GameKiq

PAX Hands-On: Tales from Space: About a Blob

My favorite aliens are the cute ones. Fortunate for me, then, that the main character in Tales from Space: About a Blob is this little guy:

The premise of the game is pretty simple, and also pretty awesome: you're that little alien blob, and you go around eating stuff. Like, a lot of stuff. Anything that's smaller than you, actually, is available for the eating. And, obviously, as you eat the objects scattered across the environment, you grow, and then that allows you to eat bigger things, which make you grow more, etc. Eventually, you're able to swallow the whole world.

If you're thinking this sounds a lot like Katamari Damacy, you'd be right. It's a pretty similar concept. But instead of rolling around and picking stuff up, you're eating it. Like a good American, right?

I'm not sure where in the game's story I was during the demo, but I wan't able to glean what the over-arching plot would be. For that, we have the official trailer, which is quite campy:

So there you have it. Aliens crash on the earth, science captures them, and they escape! And then they can eat stuff!

That trailer gives you a pretty good idea of the sense of humor in the game. The game knows it's ridiculous, and it relishes in that fact. I mean, who wouldn't love a billboard like this?

The art style is pretty wacky, and I love it. When I first picked up and played the game, I felt like I was in a Nickelodeon cartoon like Aaah! Real Monsters or Rocko's Modern Life. Everything's got that off-kilter, rough look to it, and it works really well here. The backdrops to each level aren't too distracting but certainly add to the atmosphere and odd look of the game -- the animation style is different than the foreground and your characters, but they complement each other well. The character animations are also great -- your blob glides along quickly but smooshes, bends, splats, and contorts in a decidedly pleasing manner.  It takes a minute or two to get accustomed to the gravity in the game, but it's pretty easy once you know that your blob isn't really all that heavy and bounces around fairly easily.

Your blob does do a lot of bouncing, especially if you're playing co-op with a friend -- which you should, since this is a game definitely better enjoyed in co-op mode. You're working together, but you can hit each other, bounce off each other, and jump in front of your partner to get the edibles on the level first. This will certainly make for some friendly -- or deadly -- competition between you and whoever is sitting beside you holding the other controller. It's nice to see another sidescroller take the idea of co-op play and make it both a friendly and a competitive experience, not unlike New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Like I said, I wasn't sure where I was in the progression of the game as a whole, but I didn't see myself getting bored with the basic mechanics of the game if I was playing in co-op mode. I would have liked to see some other sort of game mode or a plot device that would keep your hands on the controller, but I'm sure Drinkbox Studios has something up its sleeve for us.

I'm excited to see this game hit the virtual shelves. And, speaking of that fact, it's going to be on PSN exclusively; Drinkbox has just announced that they're part of the Sony Pub Fund program, which is great news for them. DrinkBox CEO noted in a recent press release that “Pub Fund has been a good fit for us. The royalty guarantee and other Pub Fund terms have allowed us to confidently focus on finishing our game while retaining ownership and artistic control over the project." I love independent studios that can churn out a game of this quality, and the fact that they're retaining all ownership of everything related to this game is something to be excited about. It'll be available at some point in early 2011. Get it!

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PAX Hands-On: HOARD

At this year's PAX, I got my hands on HOARD, the upcoming PSN release from Vancouver-baseed Big Sandwich Games. Here's another one of those games that I love -- a new concept from an independent developer that breaks new ground.

Basically, HOARD is "an RTS in reverse," as Big Sandwich told me as I watched some PAX-goers play it. You play as a dragon, and you try to round up as much gold for your hoard as you can. Gold basically functions as XP, and you can get it by burninating the towns, buildings, and people that are popping up all around you. The computer's humans are trying to build up castles, towns, windmills, etc. -- just as you would if you were playing an RTS. All of those nice things can be demolished by your dragon's firey breath, and they all leave gold behind for you to grab and return to your hoard.

