Bushiroad.

Fans of the series will be pleased to know that Hanabee have acquired all 65 episodes of the Cardfight Vanguard anime series and plan to release it with both Japanese and English language dub tracks. The series will be released on DVD format only. The first part will comprise of the first 13 episodes – it will be the first of many parts released that will cover the entire 65 episode series.

At the moment no release date has been locked in by Hanabee for Cardfight Vanguard. Stay tuned for further details on Hanabee’s release of Cardfight Vanguard as it comes to light.

Resogun Review

Joe Morgan
-
2
Resogun Review

resogun-boxart-01

Resogun
Developer: Housemarque
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 4 (Reviewed)
Release Date: November 15, 2013
Install Size: 460 MB (PlayStation 4)
Price: $14.99 – Available Here

Overview
Every console launch needs a handful of games to keep the early adopters happy with their purchase decision. Housemarque, creators of the PlayStation 3’s Super Stardust HD, have been called in by Sony to create that sort of experience for PlayStation 4 owners. Heralded as one of the strongest must-have titles of the PlayStation 4, Housemarque and Resogun have some big shoes to fill. How does the game stand up? Does it live up to the hype or is it stardust in the wind?

resogun-screenshot-01

Gameplay
Through and through, Resogun is your quintessential shoot ’em up. It’s been completely engineered from the ground up to satisfy the masses as the video game industry enters a new era. At its core, it’s a two dimensional, twin stick shoot ’em up. You’ll fly up, down, left, and right, taking out foes and racking up your score.

One of the twists that makes Resogun so unique is in the fact that its two-dimensional gameplay is actually cylindrical. You will, indeed, fly left and right, but if you keep going you’ll eventually wind back around on yourself. You can see virtually the entire playfield at once. This gives you a great sense of presence, letting you see the enemies and obstacles just around the bend. It also lets you fire around the cylinder to take out foes.

resogun-screenshot-02

To call the game a twin-stick shooter feels like a bit of a misnomer. While it’s technically accurate, the right stick really only registers whether you’re shooting to your left or right. You’ve got to be quick and accurate on your maneuverability to get the right positioning for the attack. It takes some getting used to, but quickly feels fluid and accurate.

Housemarque made some unique design choices with Resogun that pay tremendous dividends. First, each level has 10 humans trapped in boxes that you can try to rescue for bonuses. As you’re fighting the normal enemies, “guardians” will appear. Taking out all of the guardians will let one of the humans out of their cage. You’ll have to rush to snag them, but picking them up and taking them to safety always gets you some sort of bonus – shields, weapon power-ups, points, extra lives, and so on. Saving all 10 humans on each level can prove quite difficult, but it’s an endeavor well worth your effort and quite gratifying.

resogun-screenshot-05

Each level is set up in three basic phases. In each phase, you’ll have a set of enemies to take out while saving humans and powering yourself up. Each phase gets progressively harder, with wider, more difficult enemy variety. Phase three will always finish off with a level boss that will have you dodging bullets and zipping around the entire tube for the best shot. The bosses provide fantastic challenge, but the cost of failure is high. It can take a few minutes to get to them, and a loss means completely playing the stage over again. Beating them, though, causes an “armageddon” where everything in the world sort of explodes into pixels. It’s beautiful to see and presents a great payoff for your hard work.

As you play through the levels, you’ll earn a score multiplier. Each enemy kill will give you a little more added on. You have to stay on the ball, though, as a temporary lapse in the killing will reset your multiplier. You also have to rush around and collect green particles, which actually amount to your score. It keeps the tensions high and keeps you in the action if you’re working for a high score.

resogun-screenshot-04

On top of your standard left/right cannon, you can earn a couple of other unique ways out of sticky situations. The one most familiar is a bomb. Using one of these bad boys will send a massive shockwave around the cylinder, destroying everything in its path. You can also earn an “overdrive”, which turns your cannon into, effectively, a giant flame of plasma destroying everything it crosses, including bullets. Finally, you can use a boost to both jet out of a sticky situation and take out anything you hit on the way. They all provide a visually impressive, unique twist to the gameplay.

