I AM ALIVE
First announced in E3 2008, I Am Alive is set to be one of the year’s most ambitious games. If this demo gives any indication, it falls short of the intended goal. The story is based on a guy looking for his family after “The Event”. What that event was, the demo wasn’t too clear on. What is clear is that the whole world is now in ruins in a post-apocalyptic future where it seems everyone is out to get you. Unlike most games where it’s clear that the world can clearly fix itself, I Am Alive takes that away and shows you what would really happen.
It starts off promising; you go across a broken down bridge, and the game teaches you how to climb. Climbing is a mix of Uncharted and Shadow of the Colossus. Uncharted is clearly a main influence when it comes to the climbing game play. You jump, climb, leap, and even hang down. To keep with the survival aspect of the game, it takes its cues from Shadow of the Colossus. Both games have a grip meter which you would have to be careful of. What makes it different from one another is that when your grip is gone you enter this intensified mode where you would have to push the R1 button as fast as you can for a last ditch effort for safety. By comparison, in Shadow of the Colossus, you just slip and fall. Whereas in Shadow of the Colossus you can upgrade your grip, in I Am Alive it actually downgrades. Hang on for too long and your gauge will slowly start to degenerate and the only way to get the grip back is to drink water. Even with all this, the climbing aspect, while simple, is quite thrilling. It becomes an exciting race against time as you try to reach that one area that will save you. I’m not too big on racing against the clock, but this game seems to do it right.
While the climbing was decent, the combat is way off. This is supposed to be a game about survival. I understand ammo, health, and supplies are rare, but what I don’t understand is why the combat is the worst part of it. In one section alone – early in the game – you come across two guys trying to pick a fight. For one moment, the combat becomes interesting. You push the attack button, and you will perform a surprise kill. After killing the first guy, you will get his weapon with one bullet, and kill the other guy that was with him. After finishing both, two more guys comes out, and this is where the combat becomes terrible. You first have to hold them up and force them back, once you do so you can do something, but the game wasn’t too clear on that either. Unless I was doing something wrong, I can’t see how to beat these two guys. This part reminded me of Dark Souls. The only difference is that Dark Souls had great combat, and I Am Alive does not.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish. I was more frustrated with the game’s sloppy combat than anything I played this month, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to this one. After watching gameplay footage and trailers, I thought the game would be something original. The survival aspect seems like it would be great, but the action is severely lacking. From what I’ve heard, there’s a little too much action.
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PAX EAST INDIE
One of the many reasons PAX was created was because E3 was much too big for Indie developers to show off their new games. So with that in mind, Penny Arcade created PAX. Now PAX East and PAX Prime are a major event for new, upcoming developers to show off their games. This year they had a space all their own called Indie Mega Booth. It was one of the biggest booths on the show floor, and it showed off 20 indie games. Every year at PAX Prime there is a list that shows the absolute best in Indie game called PAX 10. Could any of the following games be in this year’s PAX 10?
SUPER TIME FORCESuper Time Force is a Xbox Live Arcade game that appears to be a cross between Contra and Super Meat Boy, and has a fantastic 8-bit feeling to it. Every time you die you either go back to the checkpoint, or the beginning of the level. Even when you die, that life can still help you; if you killed an enemy in one life, in your next life that enemy will be killed from your previous life. This game sounds fun, sadly, a release date has not been announced.
CHARLIE MURDER
From the people that made The Dishwasher games comes Charlie Murder. Charlie Murder is a beat ‘em up/hack and slash game for the Xbox Live Arcade. You play as a member of a punk band, and it’s up to you and your band members to defeat a rival death Mmtal band. The game seems to support four player co-op, and the graphics seem to look like drawings a punk artist would do – which seems to be part of the charm.
AIRMECH
Airmech is a free-to -play RTS for PC. The game has a cartoon look to it that keeps it from looking like most RTS games on the market. In the game, you fly around in a big area, and as you try to battle opposing forces, you can build your own base. It may have a cartoon aesthetic, but it uses a deep RPG system that you use to advance your bases. No release date has been announced, but you can join the alpha now.