The core gameplay is pretty simplistic, which makes it very easy to pick up and get accustomed to. But there are some challenge elements thrown in that keep you on your toes. For instance, thieves can come to your hoard and grab some of your gold and make off with it. There are wagons that transport gold from one town to another that hold different amounts of gold. You can also steal princesses from those carriages and bring them to your hoard, and knights will come after you to try to rescue the poor, defenseless royalty.Yeah, it's pretty kickass.

Tyler Sigman, Design Director at Big Sandwich Games, noted that there's also a tribute mechanic in the game: if you injure a certain village enough, they'll become "loyal" to you because they fear you so much, so they'll give you more gold than any of your opponents. There are also a few different game modes; you can play cooperatively, with one giant hoard that everyone deposits into, or competitively, where you're trying to out-gold your opponents.

There's not really a story mode within HOARD -- each game is independent. It's meant as a casual, friendly arcade game that you can play, perhaps, in between rounds of Halo or Gears of War. Each round is only a few minutes, so it really is perfect for just a quick one-off game. But be careful, that may turn into hours of play.

Sigman said he came up with the game, basically, because "dragons are cool," and they're always painted as the bad guy. "That really sucks for the dragon." What if, instead of the knight being the hero, your dragon was the center of the game, and the humans were the baddies? The game is very much inspired by tabletop board games, which is very apparent in the nicely stylized visuals. You can literally see through the board in some places to the table below, and at the beginning of each round, you can see the pieces dropping onto the table from above.

Big Sandwich sees the franchise going beyond just this one game, but doesn't yet have any concrete plans for what's next. HOARD is PSN-exclusive for the next year (meaning no XBLA until then), and will be released on both PC and Mac via Steam "before the end of the year."

HOARD is definitely going to be a game to look out for in late September when it hits PSN. The badassery of burning everything in sight combined with the competitiveness of the game mechanics will keep you occupied for hours. It's another awesome party game you're going to need to own.

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PAX Eyes-On: Portal 2

So there's this game coming out soon. I'm not sure if you've heard of it. It's actually a sequel to a game you've probably never played. I'm talking about Portal 2.

PAX attendees were able to get a glimpse at the upcoming game's multiplayer co-op mode. And yes, I know you're wondering: the co-op works, and it's going to be amazingly fun. What really struck me during the presentation was that Valve knew that the first Portal game was essentially already cooperative. You'd sit down with a friend, your girlfriend, or your dad, and play through the whole game in one sitting. What Valve wanted to do was put a controller in the hands of that second person.

Every gamer knows about Portal. But if you don't, it's pretty simple. Or, at least, the concept is simple. You have a gun (Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device) that can shoot two portals. When you shoot both of these, they create a wormhole and you -- or any other simple object -- can pass through them. The computer GlaDOS gets you to complete the puzzles that populate the interior of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, noting that you will receive cake at the end of your journeys. You soon find out that ol' GlaDOS is actually horribly evil, and wants you dead. Along the way, you have to use some crafty logic and use unique items in new ways to progress through the levels.

PAX-goers got a preview trailer followed by a live demo of the game played by a Valve employee and a "willing volunteer" from the audience. What we were able to gather from the gameplay is that the puzzles will be much more involved -- which is a good thing, since, unlike the first game, this version of Portal has to stand on its own. Each player has two portals, so you'll have a total of four to work with. That means that puzzles can be exponentially harder than in the first Portal. In the demo, we were shown new abilities like the "ping tool," which allows you to mark a spot on the wall for your partner to shoot a portal (no more "right there... no, over there!"); taking over your partner's portals; and waving at your partner. Yup, you can have your robot hug the other robot, too.

Doug Lombardi, Valve's VP of Marketing, said that the developers listened to customer feedback to figure out what to include in the game sequel. And what was really interesting was that because the team on the first game was so small, Valve employees that didn't work on the first game were able to give valuable feedback to the game as well. Essentially, employees at Valve were as big fans of the game as the rest of us were. And Doug's favorite addition to the game in Portal 2? The gels. Check out the Aperture Science video below.

