14 May, 2008

Game Set Watch Indie Game Quickie Reviews

Game Set Watch occasionally runs a feature on recent indie games. Then I go try them and crush the spirits of the generous people who made them.

Dino Run

The Pitch: Play as a velociraptor trying to escape extinction by outrunning a giant wall of debris. Play through many times to upgrade your velociraptor and unlock trophies. Compete in multiplayer and race against other people.

My Opinion: It's good. The running mechanics are a little weird. But the game isn't hard enough to make that a deal breaker. And in its best moments (usually when running downhill through a hail of boulders) the panic and chaos is absolutely delightful. The "gotta catch 'em all" aspect of upgrading and looking for hidden dino eggs didn't hold my interest, but I have no tolerance for grinding.

Everyday Shooter

The Pitch: Figure out the pattern to survive through a song.

My Opinion: It's kind of a low budget Rez, although Rez itself is only $10 too on Xbox Live Arcade. It's okay, but I'm not much for bullet hell and got tired of it fairly quickly.

Lego Indiana Jones Demo

Okay, so it's not an indie game. It's an Indy game. I didn't want to start a new entry just for it.

The PC version has a serious graphics glitch (not visible in the screen shot) that puts a shimmering black bar across the screen and makes it hard to see. So while I'd have a care before picking up the PC version, the gameplay was very much typical Lego, by which I mean simply joyful. The game is a little more complicated than the last Lego Star Wars, with slightly more elaborate puzzles, but not enough to trouble the children who are likely to play it.

There were other games I wanted to try out. But I also wanted to get this write up done. I'll add entries as time permits.

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