MIEGAKUREMiegakure is a platform puzzler where you can shift the dimensions. In this game, you go through different arches solving puzzles. In one puzzle, there is a huge wall in the way that you can’t simply pass. Then you shift the landscape, and you can go into different areas in the small map. After shifting different areas, you will eventually solve the problem. This game looks very interesting.
ANTICHAMBER
This is why the Indie Mega Booth exists. A first person puzzle game where you explore the puzzles around you. When you enter a puzzle they can make you experience weird things. For exmaple, one puzzle will place you in a hallway maze, but if you go back to where you came from, that hallway will be completely different. Something always seems to be changing in Antichamber. If you fall, you will not die. Instead, you will find a new area to explore and figure out. Antichamber will be released for the PC and Mac at a non-disclosed date in 2012.
KAIRO
Kairo is what happens when you take the point and click aspect of Myst, and make it in a first person perspective. Towering behemoths await you as you try to bring the machines back to what they were. Each world seems more strange than the last and, for some reason, they are all connected. Not much has been announced for this game, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a trailer.
MONACO
Monaco is a top down co-op game where you and your friends try to infiltrate buildings. The game’s class base, and each class have unique properties that will make every heist a little easier. When ever you enter a room, a grayed out area will be in color. What ever the guard sees will also be in color. Each map is based on real blueprints in Monaco.
GO HOME DINOSAURSGo Home Dinosaurs is a tower defense game where dinosaurs decided to ruin your picnic. Each dinosaur will have their own attacks as well as any defensive moves you have. It’s played in a very cartoon manner and is coming out this summer for the Chrome web browser.
RETRO/GRADERemember the classic shoot ‘em ups? What if you played them in reverse? This is what Retro/Grade will show you. Instead of firing your rockets at enemies, you dodge enemy attacks while picking up your ammo again. This is like watching a classic Atari game rewinding itself, but you still have control. Retro/Grade is coming for the PlayStation Network sometime this year.
Jack Lumber is a tale of revenge. When a tree falls on Jack’s grandmother, Jack has sworn revenge on the forest. This kind of reminds me of Fruit Ninja, but for mobile devices. Trees fall from the sky and time slows as you chop down trees, but watch out though – you don’t want to kill the animals that live in the forest you are destroying. Jack Lumber: The Lumberjack is coming to mobile devices this summer.
DRUNKEN ROBOT PORNOGRAPHY
Drunken Robot Pornography is a game on which you can create your own robots. There is not much to go on, but from the trailer, it seems that you can create robots, levels, and, I think, the way they explode. Once that is done you can do it all again. It made its premiere at PAX East. If the community can get behind this, I can see this shaping up to be a great game. Think of the possibilities!
SNAPSHOT
Snapshot is a platform puzzle game on which you can control the world around you using a camera. You take pictures of the objects and use that picture to make paths to unreachable areas. The unique aspect of the game is something that will be hard to ignore. Snapshot comes out later this year for the PC and Windows.
RUNNER 2
Runner 2 is the sequel to the highly successful indie favorite Bit Trip Runner. In the original Bit Trip Runner, the graphics were inspired by Atari design. Now, the sequel, Runner 2, will update the graphics to the modern age. In the game, you play as a runner who must avoid obstacles in his path. If given the right tracks to run in, I can see this game as a highly addicting addition to the Indie gaming. It is releasing sometime this year for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and possibly the Wii-U.
SKULLS OF THE SHOGUN
Skulls of the Shogun is a turn-based strategy game on which you play as a commanding Shogun. After he is betrayed, he finds himself in the afterlife. Here, he takes control of his dead army to crush his enemies. I love the look of the game, and it seems to be a great game. Skulls of the Shogun is releasing in 2012 for the Xbox Live Arcade and PC.
TALES FROM SPACE: MUTANT BLOBS ATTACK
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack is a game on which you play as a blob. This game is coming out for the PlayStation Vita, so it will use everything the handheld can do – touch screen and maybe even gyroscope! The game has a campy feel to it, so it will keep the game from being humorous.