Portal 2 is going to be a much bigger game than the first. Bigger environments, tougher puzzles, and teamwork mean you'll be able to play the game for even longer than the first one. I'm looking forward to it.

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PAX Hands-On: Slam Bolt Scrappers

This is why I love indie games. While there are plenty of games out there that are trying to out-blockbuster each other with bigger explosions, better guns, and more polished graphics, independent developers are coming up with wildly creative new game concepts.

I got a chance to play Fire Hose Games' upcoming PSN release Slam Bolt Scrappers this weekend at PAX, and it is extraordinarily fun. When you just take a glancing look at the game in action, it's immediately overwhelming. There's something going on in just about every pixel of the screen, and it's all in crazy, cartoony, bright colors. It's a little daunting to imagine picking up the controller and playing. But you'd be wise to give the game a shot, since it's a complete blast. It takes a few minutes to get acclimated and figure out what part of the screen you should be focusing on, what you're controlling on screen, and just exactly what you want to be doing -- but once you figure it out and it clicks, it's pretty much non-stop action.

The game is basically a mashup builder and brawler, and Eitan Glinert, founder and "Fire Chief" at the company, says it's somewhat like a cross between Smash Bros., Castle Crashers, and Rampart, and also inspired by both World of Goo and Tetris. This is definitely how the game plays, just ramped up x300 on steroids.

You take control of a little character that's hovering around the level. Your first goal is to attack the enemies that are also flying around the level. Once they're dead, they'll leave behind Tetris-style blocks, which you can then pick up and fly over to your side of the screen. On your side, you're trying to build a tower. When you get large squares of the same colored blocks, weapons pop out and start firing against your enemy. The bigger the square, the more powerful weapon you get. I played two different styles of the game at PAX -- one is a four-player battle, where your enemy is the other team's tower, and in the other you battle the yet-to-be-renamed "Robot Boss." THERE. Does that make sense? Sort of? Well, that's the foundation of the game. From there, there are power-ups and addons, such as the Block Rearranger, which lets you pick up a block you've already placed and stick it somewhere else. Eitan noted that there are numerous other power-ups that they've thought of that aren't even included in the demo yet. The boss battle provided a glimpse into some of them: a drill that you can fire at your enemy that will destroy their tower with haste, and snow that you can shoot at the tower to create blank spaces and prevent your opponent from creating any more weapon-blocks.

Yes, this is a complicated game to try to understand without experiencing it first-hand. But once you are acclimated to it and have the controls down (which can take a bit of adjustment -- I kept hitting the wrong button for a certain function), it's all worth it. Slam Bolt Scrappers is going to be a supremely awesome party game. There's not much better than gathering a group of friends and kicking some ass -- either co-operatively or against each other. And the unique style and concept of Slam Bolt Scrappers will keep you occupied for fucking hours.

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Hands On: Shank at PAX East

I got my hands on the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title Shank from Klei Entertainment (pronounced “Clay”) on the final day of this year’s PAX East convention in Boston.

Shank is a sidescrolling “brawler” in which you use your many weapons (daggers, pistols, chainsaw…) to rip some mean-looking bad guys to shreds. There’s not too much plot or story involved here, but that’s okay – that would just distract from the core gameplay and would certainly feel forced. Your goal is move from left to right on each level and kill all of the baddies that you can. The level I played was set on the rooftops of a golden-hued city, which showed off the game’s tendency towards a platformy feel. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, and occasionally Shank would need to stick his daggers into the a building and propel himself up the side of it. There weren’t any slow parts of this level – enemies were always close by.

The art direction in this game is pretty amazing. You feel like you’re inside a comic book, and the animation is smooth and crisp. You’ll be able to tell from any of the screenshots or videos of this game – it’s violent. Really, really, awesomely violent and gory. You can rip someone’s face open with your daggers, shoot them in the face with your pistols, or jump and chainsaw them open in mid-air. Needless to say, blood goes flying everywhere.

