Zeno Clash – One Day Only Sale!

By: Xander

On: March 19th, 2009

See, what did I just say? One day sale.

Zeno Clash , an FPS with splashes of shooting and melee action (and IGF Finalist!) will be released sometime in April, and to celebrate the developers are having a sale on Steam where the game will be half off for a single day. That makes the current price $9.99, or £7.49 or even €7.99 depending on just where in the world you hail from, which is a huge saving.

So TIG, is it a big enough saving for you to want to put down money on something which doesn’t have a playable demo, or does the IGF Finalist status give you more confidence in putting down the money early?

(Update: Sale is over, but the discount will remain at 25% off until release on April 21st!)

Smokin’ Guns

By: Guest Reviewer

On: January 10th, 2009

[Guest review by MisterX, originally posted on TIGForums]

As few probably know about it, I’ll just introduce it a bit: Smokin’ Guns is what became of Western Quake³. The latter was a very solid and well-liked western mod for Quake 3, and it was developed by Iron Claw Interactive. As time passed, the usual thing happened – there was less and less activity on the servers and eventually the developers moved on to other things. So when the source code of Quake 3 was released, a group of die-hard fans put it upon themselves to polish the mod, iron out bugs, create new content, and, best of all, make it a stand-alone game! They achieved no less and so now, few days ago, Smokin’ Guns was finally released into the wild!

Smokin’ Guns is not the most modern shooter, but it’s one of the few Western-themed action games there are, and it’s simply the best, in my opinion. There are the normal deathmatch and team deathmatch modes, but they have a catch, as you need money to buy weapons, ammo and items whenever, wherever you like. The money is not only gained by killing, but it’s also found lying around the maps. More interestingly, there is the Bank Robbery mode, which pits one team as defenders of a bank against another trying to break it, steal money by blowing up the safe, and then escape to the train yard. The most competitive one, though, is the Duel mode, which is self-explanatory. Two men go in, one comes out – very classy.

SG is really not an innovative game, but I like it for how well it manages to capture the Wild West feeling inspired by all the famous classic movies. In most shooters rifles are the most important weapons, and the one-handed guns are merely backups. But here it’s really well-balanced, so if you want it to be all about the revolvers, have it be that way. There are a bunch of revolvers, rifles, and shotguns, and even a fancy classic Gatling gun – in my opinion they all just feel right, especially the revolvers. You can use single ones or carry two simultaneously, and you can mix them how you like it. When using two, you can also reload them individually, and one of the revolvers is reloaded one bullet at a time, which feels very nice.

Lastly, the graphics aren’t much to look at, but they have been polished from Western Quake³, and the maps tend to look quite atmospheric. The sound is a different story, though, as the weapons sound appropriately powerful, and there’s a very, very nice soundtrack which really gets you in the mood for duking it out at high noon.

It’s been a long time coming, and I’m glad I can finally play the game again online. I hope some of you will also find it interesting. So, see you online, maybe!

Gravity Bone

By: Derek Yu

On: January 2nd, 2009

Gravity Bone is a stylish first-person action game set in the seedy world of Nuevo Aires. The game is almost painfully short, but has enough panache in its two levels to make it somewhat of an indie sleeper hit of the end of 2008. Creator Brendon Chung has an impeccable flair for graphic design, and imbued Gravity Bone with a look that invokes Portal with its utilitarian graphics and deadpan sense of humor. But whereas in Portal we’re confined in a sterile world of white and gray, GB is bursting with delicious color, and features blocky-headed characters that are infinitely more interesting to look at and interact with than the frightening Realdolls game players are often forced to contend with in modern FPS’s. Now if only it didn’t feel like we were walking in on it during the last act…

(Thanks, Zaphos, Tim, and others!)

TIGdb: Entry for Gravity Bone

Chex Quest 3

By: Derek Yu

On: September 11th, 2008

Wow. 10 years since the incomplete Chex Quest 3 beta was released on Digital Café’s website, Charles Jacobi (the original Chex Quest artist) has finally finished off this epic FPS trilogy! Chex Quest, a total conversion of Doom, was the first video game to be released in a cereal box, and garnered a relatively large cult following.

I don’t know about you, but I miss the days when video games and cereal made sense. When LIFE made sense.

Chex Quest 3 contains zero percent of your daily nutrition requirements. However, it does contain upgraded versions of both Chex Quest 1 and Chex Quest 2, as Episodes 1 and 2. It also runs off the fancy-shmancy ZDoom engine (but can, and should, be played as a standalone game).

(Thanks, NWOGBBV!)

Action DooM 2: Urban Brawl

By: Derek Yu

On: September 1st, 2008

Scuba Steve’s Action DooM is still somewhat of a rarity amongst Doom mods – a full-featured total conversion that genuinely tries some new things. With AD, Scuba and his team not only tried to emulate the linear gameplay of classic 2d shooters like Contra, they promoted it as a real retail product that you might buy when the genre was at the height of its popularity. Though as far as Contra-style FPS’s go, 8bit killer is a superior game, Action DooM gets credit for being the first. And for displaying the lasting potential of the Doom engine.

Four years later, Action DooM 2 is here! Whereas the original AD mixed Contra with Doom, AD2 is obviously inspired by beat ‘em up games like Final Fight. Even though there are guns available in the game, they are scarce – for the most part you’ll be using your fists, along with a slew of hand-to-hand weapons like knives, 2×4s, and chains. These items break quickly with use, but are strewn around each level fairly liberally.