At five levels, the campaign itself isn’t terribly long. You can usually play through a level in around 10 minutes. Increased difficulty or failure can increase that, obviously, but you’ll want to come back time and time again even after finishing all of the levels. The game is rich replayability, giving players loads of trophies and high scores to chase. The euphoric game loop of destroy and survive will keep you engaged as well.

resogun-screenshot-03

Visuals & Audio
Obviously, folks expect a “next-generation” launch title to look impressive. Resogun does not disappoint to that effect. The game is full of bright, vibrant enemies and effects. The look and feel are fantastic, with fun enemy design, unique bosses, and intense eye candy as the everything in the world explodes. In fact, so much can be going on at one time that you can lose yourself in the fray, quite literally, causing a death you could have otherwise easily avoided. The bottom line, though, is that the game looks jaw-dropping in motion.

Resogun‘s sound design delivers just as you’d hope it would. The soundtrack is packed with techno-driven themes that perfectly compliment the shots and explosions on screen. Utilizing the controller for the occasional audio cue was also a brilliant, well implemented touch.

Overall
Resogun is a fantastic game. It’s easy to pick up and play quickly, but provides enough challenge and depth to keep you coming back for quite a while. The game looks fantastic and the sound is catchy and engaging. If you own a PlayStation 4, there’s absolutely no reason to pass this game by. The game even launched free for PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you own a PlayStation 4 and you haven’t already done so, go get Resogun immediately.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Don’t Shoot Yourself Review

Matthew Vella
-
0
Don’t Shoot Yourself Review

dont-shoot-yourself-icon

Don’t Shoot Yourself
Developer:  Silverware Games
Publisher: Ayopa Games
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed),  iPad, iPod Touch, Android
Release Date: 13/11/2013
Price: $0.99 (Available Here)

Overview

Don’t Shoot Yourself may seem like common sense, but there’s nothing common about this game. Don’t Shoot Yourself is an interesting concept, taking bullet storm-style gameplay and flipping it on it’s head. Packed with creativity, pick-up-and-play controls, plenty of content and an iTunes description that includes the phrase “no IAPs” (thank god!), Don’t Shoot Yourself has a lot going for it. Ultimately however, it’s held back by what it aims to be – a shallow, simple, casual title with no goal in mind but to help you waste time. But hey, what’s wrong with that?

dont-shoot-yourself-1

Gameplay

Gameplay is simple with pick-up-and-play controls, similar to a game like Asteroids. Players move their little spaceship thingy with the right hand side of the screen (or left if your left handed, the developers were kind enough to think of you) and that’s about it. Every time you move however a bullet is shot out behind you. These bullets bounce off surfaces and it’s your job to do what you should also try to do in real life: to not shoot yourself. There are 100 bullets, and once all of them are gone, a special magic bullet is released that will free you from the level. Letting go will reload the ship/whatever it is for some reason, so this means your finger must be on the screen at all times. This isn’t always a good thing of coarse, as it can occasionally get uncomfortable. The game can occasionally get a little buggy and controls aren’t always responsive. However, the gameplay remains enjoyable, with swift action that requires tactics and strategy. Other features include “boss” levels, an “infinite” mode and a star system for skipping levels are also in place, so while gameplay can quickly feel repetitive, at least the developers attempted at switching it up. Sadly, gameplay never gets much deeper than that, so while there are plenty of levels – 50 to be exact, it all results in being more or less the same. The game also has a strong focus on social media sharing, with replays available to be shared with friends after every match. If for some odd reason you’d want to, that is. I should also make mention the game lacks a decent tutorial, and as a result the controls can be a little confusing until you get the hang of things. Hopefully we can see an improvement on this in a future update.