The controls make the movement on the screen pretty seamless, too. You have a button for each weapon, a blocking move (which I didn’t tend to use very often) and there’s a pounce move that lets Shank go diving at an enemy with his knives out. It’s quite spectacular. But it’s the simplicity of the control scheme that makes this game so enjoyable. There are no overly complicated, 10-button combos to memorize or fancy control stick moves. If you want to drive a chainsaw through the enemy’s chest, you press one button.

Shank seems to be a part of the latest wave of independent, well-produced 2D games that are making their way onto Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. These channels have made it easier than ever for a developer or a small publisher to get their game out to a massive audience without worrying about physical distribution. Klei Entertainment said that they’re aiming for a release sometime over the summer. I highly recommend purchasing it immediately.

Afrika: Pokemon Snap All Grown Up

Natsume announced yesterday that Afrika, a "wildlife photography adventure," has gone gold. In the game, the publisher's first for Playstation 3, you'll explore an uncharted, unexplored area of Africa, and ... well, take pictures of them. With a virtual camera. I don't want to knock the game before I've gotten my hands on it, but this will have to be very well executed to work out. Pokemon Snap was an interesting idea but was ultimately pretty boring. The difference with this game is that there will actually be real creatures that you're photographing, and the game developers have worked with National Geographic to get things right. There should be plenty of information about the animals you're photographing.

Check out the gallery and press release below.

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AFRIKA FOR PLAYSTATION 3 GOES GOLD

Natsume To Bring Visually Stunning Safari Experience To Retail October
6th

Burlingame, Calif., September 17, 2009 - Natsume Inc., a worldwide
developer and publisher of family-oriented video games, today
announced that Afrika for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment
system has gone gold. Natsume's first title for the PLAYSTATION 3,
Afrika is a wildlife photography adventure set in a lush, unexplored
region of Africa. The game will be available at an MSRP of $49.99 and
is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

"We are thrilled about Afrika's upcoming release in North America. And
it's certainly been a pleasure working with Sony Computer
Entertainment Worldwide Studios on the project," said Hiro Maekawa,
President and CEO of Natsume. "Afrika is a truly unique gaming
experience. Anyone can pick it up and enjoy its beauty, but it has
enough depth and challenge to satisfy even the most hardcore players."

In Afrika, players step into the role of a freelance photographer
exploring a brand new African wildlife conservation area. They'll
document the wildlife and photograph incredible sights such as a
titanic clash between hippopotamuses, a pride of lions watching over
its playful cubs, and a cheetah's lightning-fast chase as it runs down
its prey!  All of the game's animals and environments are rendered in
photorealistic detail with animals that move, behave, and interact
with each other just like their real-world counterparts. Produced in
cooperation with National Geographic, Afrika features a wealth of
information about each of its animals, including footage and
photographs from the magazine.

The photography in the game is as meticulously modeled as the animals
themselves; players will need to learn from the game's innovative
photo grading system and compose their photographs with the eye of a
professional photographer if they want to earn top dollar. The money
they earn can be used to purchase new licensed lenses, cameras, and
safari equipment. If players are good enough, they just might find
their photograph on the cover of National Geographic!

With more than 70 animals to find, over 100 missions to complete, and
endless replayability, Afrika offers the safari experience of a
lifetime!

Tropico 3: Now With More Presidential Speeches!

Kalypso Media's Tropico 3 for PC and Xbox 360 is shaping up to be an interesting game. You play as El Presidente in the Caribbean country of Tropico during the Cold War. You can run your country like a bastardly dictator, or as a "generous statesman" that develops the country into a vacation paradise.

Recently announced was the ability to make speeches to your people to try to win over voters. If your country is bordering communist, El Presidente will address his citizens as comrades. You can make promises to your voters that, if you don't, will cause problems with your people. Check out the excerpt from the press release below and the gallery if images below that.