The idea of picking up new weapons constantly is a good one, although combat is kind of hit-or-miss (pun intended). For the most part, there’s little strategy to beating up your opponents – just move in, hit, and then move away. It gets slightly repetitive, and I would have loved to have been able to throw weapons, or perhaps use different types of attacks. Throws? Combos? Chokes?

But overall, it’s hard to complain – Action DooM 2 is obviously a labor of love and there’s lots to like, from the awesome graphics (hand-pixelled by Steve) to the wonderfully overdone Sin City/Max Payne-style noir cutscenes (complete with voiceovers!). There’s also a really impressive amount of variety to the enemies and the environments. I enjoyed the various in-jokes (no way!) that can be found on the walls in the form of advertisements and graffiti.

AD2 (which can be played with or without Doom 2), definitely sets the bar high for creative Doom mods, and was a treat to play through. The full game is available for download, but if you really enjoy it, you can also buy a boxed version for $9.99 that comes with bonus maps.

TIGdb: Entry for Action DooM 2: Urban Brawl

(Thanks, JimmyBignuts!)

TECNO – the Base

By: Derek Yu

On: August 23rd, 2008

TECNO – the Base is a cerebral first-person by Paolo Cosentino, and was released about a year ago. In the game you play Alexia, a worker at the “TECNO BASE” who must escape said base after an experiment turns all the robots inside hostile. Along the way you’ll solve various puzzles and destroy hell of crazy, freaked-out droids.

I have to say, for such an ambitious idea developed by one person (in Blitz 3d, no less), I’m really impressed… and so far I’ve only played through the demo! Though the graphics are fairly dated, they nonetheless look quite pretty – together with the audio they do a more than sufficient job of setting the mood. But what makes the game a diamond in the rough is how well the action and puzzle elements come together and keep the game continually fresh, despite a few missteps.

The demo is pretty linear, so if you get stuck on a puzzle, there’s not much you can do until you can figure it out. And with potentially multiple “puzzle pieces” in your hands at any given moment, sometimes it’s not obvious which lead to follow. There’s one spot in particular that I almost gave up on, and I imagine it’s a sticky point for a lot of players (hit me up in the comments if you can’t find the fourth battery!).

I also would have liked to see more in the way of a narrative. Honestly, had I not read the game’s description on the website I would never have figured out what was going on in the game. Although I do enjoy piecing together a story, I feel like TECNO provides very little in the way of context. A few more clues here and there would have done a lot in the way of establishing the game’s setting.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the demo and am considering a purchase (the full game is $15.99). It’s a clever and well-made title, and there’s a lot of potential in the first part of the game. It’s not on the level of, say, System Shock or Deus Ex, but then again, what is?

TIGdb: Entry for TECNO – the Base

(Thanks, Bad Sector! This one’s for you!)

8bit killer

By: Derek Yu

On: July 8th, 2008

Low-poly lovers rejoice! 8bit killer is a NES-style FPS made in Game Maker that features a 64-color palette, 32×32 pixel textures, and an energetic chiptune soundtrack. The game pays wonderful homage to the platform shooters that inspired it, employing linear levels along with the Wolfenstein-esque maze levels. It works pretty well.

There are, I believe, 4 areas in total, with 3 stages in each area, with every 3rd stage being a boss battle. Six weapons. The variety of enemies and textures in the areas I’ve played so far is surprising.

8bit killer is a very fun and polished game. I also love the look of Locomalito’s current projects, a platform game named Grialia and a Gradius-inspired shoot ‘em up named Hydorah. They’re definitely a developer to watch out for!

(Note: the game uses standard WASD + mouse FPS controls. Press “Enter” at any time to toggle between 1x and 2x resolution.)

TIGdb: Entry for 8bit killer

Voxelstein 3d (v0.1)

By: Derek Yu

On: April 19th, 2008

A developer known only as “Volumetric Pixel” has released Voxelstein 3d, a single level alpha release of his Wolfenstein 3d-inspired first person shooter. The game is built using Ken Silverman’s open source Voxlap engine. In case you haven’t guessed, it renders graphics using VOXELS (cubes) rather than flat polygons.

Voxelstein 3d is moderately entertaining as a tech demo and nice to look at, in an ugly sort of way. I definitely appreciate the way you can (and must) deform the walls, as you make your escape from the Nazi villa. But unfortunately, moving around in this voxel world feels very disorienting for me, and the combat is also less than satisfying (the eyes popping out is a nice touch, though).

It’s short, it’s voxelated, its Wolfenstein-ish! I’m interested in seeing if/how the game develops.

(Thanks, MisterX!)

Introspect

By: Derek Yu

On: November 27th, 2007

When a trailer begins with the words “Awake now the sleepy artist / To an insane world of strife” and there is a vicious man cooing about finger painting in the background, you know it’s probably not going to be your average mod for Unreal Tournament 2004.

Introspect puts you in control of an insane artist named Gabriel. In the game, you’ll be exploring Gabriel’s demented psyche, a metaphorical world whose visual style is influenced by American McGee’s Alice. Despite the dark themes, the game is purportedly non-violent, and trades in the flak cannons and link guns of UT2004 for an artist’s palette, which you can use to manipulate your surroundings.

Unfortunately, I can’t play the mod, but for what is ostensibly an “arthouse” game, Introspect seems like it has some actual substance.

(Source: The Random Gnome’s Lair)

Super Charlie Factory Massacre MMORPG

By: Tim

On: October 14th, 2007

Sleazy.

(Source: Kotaku)