Dont-shoot-yourself-2

Audio & Visual

Visuals? Take a look at one of these screenshots. That’s the visuals. What you see is what you get here with a simple friendly approach. Colourful backgrounds help the white pop and adds to the polished presentation. The soundtrack has the provides the right atmosphere to set the tone of the game, but unfortunately sounds of low quality, like it needs to be clearer and has room for improvement. A nice touch included is when players let go the music will change to signal the fact they are reloading bullets. So while the visuals in Don’t Shoot Yourself are quite superb, the audio while decent is lacking a little in quality and the developers haven’t unleashed it’s full potential.

dont-shoot-yourself-3

Overall

Don’t Shoot Yourself is a mixed bag. On one hand the concept is fun, presentation while basic, works and there is plenty of content available. Furthermore it has plenty of small bells and whistles to add to it such as the option to play left handed, the ability to skip levels and more. On the other hand however, controls aren’t always as responsive as you’d like them to be at times, the soundtrack feels lacking in quality and gameplay can get a bit repetitive. That being said Don’t Shoot Yourself accomplishes what it sets out to do and while this reviewer feels it ultimately remains as a repetitive, shallow experience perhaps others may disagree. If you’re really considering picking up this title, just get a look of the trailer embedded below because honestly – what you see is what you get. On the bright side though – no in-app purchasing, so that’s a plus!

6-5-capsules-out-of-10

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Disney Infinity: Toy Story in Space Review

Andrew Day
-
0
Disney Infinity: Toy Story in Space Review

disney-infinity-toy-story-screenshot-01

 

Disney Infinity: Toy Story in Space
Developer: Disney
Publisher: Disney
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PS3, Wii U, 3DS, iPad
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $39.99 – Available Here

Overview

When Disney Infinity launched, it came included with three Play Sets to enjoy; The Incredibles, Pirates of the Caribbean and Monsters U. In addition, two more Play Sets were available for purchase in the form of Cars and The Lone Ranger. Now, Disney have given us the last, and easily the best set of them all – Toy Story in Space. Toy Story in Space is a well designed, enjoyable experience that Disney Infinity owners should definitely not miss.

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-04

 

Story

Toy Story in Space features Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the rest of the crew from Andy’s bedroom as they work together as official Rangers of Star Command in order to help out the Pizza Planet Aliens get started on their new homeworld. The story is fun and all of the characters are well presented, but there is a sense of confusion in the story telling. In one sentence they will be official members of Star Command and in the next Hamm is explaining how he read all of Andy’s textbooks as he grew up. However at most times they are presented as actual rangers of Star Command and not toys being played with.

The lack of emphasis on the toy aspect of the characters, it can be a little jarring if you are a fan of the films (and really, who isn’t?) and with Disney Infinity’s strong focus on being a digital representation of the imagination and fun of a child at play, having the Toy Story crew NOT be presented as toys feels like a hugely missed opportunity, not to mention going against a lot of what the characters stand for. While there is a very worthwhile payoff at the end, for most of the campaign, I found myself wanting to scream “YOU. ARE. A. TOY!”

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-05

 

Gameplay

The gameplay for Toy Story in Space is very similar to the other Disney Infinity Play Sets by drawing inspiration from popular games and genres to create a well rounded experience for players of all ages. Toy Story in Space is a mixture of third person shooter and an old school platformer.

You will complete different missions given to you by various members of the Toy Story Universe. The missions are separated into three main categories; exploration, town building and space ranger training. Exploration-style missions will have you traveling over Toy Story of Terror’s impressively sized map. As you gain more packs, you will gain access to more of the game’s map. Occasionally you will be told the locations of various crates, the contents of which allows you to progress to the town building portion of the game.

The plot revolves around designing and populating this town for the planet to the aliens to inhabit, so as such it is a big part of many missions. After calling down some ground panels, you will have to scale the now-floating platforms to reach a self-assembly button at the top. Once you have made the ground, you can purchase pre-built buildings from the Toy Store and place them. These buildings once placed will usually offer you more missions to complete; such as the costume shop for decorating your aliens, and the Space Ranger Training Center.

The Space Ranger Training Center houses the Play Sets’ primary missions. There are a tonne of missions with pre-built gauntlets to charge through. These gauntlets will contain Zerg-Bots and other enemies for you to vanquish and points to collect. Once you have compeltey a mission, you will be able to go back and complete it again whenever you choose. This gives the Play Set a lot more replayability than previous Play Sets.