El Presidente’s Speech Feature:

• Speeches are held before elections and are a great tool to sway some voters in your favor.
• When a speech is created, El Presidente (the player) outlines the general directions of the speech (what problems to address, which faction or superpower to praise, what promises to make). His secretary creates the speech from these notes.
• Some parts of the speeches are automatically generated according to the political context of the election. For example in a country leaning towards communism, Presidente may address his people as "comrades".
• If the player doesn't keep his election promises, he will bear consequences later.
• El Presidente is also able to praise himself in his speeches.

Tropico 3 will be available from September 2009 on Xbox 360 and PC, for more information, screenshots and the teaser trailer please visit the official game website www.tropico3.com.

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Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled Screenshots

Check out some screenshots of Graffiti Entertainment's newest RPG for the DS, Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled. You may remember this game under the name Project Exile, back when it was in development for the GBA. Here's the publisher's quickie summary of the game's plot:

Bel Lenora is a world where people are born with magic at their command. Years ago, a single man walked the land with no magic in his veins. He brought death and tragedy in his wake and was banished by a brave General at a great cost. It has been fifteen years since his banishment and once again, a young man with no magic walks the land of Bel Lenora.

Look for our review soon.

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G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra Screenshots

H

ere are some new Xbox 360 and DS screenshots from EA Hasbro's G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra: The Game (enough subtitles for you?). The game's hitting shelves on July 27, 2009, which is 10 days before the (unpromising-looking) movie. EA Hasbro asks "Is the G.I. Joe team prepared for the battle that lies ahead?" Are you ready for these screenshots? Also check out the trailer down below.

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Need for Speed: SHIFT Will Rock; Screenshots

EA's ever-expanding adrenaline-fueled Need for Speed franchise is getting another entry this September with Need for Speed: SHIFT. This time around, the player will be thrust into the cockpit and get a driver's perspective, rather than the usual, a-few-feet-behind-the-car external view. This, says EA, will create a whole new level of realism and should sufficiently disorient the player in the event of a crash. There's a new "crash dynamic" that will provide "an unrivaled sensation of the speed and feeling of racing a car on the extreme edge of control." Okay, sounds cool enough. SHIFT will be heading to Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Check out some screenshots below:

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And here's the official, slightly ridiculous press release:

Need for Speed Shift FROM EA RACES INTO Retail THIS September

Delivering a True Driver’s Experience, Need for Speed SHIFT Pushes

Authentic Racing Genre to the Next Level

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – March 23, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Need for Speed™ SHIFT, the all-new authentic racing game in the Need for Speed series, will hit stores in Europe on September 17 and North America on September 22, 2009. Need for Speed SHIFT brings a true driver’s experience to some of the world’s most iconic racing tracks, including the storied Brand’s Hatch in the UK. The game also features the largest roster of high-performance cars in Need for Speed history including race cars such as the Pagani Zonda F, Porsche 911 GT2 and Lotus Elise.

“With Need for Speed SHIFT, we set out to create a racing game that pushes the genre and delivers something never before seen in a Need for Speed title,” said Patrick Soderlund, Senior Vice President at EA Games Europe. “By focusing on the driver’s experience through the first-person view, we are able to capture the high-speed intensity and gripping emotions of racing.”

Players are thrust into the loud, intense, and athletic experience of racing a car from the driver’s perspective through the combination of perception based G-forces, the hyper reality of the cockpit view, and the all-new brutally disorienting crash dynamic. Need for Speed SHIFT features an accurate, accessible physics-based driving model that allows you to feel every impact, every change of track surface and every last bit of grip as you push yourself to the edge.

Need for Speed SHIFT is being developed by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with Black Box and Patrick Soderlund. Slightly Mad Studios includes developers and designers that worked on the critically acclaimed games GT Legends and GTR 2. The PSP version is being developed by EA’s Bright Light studio.

Need for Speed SHIFT will be released on PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, PC and PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) in fall 2009.