GUACAMELEE
I saved the best for last. Guacamelee is a brawler platformer on which you play as a luchador looking for the President’s daughter. Everything about this game looks amazing; the combat, the game play, the art style and the music. In the trailer, the game appread to be serious, but in less than a second, you find out that it’s not, and it’s great for it. It even has multiplayer. Guacamelee is set to be released for the Xbox Live Arcade in 2012.
Is there a game you would like to play from the list above? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
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Sniper Elite preview
Out now on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live is the Sniper Elite V2 demo. It’s a sequel of the 2005 modest hit game, Sniper Elite. In the demo, you play as a sniper as he carries out a mission. The story was not detailed as the demo focuses on a single mission. What sets this apart from other third person shooters is Rebellion’s commitment to create the most accurate game around. Everything about the game feels authentic. Your main weapon is a sniper rifle, although, you do still get the normal assault rifles and handguns. Each weapon in the game is taken directly from history. Also, every time you take your shot from the sniper, you have to take into consideration the wind speed, direction, levitation, and even your own heart rate.
Before you even start at the demo, it will give you 4 difficulty modes to choose from: easy, normal, hard or custom. The custom difficulty is the smartest thing I’ve seen in a game in a while. Do you want the game to be easy, but still have all the difficulties of firing a real sniper? The game allows you to do that. Once you are dropped into the game itself, you will find yourself in a bombed building. This is where the sniping begins. When you look through the scope, there are several indicators that will help you; wind speed, your heart rate, and a new mode called “Focus Time.” When your heart rate is steady enough, you can enter the focus time and time will slow down. When this happens, there will be a red triangle telling you where the bullet will go. Once you fire the weapon, it will show a kill cam following the bullet – like in Max Payne. Then, every once in a while, you will see an x-ray vision of the bullet piercing the target. It’s much more brutal than what was shown in Mortal Combat. In my last x-ray vision, you can see the bullet go through the target’s gums as teeth are blasted out and see the exit wound as pieces of skull flies out. Each kill is more brutal than the last.
Another aspect of the game is stealth. As you enter tight areas, you have a choice of two weapons; an assault rifle or a silencer. A silencer is the best way to go. If you are in a jam and need a quick getaway, you can quickly move from one place to the next. After you do that, there is a silhouette that will tell you when the enemy last saw you. This is very similar to what Splinter Cell: Conviction did with Last Known Position. I was left impressed by the end of the demo.
Sniper Elite V2 is releasing in May 1st on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
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Preview Closure
Last year’s PAX Prime had a game in their PAX 10 booth called Closure. At first glance, Closure seems like it’s a ripoff of Limbo and Braid. As I continue playing, Closure convinced me that this feels and plays different.
Using balls of light as a source, you play the monster type thing where you go from room to room solving puzzles. In one room, you would need the ball to go through a wall. In order to do this, you pick up the ball and move it as far away from the wall as possible. Once you drop the ball, you would need to jump to the other side. The other side is another ball for you to continue. This is just a simple puzzle. From the 15 to 20 puzzles I played, it seems that it would get challenging fast, and this is a good thing. They also mix it up a bit by including keys, and movable lamp shades. As long as you are in the light, you can’t die. Once you go out of the small circle of light, you fall into the dark abyss.
Although there is not much to see, it looks fantastic. It’s simplistic design helps sell the hopelessness that the game has. So far there is not much of a story, but then again except for Portal and maybe Braid, story is not that needed. The music is just as simple, but also just as great. The Icon had this drum beat that sounded amazing, and I couldn’t wait to play it. That was just the wallpaper icon. There seems like there will be a lot to do in this game. There is over 100 puzzles, plus a few secret ones. It’s on the PlayStation Network right now for $15, and just playing the five to ten minute demo makes me want to play it more. Closure shows further proof that smaller, downloadable titles, are some of the best around. I was left impress, and I want to know more.
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