Much like the other Toy Boxes, Toy Story in Space offers players a wide array of additional toys and packs to use in the Toy Box mode. Finally, players have access to the Grow and Shrink Rays as well as Buzz Lightyear’s wings. These toys offer a heap of versatility and alternate ways to play and create that can completely change everything.

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-08

 

Visuals

Being effectively an expansion pack, Toy Story in Space follows the same art direction and style as the rest of Disney Infinity. The characters have all been redesigned from their film appearances to better fit the game’s aesthetic. However, the art style of the game has allowed all of the characters to feel like they always looked the way they do. The art style also allows the characters from Toy Story to fit in perfectly with the rest of the Infinity roster.

One part of the visuals that really do stand out are the settings and locations. The space setting leads itself to a lot of interesting visual quirks. Bright colours, especially blues, purples, greens and oranges litter the world and really give it that intergalactic feel.

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-09

 

Audio

Sadly, many of the voices that you know and love from the Toy Story film franchise don’t make an appearance here, with notable exceptions being Wallace Shawn (Rex), John Ratzenberger (Hamm) and Andrew Stanton (Emperor Zerg). However, while the replacements are not quite pitch perfect replacements for the original actors that gave life to these characters, sometimes it can be really hard to tell them apart. This is especially true for Stephen Stanton’s Buzz Lightyear, who at times I could swear black and blue that it was Tim Allen.

The sound effects and background music are all for the most part really well done and fit in well with the rest of the Disney Infinity Play Sets. However, if there is one downside to the audio it is the Pizza Planet Aliens. Even though they have always been designed to be annoying, they often take it way beyond tolerable here. Having an alien in its high pitched, grating voice constantly asking you to fulfill its lifelong fantasy of catching a ball while you are trying to make your way up a set of moving panels gets really distracting and downright frustrating.

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-07

 

Extras

Toy Story in Space comes pre-included with everything you need to round up the crew and save the Pizza Planet Aliens from their own incompetence. You will get the Play Set Piece, which when placed on the Infinity Base will allow you access to the Play Set. In addition, you get two of the three playable characters; Buzz and Jessie. Buzz and Jessie are excellently crafted and painted so as to retain all of their individual character traits and appearances, as well as fitting them in with the rest of the Disney Infinity collection. Jessie, Violet Parr and Holly Shiftwell all stand side-by side and look like they belong together.

toy-story-in-space-screenshot-01

 

Overall

As the last of the currently announced Play Sets, Toy Story in Space definitely does its job well. The gameplay is a lot of fun, and many of the missions feel tighter and better designed than the other sets in the series. While the lack of focus on the characters being Toys is disappointing for the franchise as well as feeling like a missed opportunity, the characters themselves retain the same actions and mannerisms as their film-counterparts. So if you are a fan of the Andy’s Bedroom Gang or are looking for a great next installment to your Disney Infinity collection, then Toy Story in Space is goes to Infinity… and beyond!

 

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Deadfall Adventures has been released

Joshua Moris
-
0
Deadfall Adventures has been released

Deadfall-Adventures-Art-Maya-01

Nordic Games and The Farm 51 are excited to announce that Deadfall Adventures has officially been released today. Treasure hunters everywhere will now be able to experience the epic story of protagonist James Lee Quartermain (great grandson to Allen Quartermain). Prepare to embark on a death-defying adventure full of mystery as the idea of Atlantis becomes not so crazy when the undead wake from their slumber. And if the rising dead don’t stop you, you can surely bet the Nazis or Russians will play their hand in snatching your acquired artifacts.

Along with the release, Nordic Games has provided a trailer encasing the jungle environments of Guatemala. What dark, ancient secrets are kept in these Mayan holy grounds? Perhaps you will be the next treasure hunter to reveal the heart of Atlantis… You can find the game on Steam (here), or retail/online stores for Xbox 360.

Case Closed Anime Licensed By Hanabee

Frank Inglese
-
0
Case Closed Anime Licensed By Hanabee

Case-Closed-01

Straight from Supanova Adelaide comes Hanabee’s next piece of awesome news! It was barely an hour ago when we hear about their acquisition of the “Girls und Panzer” Anime license and already we’re hearing about a second one, this time around they’ve gotten the license to a classic yet on-going Anime series from 1996; “Case Closed“. Before we go on to talk about the release itself, here’s the Official Synopsis of “Case Closed” from Hanabee themselves is as follows:

Solving crimes is child’s play. Meet Jimmy Kudo, one of the most lauded detectives in the Japanese Police Force and he’s still in high school! For him, the sinister underworld and their criminal inhabitants is just a regular day at work as he puzzles out the most difficult of crimes. But you don’t enter his line of work without creating a few enemies and some may even get him killed.

When an assassination attempt goes wrong, Jimmy wakes up to find that he is no longer in his body but has, in fact, regressed to his childhood self! Now Jimmy needs to keep his true identity a secret from those that he cares about the most.
But this curse won’t stop Jimmy doing what he does best and so begins the life of boy detective Conan Edogawa!

Case-Closed-02

Hanabee plans to release the “Case Closed” (Detective Conan in Japan) in two parts with the first part containing 26 episodes and the second part obviously containing the rest. Nothing has been said about release extras but I’m sure we’ll here more about that in due time. Right now only the first part has been set for a definite release despite the fact that there has been no actual release date announced but, once again, you can expect that within the coming weeks. What we do know for sure is that it will only be released on the DVD format, it will be dual-language and Part One will be sold for $59.99. It is definitely one that no fan of mystery should pass up. Congratulations once again, Hanabee!

Girls Und Panzer Anime Licensed By Hanabee

Frank Inglese
-
0
Girls Und Panzer Anime Licensed By Hanabee

Girls-und-Panzer-Tanks-1

Hanabee only just announced, at Supanova Adelaide, that they have acquired the license for the extremely popular Anime “Girls Und Panzer“. Alongside the announcement of the actual acquisition comes a great deal of information regarding what is to come in the releases, how they will be split up and even an exact release date for the series. Before we continue on to talk about the release, you first have to know what the series is all about, luckily Hanabee have also provided us all with an Official Synopsis of the series which you can read below:

It’s all fun and games until the tanks roll in…then it’s just a blast! The students at Oarai Academy are bringing back a long forgotten subject that features guns – really, really big guns! Dubbed as Tankery, the program studies the martial art of operating armoured tanks. Clearly this is not for the faint of heart and to join you’ll need people as driven and enthusiastic as the tanks they’ll need to control. Suffice to say the first students to become inducted into the art of Tankery are all a bit eccentric.

You have Team Turtle consisting of three members from the student council, Team Duck the former members of the volleyball club, Team Hippo a group of four passionate history buffs, Team Rabbit a mis-match group of six first year students and lastly the stars of the class, Team Anglerfish who are every bit as odd as their mascot. Regardless these girls are all ready to get locked and loaded for the art of Tankery. Panzer vor!

Girls-und-Panzer-Tanks-2

Hanabee will release the series in two separate parts: Part One will feature all twelve episodes of the series as well as two bonus episodes. Part Two will contain all the OVA episodes that were released throughout and/or after the series. Each of the parts will come with extras like Japanese Tv Spots, promos and Clean Opening and ending sequences. The series is also set for both a standard DVD release as well as a Blu-Ray release with both of the types being Dual Language.

Part One of “Girls Und Panzer” is set for a release for both Blu-Ray and DVD on the 5th of March 2014 with the DVD release being sold for $59.99 each and the Blu-Ray release going for $64.99 each. Right now there is no release date for Part Two but you can expect information on that to be released in the coming months. Congratulations on the acquisition of “Girls Und Panzer”, Hanabee!

Secrets of Raetikon Preview

Jamie Laike Tsui
-
0
Secrets of Raetikon Preview

secrets-of-raetikon-preview004

Secrets of Raetikon
Developer: Broken Rules
Publisher: Broken Rules
Platform: Linux, Mac, Windows

Secrets of Raetikon is currently on IndieGoGo! Support them here.

Secrets of Raetikon is Broken Rules’ newest project. They are the team behind the award winning puzzle platforming game And Yet It Moves. The game is the second in a series of games inspired the Alps, the famous European mountain range, from the Austrian indie studio. Players will soar as a bird through a unique take on the Alps as they solve puzzles and unlock the secret behind an ancient civilization that once inhabited the Alps.

Exploration is the heart and soul of Secrets of Raetikon. Players are free to roam the mountains and explore at their own pace. Once players are beyond the tutorial, the game sends players off into the world to discover the remaining shards. It can be tough to figure out where to go at times. There is no map to help remind the player where they are. The lack of map makes getting back to the main altar to drop off a newly discovered shard rather difficult. There were several times I solved a major puzzle and was rewarded with a long wandering journey back because I could not remember the right way back for the life of me.

secrets-of-raetikon-preview

The level design is wonderful. There are tons of nooks and crannies to discover. The spirit of the Alps are captured wonderfully as levels transition from dense claustrophobic forests to sweeping peaks and jagged cliffs. Broken Rules have brought the levels to life. The levels are full of animals going on with their lives while the player soars through the skies. The animals go a long way in making the player feel like they are flying through an actual forest.

The puzzles are a pleasure to solve. They are varied, creative, and some of them are downright devious. Combat is a puzzle in itself. Predatory animals will attack the player mercilessly until they are out of range. Figuring out how to avoid them will take a bit of creativity and quick thinking.

The controls are responsive and well designed. The game definitely easier to play with a controller as a thumb stick will provide a greater range of movement compared to the mouse and keyboard. Right now the controls are only labelled for PlayStation controllers instead of the more common Xbox 360 controllers, which I did find a bit curious.

secrets-of-raetikon-preview001

Secrets of Raetikon is a wonderful visual journey. The visual design is unique with its triangular design and soft but bright colours. The visuals pay tribute to the inspiration for Secrets of Raetikon. Broken Rules’ developer Felix was inspired by a dream of flying he had one night and that dream gave birth to Secrets of Raetikon. The sun’s blurring effect gives a wonderful warm feeling to the game and quick dives give a dreamy out of this world feeling. Secrets of Raetikon visual design is unique and unforgettable.

My only complaint with the visuals is that flapping the wings makes the screen move in quick jerks. Although it is supposed to simulate the sudden burst of speed, I found it actually caused me to feel really motion sick. The effect is worsened when the player needs to carry something in their claws as it becomes practically impossible to move anywhere at a reasonable speed without flapping the wings constantly. A graphic setting that would smooth out the camera’s acceleration would probably go a long way in solving the motion sickness.

secrets-of-raetikon-preview002

Secrets of Raetikon sports a wonderful and minimalistic soundtrack. The background music plays second fiddle to the sounds of nature. Birds of prey screech as they attack smaller birds, leaves rustle as the player flies through, and the wind whistles while flying, all while the subtle music plays softly in the background. During intense moments, like being attacked by a bird of prey or chasing a deer who is in possession of a Shard, the music comes into the foreground to create a tense chase. The only sound effect I struggled with was the low health heartbeat that will pound when health is low. I found the noise to be a little annoying after a while and I started to hate it even more once the motion sickness kicked in. A bleeding effect is clearly visible while the health is low, so I would prefer that the heartbeat noise be either become quieter or completely stopped after a minute or so.

secrets-of-raetikon-preview003

Secrets of Raetikon is a wonderful puzzle game in the making. It is well designed, boasts solid controls, and is presented in a really creative manner. The game does a great job of allowing the player to wander and explore at their own pace, though it could use a map to help guide players around. Although the game is clearly still in its alpha stage of development, it is surprisingly well polished and a pleasure to play. There are still the odd bugs to iron out, more art to add, and some polish to complete, but if Broken Rules can keep up the momentum, they may have yet another award winning indie game to add to their collection. 

1...4,1794,1804,181...6,759Page 4,180 of 6,759